Planning Board Votes to Engage Regional Agency for Comprehensive Plan Visioning

Planning Board · Meeting of February 3, 2026

West Newbury Planning Board sidesteps RFP to fast-track comprehensive plan visioning. The board voted 5-0 Tuesday to pursue a draft scope of work directly from the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, skipping a competitive request-for-proposals process that Chair Ann Bardeen said would have cost the town weeks of review time. Bardeen noted the commission already holds much of the town's data and mapping and that the town's existing Local Technical Assistance hours can offset cash costs, preserving funds for a future town match when the project advances.

The board also opened a discussion on an inconsistency between a 25-percent pre-construction slope threshold in the subdivision regulations and the 20-percent standard in the zoning bylaw, with Clerk Raymond Cook presenting research he first compiled in 2022; MVPC Representative Brian Murphey called for a public hearing to bring the subdivision rules in line, a change the Planning Board can make without a town meeting vote. A public hearing on three separate zoning amendments — stormwater, cannabis siting, and parking and loading — is scheduled for March 17.

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Source: the Planning Board meeting of February 3, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.