Priority Area Project Background

This section describes work that took place in 2013 to update Priority Development Areas (PDAs) and Priority Protection Areas (PPAs) in each of the 31 South Coast Rail (SCR) Corridor communities. This land use planning exercise first occurred in 2008, when SRPEDD, MAPC, and OCPC worked alongside local residents, business owners, officials, and organizations to designate PDAs and PPAs. Please click here to access a 5-Year Update brochure for background information.

In 2013, these same three regional planning agencies (RPAs) revisited each SCR community to provide an opportunity to confirm or revise past designations in light of potential changes in municipal priorities. The RPAs also incorporated new geographic information systems (GIS) data and an understanding of Executive Order 525 into community workshops in order to facilitate decision-making.

The 5-Year Update process began in December 2012 with introductory presentations to the Board of Selectmen and Mayors. Once these initial meetings were held, each community convened working sessions with municipal officials, at which time the RPAs and local meeting participants reviewed each community's priority areas and made desired changes. During the months of April, May, and June 2013, the RPAs held public workshops with each community in order to receive public input on the draft 2013 priority areas. A record of all SCR 5-Year Update meetings is available in calendar format at the bottom of this page (for past meeting times and locations please see prior months) and in the Resource Library, below.

In June and July of 2013, each community finalized their respective updates. All 31 Community Reports are available below in the Resource Library. In August and September, RPAs consulted these updated community priority areas and conducted a regional screening process to identify Community Priority Areas of Regional Significance. On September 24 and September 26, the RPAs held two regional workshops in order to seek direct input on these selections from regional environmental, economic development, transportation, and other advocacy groups. The RPAs made all relevant data (text, PDF maps, and GIS files) available in advance of these meetings. Please see the "Support Materials" section of the Resource Library for these documents. Also, please note that in 2013, RPAs only selected regional designations from those sites already chosen as priorities by cities and towns.

The results of the regional screening process, including methodology, summary statistics and all received comments and responses are available in the Resource Library. These findings are documented in the FINAL 2013 Community Priority Areas of Regional Significance report and map.