With 2020 barely off and running, Manchester and Essex are both holding public forums that will bring community housing and economic development into focus. First, at its regular meeting on Monday, January 13 the Manchester Planning Board will hold a final community discussion before voting on whether to proceed with a 40R Smart Growth planning process to guide change in the Limited Commercial District (LCD). Town Planner Sue Brown encourages residents to attend and get involved.
The meeting follows a similar public forum in September held at the Manchester-Essex Regional High School hosted by Brown and the Planning Board as a primer on the concept of the state’s 40R Smart Growth Overlay District (SGOD) program — what it is and whether it is a planning option for guiding future development on lands north of Route 128. Bill Reyelt, principal planner with the Massachusetts Smart Growth Program, provided an overview and answered questions from the approximately 30 residents in attendance. The discussion focused on a number of issues relating to how a SGOD is created, its purpose and benefits, and the particular development potential and challenges in the LCD.
Brown said next week’s meeting in Town Hall will allow the board to respond to some questions raised at that initial September meeting and provide another opportunity for residents to share thoughts before it votes on next steps. If the board votes to move forward to create a 40R District, this will begin a robust community process with continued opportunities for the community to help identify appropriate land uses, density, performance standards and design characteristics. If the Planning Board finds it has general support for this new planning tool, it will present the district and its regulations to Town Meeting where the voters will have the final say.
These moves come as Manchester and Essex are seeking to address planning goals for the future, each with different challenges. Manchester’s challenge is how to address housing options and increased sources of revenue for a town with a relatively flat population (falling slightly from 5,636 in 2000 to 5,583 today) but a quickly aging resident profile. (Manchester’s fastest growing resident population is over age 60.) All this while median value for a single-family home in Manchester has increased 17 percent in the last eight years.
The town of Essex is also exploring planning options, and its challenges are partially related to increasing demand on housing and services as its population is increasing pretty dramatically — 18 percent from 2000 to 2019, with an additional three percent expected over the next three years, according to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. Also, the town has not previously focused on economic development or housing. Because of these factors, the town is studying how to expand its economic base of employers (and sources of tax revenue) while also clarifying its zoning to allow a healthy mix of housing for different incomes and ages and life stages.
Last year, Essex conducted a survey to hear from residents and businesses, and this month two interrelated open houses are scheduled (January 8, on economic development; and January 22, on housing) at Town Hall. Feedback from these forums will be factored into the town development of a five- to 10-year economic plan for its future.
