Community Development & Planning

 

Primary Functions:

The Community Development and Planning office is responsible for coordinating and directing all community development planning activities in the Town, and serves as staff support to the Planning Board, Conservation Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals, Board of Health, Energy Commission, Agricultural Commission, and Open Space and Recreation Committee.

The Planning Director must review all development plans for compliance, ensure the plans are developed as approved, direct long-range planning, update the Town's Master Plan, provide technical advice to citizens and the Boards, and seek and secure grants to support planning-related activities. 

The role of the Planning Director is to provide Lancasters' Boards, Committees, and residents with information and guidance to support the planning process. The Director's position is not to make decisions for the Town, but to provide the Town with the information, tools, and guidance to make informed decisions among themselves, and to then aid in procedure on actionable items. 

The Community Development and Planning Department and MRPC have drafted an informal and informational survey to assess potential growth at the AUC properties in Lancaster. 

The purpose of this survey is to collect public input that will be considered in the event of a potential Mixed Use Overlay District located at Atlantic Union College. This site is 20+ acres and located in south Lancaster.
 

This site could potentially create new commercial and residential uses at a currently underutilized site and to adhere to the requirements of the MBTA Communities Zoning guidelines. The MBTA Communities Zoning guidelines is a state zoning mandate that requires Lancaster to zone for a minimum of 139 new multi-family units to be created “as of right”. The proposed Mixed Use Overlay District may be used to adhere to all or part of the MBTA Communities multi-family zoning requirements.
 

This survey is being conducted by the Town of Lancaster in collaboration with the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission (MRPC).
*Definition of Mixed Use A combination of residential and business uses, as noted below, arranged vertically (in multiple stories of a structure) or horizontally (adjacent to one another in one or more buildings on a lot). The

The AUC survey can be found here. Please forward completed surveys to bkeating@lancasterma.gov

 

The Community Development and Planning Department and MRPC have drafted an informal and informational survey to assess potential growth at the DCAMM property in Lancaster. 

The purpose of this survey is to collect public input that will be considered when creating the Regulation Use Schedule for the proposed Mixed Use Overlay District located at 106 Old Common Road, parcel ID 039-0004.0, south of Route 110 and north of Old Common Road, also known as DCAMM. This site is 80 acres and was previously home to the Lancaster Industrial School for Girls, the first state reform school for girls in the country.
 

The intention of this project is to create new commercial and residential uses at a currently underutilized site and to adhere to the requirements of the MBTA Communities Zoning guidelines. The MBTA Communities Zoning guidelines is a state zoning mandate that requires Lancaster to zone for a minimum of 139 new multi-family units to be created “as of right”. The proposed Mixed Use Overlay District may be used to adhere to all or part of the MBTA Communities multi-family
zoning requirements. This survey is being conducted by the Town of Lancaster in collaboration with the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission (MRPC).


*Definition of Mixed Use A combination of residential and business uses, as noted below, arranged vertically (in multiple stories of a structure) or horizontally (adjacent to one another in one or more buildings on a lot).

The DCAMM survey can be found here. 

 

Staff Contacts

Name Title Phone
Brian Keating Director of Community Development and Planning 978-365-3326 X1099
Rozlyn Lechten Administrative Assistant 978-365-3326 X1074