Public’s Input Sought by Plan of Conservation and Development Update Committee

Members of a local committee hope the public will take time over the next several days to provide input on the various areas that make up Canton and how that could affect future land use and other issues.

The Plan of Conservation and Development Update Committee is looking to involve the public in the process of updating a document designed to guide the town through future decisions and is most immediately seeking input on its proposed districts for the town.

The Committee chose seven districts in an effort to make the document easier to navigate and to establish that different areas of town may have different planning needs. It also looks to show that neighborhoods often do have shared characteristics and sometimes competing forces.  

At the same time, however, committee chairman Jonathan Thiesse said the idea is not to create separate sections in town.

“We’re not trying to establish seven separate entities in Canton,” Thiesse said.

The committee does, however want to know how residents feel about the district boundaries.

“I want people to know that it’s very important to get input from them,” Thiesse said.

Residents can log on to http://cantonpocd.posterous.com/ to read more about the committee and provide feedback on the districts and other aspects of the document, which is designed to provide the town a roadmap for future planning in land use and much more.

Although the site lists May 20 as the cutoff date for comments, Town Planner Neil Pade said the period has been extended at least until the committee’s next meeting, which was rescheduled to Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 7 pm in the Community Center.

The updated document needs to be completed by September 2013.  Canton’s Board of Selectmen appointed the POCD Update Committee in December 2010 to coordinate this process.  The Committee consists of volunteer representatives from Canton’s many active civic boards, agencies and community groups, as well as at-large members.  

 The POCD Update Committee generally meets the fourth Monday of every month, at 7 pm in the Community Center, 40 Dyer Ave. Meetings are open to the public, and a public comment session opens every regular meeting. 

Portions of a press release were used in the report.