Longtime Peterborough Planning Board member Ivy Vann stepped down from her position prior to the board’s meeting Monday, citing her desire to focus attention on her career as an urban and infill planner.
Vann provided a short speech expressing gratitude and pride in the work she has accomplished with fellow board members over the years prior to the start of the meeting. Board Chair Stephanie Hurley thanked Vann for her many years of service which was followed by an ovation from the packed room.
Vann, also a state representative from House Hillsborough County District 33 running for her fifth term in Concord, has been on the Planning Board since 2009.
When Vann began thinking about housing and planning issues in the 1980s, she was a reporter for the The Cabinet, commonly known then as the Milford Cabinet. It was at that time, she said, that she started learning about the issues that would ultimately shape her career as a certified planner and a state legislator who focuses a lot of her attention on housing.
“I have been thinking about [stepping down from the board] for a while,” Vann said, adding that she knew the board had good alternates who could step in. “I’m working more now as an urban planner and infill planner.”
Lisa Stone, an alternate on the board, will fill Vann’s role for the remainder of her term.
One of Vann’s proudest achievements serving on the board involved the development of 18 cottages in front of the Catholic Church in Peterborough.
“Every time I feel like I’ve accomplished nothing, I go out to those cottages in front of the new Catholic Church,” she said, explaining that rather than going with a traditional neighborhood overlay, the board was able to change the code to make it what it is today. “The original project was not so lovely but because of the code change we were able to develop a lovely neighborhood. The board did a good job on that.”