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Yarmouth seeks consultant for Local Comprehensive Plan updates, zoning and design‑standards work
Summary
The Planning Board authorized staff to proceed with an RFP for a consultant to update the Local Comprehensive Plan and propose zoning, design standards and permitting streamlining; available funding totals about $94,300 and staff expect a 12‑month study period if procured.
Planning staff outlined a proposed request for proposals June 17 to hire a consultant to support updates to Yarmouth’s Local Comprehensive Plan (LCP), address zoning bylaw amendments, modernize design standards (architectural/site/VCOD/PCOD), and streamline site‑plan/design review processes.
Kathy said available funds total roughly $94,300 ($50,000 from CEDC, $25,000 reallocated from the Affordable Housing Trust and approximately $19,300 in prior allocations) and proposed a consultant budget around $90,000 while recognizing some task items could be pulled out if proposals come in weak. Proposed scope items include public engagement (two to three in‑person community meetings), stakeholder workshops, benchmarking and market analysis for Route 28 uses, revisions to design standards and overlay district recommendations, and development of administrative changes to reduce board/committee handoffs.
Board members recommended including one or two planning board members on the RFP evaluation team, considering a not‑to‑exceed pricing structure in proposals and reserving the option to pursue administrative rule changes in parallel (public hearings only) to accelerate process improvements ahead of the longer consultant timeline. Staff estimated a 3–4 month procurement period and roughly 12 months for the consultant work, with some items requiring town‑meeting action when zoning changes are proposed.
Next steps: staff will finalize the scope and RFP language, coordinate procurement timing, and seek planning board volunteers for the evaluation team once the procurement schedule is set.
