About the Planning Board

The Planning Board consists of seven residents of the Town who are appointed by the Town Council for staggered 3-year terms. Board members may serve no more than 3 full consecutive terms. Each year, the Planning Board elects a Chair and Vice-Chair who run the meetings.

The Planning Board holds a regular meeting on the third Tuesday of the month and a workshop on the first Tuesday of the month. To be on the Workshop agenda, applicants must notify the Town planner at least a week before the meeting and have a sketch plan to discuss with the Planning Board. To be on the regular meeting agenda, the project must have been discussed at a workshop. Submissions for the regular meeting must be made no later than 18 days prior to the regular meeting.

Public notice is mailed to residents adjacent to projects that are on the workshop agenda so that residents may gather information about the project. Oral public comment, however, is not taken at the workshop. Public notice is also mailed when a project first appears on the Planning Board regular meeting agenda and when that project is scheduled for a public hearing.

The Planning Board encourages and appreciates public comment. Written comments may be sent to the Planning Board at any time. Written comments should be forwarded to the Town planner, where they will be distributed to all Planning Board members and added to the public record. Members of the public may address the Planning Board during regular (non-workshop) meetings.

Members of the public should not privately discuss with Planning Board members projects currently before the Planning Board. This is considered "Ex Parte" communication and could disqualify the Board member from voting on the project. All of the information that a Board member uses to make a decision on a project should be available for public review. A private discussion would not be part of the public record, consequently, Planning Board members encourage the public to write to the Planning Board with their comments or to speak at a regular (non-workshop) meeting. For information about a project, residents should contact the Town planner and take the opportunity to review the project file available in the Planning Office.