Comprehensive Plan Ad Hoc Subcommittee Formed

By Kim Siebert MacPhail

At its meeting on September 12^th, the Planning Board appointed members of a subcommittee to assist in the creation of an update to Bedford’s Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan, also called the Master Plan, is intended as a roadmap for the coming decade and will provide guidance, specifically, in six  categories:  land use and zoning; transportation; economic development; natural and cultural resources; housing; and town services, facilities, recreation and energy use.

To prepare for the phase of the process that the subcommittee will tackle—the creation of the Master Plan document— two public meetings were held in March and in May that invited all town residents to participate in small group discussions about the six categories listed above.

Following those larger public dialogs, the Planning Board put out a call for volunteers to form a subcommittee to help sift through all the input to create the Comprehensive Plan document. Nine residents stepped forward to serve who are either liaisons from other town committees or citizens-at-large. Seven of the nine appointees were able to attend the Planning Board meeting on September 12^th and participate in an orientation session:

David Cormier, affiliate of the Chamber of Commerce, wants to make sure that the interests of both businesses and residents alike are addressed within the Comprehensive Plan.

Jaci Edwards, liaison from Bedford Arbor Resources Committee, is also a member of the Jenks Nature Trail working group which, in her words, is “revitalizing the historic arboretum in front of the high school and library.” Edwards worked extensively on the current version of the Comprehensive Plan that was adopted in 2002.

Suzy Enos, liaison and former chair of the Bedford Energy Task Force, who attended both public workshops, thought the process of getting feedback from citizens was valuable, and wants to continue with the work.

Terry Gleason, liaison from the Bicycle Committee, is an advocate for improved access for bikes including the “Safe Routes to School” program. Gleason is also a Trails Committee volunteer who likes to work on creation and maintenance of trails in town. He is also a member of Transition Towns, Bedford.

Amy Hamilton, Director of Recreation and Bedford resident, has lived and worked in Bedford for a good number of years and runs, walks, bikes, and drives around town. She is raising a teenager here and has ideas and perspectives she would like to share, from many perspectives, as the Plan is developed.

Tom Kinzer, liaison from the Board of Health, says that the Board of Health has been interested in working with the Planning Board for some time on a number of issues, especially “the built environment.” The Board of Health would also like to work, perhaps within the Plan, on animal regulations that would make Bedford a “friendlier place” for activities  such as the keeping of farm animals, like backyard chickens.

Sam Petracca, member at large and interested citizen, is a volunteer for the food pantry and the library. As a grandfather, he is interested in continuing to make the town livable and enjoyable for the younger generations while keeping it affordable for the elders in town.

The other two appointees, Stephen Carluccio and Mike Oleksinski, were unable to attend the meeting on the 12^th. Carluccio will serve as a liaison from the Finance Committee and Oleksinski is a member-at-large.

The intention is for the subcommittee to meet monthly in conjunction with the Planning Board. Those meetings will be “like workshops” and be dedicated entirely to the creation of the Comprehensive Plan. Planning Director Glenn Garber said that the Planning Board would keep the two types of meetings separate so that policy and regulatory issues will not be addressed on the same nights as the Comprehensive Plan work is done.

In the course of his career, Garber has worked on several other towns’ comprehensive plans. Describing the process, he said, “It will constantly be working to narrow down the field. To agree on issues, agree on goals, agree on strategies—that’s the overall mission.”

Speaking to the appointees he added, “You’ll help articulate what the issues are in Bedford, looking ten and twenty years down the road. [You’ll] also provide an array of viewpoints. Some people have particular passions: trails, open space, business. They might represent particular boards and standing committees like Recreation. So everyone will have a voice and all those viewpoints get mixed and debated and out of that comes a kind of consensus position.”

While it is not a requirement that the Comprehensive Plan be presented to Town Meeting for approval, Garber called it “good practice” to obtain Town Meeting endorsement. To that end, he envisions that the final document will be presented to Special Town Meeting in November of 2013. Garber added that in as many as 60% of states across the country, the Comprehensive Plan is considered a legal document that cannot be contradicted, although such is not the case in this state. Planning Boards in Massachusetts are, however, charged by the state with the work of creating comprehensive plans at regular ten-year intervals.