Article 10 on the Town Meeting Warrant seeks approval to hire a Town Planner. The need for a Town Planner was identified in the 2002 Master Plan of the Town and has been reiterated several times since in town studies and reports. We have delayed long enough in filling this important role.
The Planning Board is not just a special permit and site-plan review authority. We are also charged with long-range planning, a task that requires a very different set of skill sets. Over the past few years the Planning Board has grappled with the reports of the EDC that have focused on the Ayer Road Business District and plans to make that District more vibrant and provide services we badly need. And looming over us is the entire analysis of Devens and how it will affect our Master Plan and the entire town. Frequent turn-over on the Board has hampered our ability to move forward on these and other long-range projects and has deprived us of continuity and institutional knowledge needed for long-range planning.
We need a professional to support the town on these long-range projects and their implementation. Please support this article.
Peter Brooks
Chair, Planning Board
Orchard Hill
