The Lyndeborough Planning Board has begun preliminary work on updating the town’s master plan, which has not been done since 2002, Planning Board member Lou Rota said at a meeting of the board’s town survey working group Thursday evening.
Rota explained that the Planning Board has split its master plan subcommittee into eight different working groups, each tackling a different section of the master plan: historical/heritage, families/schools, community services/utilities, working landscape/natural environment, economic viability and growth, housing and transportation.
The town survey working group will be collaborating with the rest of the groups to develop a survey that will be distributed to residents, “so that everybody has an opportunity to express what’s important to them in the master plan as it gets updated,” Rota said.
“Community involvement is very important when generating a master plan,” added Kathleen Humphreys, Rota’s partner on the town survey working group. “We’re definitely going to have to public hearings – and anyone in town is welcome to come to any meeting and make any comment.”
At Thursday night’s town survey working group meeting, Rota and Humphreys began the process of creating the survey. Rota explained that they will be developing survey questions with input from the other working groups, who will each submit two to three questions related to their area of focus. Additionally, the master plan subcommittee was able to get copies of master plan surveys from Hollis, Brookline and Mason, which they will review to identify questions that would be suitable for Lyndeborough’s survey.
The group began by reviewing Hollis’ survey, which they felt was the most thorough, because it included both the survey questions and resident responses. They identified several questions they felt would be relevant for inclusion in Lyndeborough’s survey, including basic demographic information, what residents like and dislike about living in town and what housing options residents would like to see more of.
The group also noted several questions that might be of interest to some of the other working groups, and will pass them along to those groups for inspiration as they develop their questions.
The town survey working group was hoping to have the survey sent out with residents’ tax bills to ensure a wide distribution throughout town. However, Rota said tax bills were being sent out early this year, and the survey would likely not be completed in time, since it must first be approved by the master plan subcommittee before it is sent to residents. He speculated, however, that it might be more effective to have the surveys sent out separately from tax bills.
Humphreys explained that the master plan is a “working document” and does not have to be strictly followed. Rather, it is more of a general guide for the Planning Board to use in making decisions about the town’s development.
“It’s what kind of a town would you like Lyndeborough to be as we look 10 years down the road,” Rota added.
The Lyndeborough Master Plan Subcommittee meets at Citizens’ Hall on the first Thursday of every month at 7 p.m., and residents are urged to attend. Additionally, Rota said several of the working groups are still looking for volunteers; interested residents should reach out to Town Administrator Russ Boland at 603-654-5955.