Planning Board could pursue long range, master plan update
Date: 7/17/2012
By Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.comLONGMEADOW — The Planning Board plans to meet with a representative from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) at its Aug. 1 meeting to discuss whether the town should pursue updating the town's long-range plan or begin working on creating a master plan.
Planning Board Chair Walter Gunn explained at the board's July 11 meeting that the town originally created a long-range plan for community development in accordance Executive Order 418, made by former Gov. Paul Cellucci administration.
"We are published on the web. You can Google Executive Order 418 and in there they say the towns that did it and Longmeadow comes up," he said. "You can actually download the entire plan."
Since then, Gunn continued, Massachusetts General Law Chapter 41, Section 81D, which outlines the set up of a master plan, replaced the long-range plan concept.
"I don't want to call it a gimmick, but there were certain concerns of the Cellucci administration that created this [Executive Order 418] and made money that we got. It was grant money," Gunn said. "[Massachusetts General Law Chapter 41, Section 81D] followed this and that's when master plans took off. Obviously, when they make legislation like that, they provide grant money and some developing towns, like Easthampton, jumped on master plans."
Gunn further stated that there is a lack of information as to whether or not long-range plans are still viable documents.
"Is it a legal document? That's what I can't understand," he said. "I don't know what is left in this executive order that has any teeth in it ... The Commonwealth of Massachusetts jumped right from Executive Order 418 to Massachusetts General Law Chapter 41, Section 81D, so there is no more support for long-range plans in the Commonwealth, so we may have to go with a master plan."
Gunn added that if that is the path the Planning Board wished to follow, several aspects of a master plan have already been fleshed out.
"I checked it and the good news is we are on our way already," he said. "We have an open space plan and several other plans in place and maybe with technical assistance, the town of Longmeadow should have a master plan."
Board member Roy Johansen said that he recognized a need for a master plan because currently the town has holes in certain zoning definitions.
"The biggest thing that I see as a fault for us as a town is the fact that we haven't addressed certain kinds of uses, certain kinds of plans or use for property that potentially could be re-developed," he said. "Based on my understanding, if indeed a developer came in and said this is where they wanted to do something and we never had it on record that this was something that we did not want to have as a use, they get more right than perhaps we do."
Johansen went on to say that he didn't feel the long-range plan could adequately fill those gaps.
"Some of the things that are in the long-range plan don't deal with zoning or use," he said. "A lot of the things included in the long-range plan are policy decisions."
Board member Gerald Nolet, who had prepared a recommendation regarding the long-range plan, agreed that the long-range plan is an out-of-date document that needs either replacing or updating.
"There were 83 action steps [in the long-range plan," he said. "I'm proposing to eliminate 42 of them because they have been completed and shouldn't be on the plan any further."
At that point, the board agreed to speak with the PVPC for further guidance on which document would better serve the town.
