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Environmental commission begins review of preliminary State Development and Redevelopment Plan, plans municipal comments
Summary
Commissioners spent the meeting reviewing the newly released draft State Development and Redevelopment Plan, calling it aspirational and agreeing to prepare detailed municipal comments (especially on open space, historic resources, natural/water resources and equity).
Commissioners reviewed the recently released preliminary State Development and Redevelopment Plan and agreed to prepare municipal comments focusing on open space, historic resources, water/natural resources and equity.
A planner on the commission summarized the draft as “aspirational” and noted its statewide goals — open space, historic and natural resources, equity, housing, infrastructure, pollution control and economic development. The planner highlighted recommendations that DEP delineate current hot spots of poor air quality and propose nature-based solutions, and the plan’s preference for watershed-level stormwater and flood-control planning rather than only municipal-level programs.
Members raised practical concerns about implementation: watershed planning crosses municipal and county boundaries and requires interjurisdictional coordination and administrative support; historic easements and insurance rules can make climate-related retrofits for historic properties difficult. The commission agreed the planner would circulate a full set of review comments and that commission members and related committees (Open Space, Planning Board) would submit recommended edits for inclusion in a cross-acceptance review.
The commission set a near-term internal goal to complete its comments for the next meeting and to coordinate with Open Space and the planning board on infrastructure and equity sections. No formal municipal position on the state plan was adopted at the meeting.
