Launched in the spring of 2001, Harvard’s most recent Master Plan was adopted by the Planning Board on Nov. 4, 2002. For the most part, the 2002 plan reiterated needs and actions identified in the 1969 and 1988 plans, while adding the significant additional dimension of Devens, and providing a more specific and detailed implementation action plan. Now seven years into the plan, an implementation committee is focused on completing the highest priority actions, and laying the groundwork for the next update, which will be due in three years.
The acknowledgments page of the plan provides a sense of the magnitude of involvement in producing the plan. A steering committee of seven, including members of the Board of Selectmen, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, Conservation Commission, and Finance Committee, guided the consultants through the process. A total of 18 other town employees, members of town and regional boards, and conservation groups, are acknowledged for their assistance, as are representatives of MassDevelopment, Devens Enterprise Commission, and Montachusett Regional Planning Commission. In addition to Community Opportunities Group, Inc., the primary consultants who produced the plan, consultants from four other planning groups are acknowledged. The project was financed by the town of Harvard and a grant from the state.
As with the master plans of 1969 and 1988, the starting point was community input (a series of “visioning” sessions), which provided opportunities for residents to describe what they want Harvard to be, to explore the town’s assets, and to confront the conditions that threaten its future. According to the executive summary, “…anxiety over the disposition of Devens made it very difficult for participants to talk about Harvard’s future.” Further, “However, allowing Devens to dwarf issues that existed in residential Harvard long before the base closed is tantamount to submitting the town’s destiny to MassDevelopment.” The plan, while acknowledging the significance of Devens, focused on actions to be taken in the remaining 80 percent of Harvard.
Implementation approach
The plan looks at tools available for implementation and identifies needed additional tools. Zoning, the primary planning tool, is not enough to bring about realization of the vision and goals, it says. According to the plan, the Zoning Bylaw prescribes a uniform development outcome for 97 percent of the town, despite very different outcomes desired for town center, Still River village, and a mix of commercial and residential development in the Ayer Road C district. Under major findings, Chapter 1 goes on to say that “Present land use policies neither encourage nor allow the kinds of development that many town officials and residents say they want in their community.” Further, “Though the master plan goals call for ‘a balanced mix of village centers, agricultural, forested and open lands, and small neighborhoods,’ Harvard’s land use policies do not recognize any villages, high-priority open space or unique neighborhood areas.” Many of the early actions prescribed in the plan are for zoning changes, and creation of overlay districts to modify development in strategic areas.
In addition to zoning changes, specific actions are prescribed to meet goals in areas of natural and cultural resources, housing, open space and recreation, economic development, community facilities and services, and circulation and traffic. The plan recommends creation of an implementation committee to coordinate with town boards and departments in implementing the plan.
Next up: Action plan details, implementation status
