The Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) will be hosting a Holiday Networking Event and Open House to present a final draft update of the region’s Priority Development Areas (PDAs) and Priority Preservation Areas (PPAs) at Cork and Wine Tapas in New Bedford on Thursday, December 19, 2024, from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM. The event will also be the quarterly meeting of the Regional Economic Strategy Committee (RESC). Please join us to review and comment on this work! Those interested in attending can register here.
Background from 2008 and 2013
Working with communities to plan for potential growth and the arrival of South Coast Rail (SCR) passenger service has remained a long-standing priority for MBTA and SRPEDD.
In 2008, SRPEDD, along with other Regional Planning Agencies (RPAs), partnered with individual municipalities and the Commonwealth to develop a comprehensive regional land use strategy for the region. Designating PDAs and PPAs allowed communities to identify local areas that were appropriate for growth as well as areas necessary to preserve for ecological, cultural, or recreational purposes. This planning process ensured that community voices and priorities were represented in local, regional, and statewide decision-making.
Five years later, in 2013, SRPEDD and sister RPAs worked to revisit and refine these original PDA and PPA designations by conducting over 100 meetings and working sessions and deploying significant Geographic Information System (GIS) data and policy analysis. This “Five-Year update” resulted in the 2013 Community Priority Areas of Regional Significance report.
2023/2024 Update
Over the past year and a half (a decade after the last update), SRPEDD staff have once again collaborated with municipal and community leaders in all 27 of the agency’s service communities in another series of presentations, working sessions, and policy and report reviews. Throughout this engagement process, cities and towns designated new PDAs and PPAs and otherwise refined and updated their existing designations to align with current community goals.
Equipped with this local knowledge, SRPEDD staff also reviewed the community PDAs and PPAs using a Regional Screening process that measured the suitability of each of the local designations for future development and preservation activities. Through this methodology, SRPEDD identified areas of regional significance from among the city and town PDAs and PPAs. Examples of these 2024 Community Priority Areas of Regional Significance can be found in the case studies outlined in the project’s interactive Story Map.
This project was by funded by the MBTA and the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities’ (EOHLC) District Local Technical Assistance (DLTA) program.
Resources
- PDA/PPA Project Page (www.srpedd.org/Priority-Areas)
- 2024 PDA/PPA Story Map
Learn more about the current engagement process through our project newsletters!
Thank you to all who have participated in the Middleborough Master Plan so far! Visit the links below to check out a recap of our Kick-Off workshop and survey responses.
Upcoming Engagement Opportunities
Participate as we work to outline and develop our first two Master Plan ‘Elements’ (or Chapters) – Open Space and Recreation and Natural and Cultural Resources!
Join us on July 21st at Soule Homestead Education Center to learn about how Middleborough’s parks, habitats, sustainability practices, and cultural, historic and natural preservation and help us create a guide and envision how these elements might looks like in the next ten years! We will also be celebrating National Ice Cream Day with free ice cream for event attendees and activities for kids.
Click on image to register or visit https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/2ptk2z2
Freetown is working with the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) to draft a zoning bylaw that will comply with the MBTA Communities Act. A series of public meeting will be held this spring to inform the public the proposed changes to the existing Planned Mixed Use Development District (PMUD).
Explore the Story Map Here:
The Planned Development District (PDD) (arcgis.com)
Learn More about Section 3A Here:
www.srpedd.org/mbta-communities
www.mass.gov/info-details/multi-family-zoning-requirement-for-mbta-communities
Section 3A Brochure – Freetown by Comprehensive Department
Middleborough is updating its Master Plan!
A Master Plan is a policy guide designed to help communities create a vision of what they want to look like in the future; Master Plans help guide communities in their planning decisions for many years and are a valuable resource for anyone who would like to better understand a community’s values and priorities.
Over the next two years, the Town of Middleborough, with support from the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic District (SRPEDD), will hear from you – Middleborough residents, business owners, community organizers, and members. A lot has changed since Middleborough’s Master Plan was last updated in 2002 and your input will be the essential ingredient – combined with current, accurate data – that will build the final Master Plan!
The project team kicked off the planning process earlier this year and is actively looking for members to join the Master Plan Committee! Interested in joining? Please contact Leann Bradley at bradleyl@middleboroughma.gov or submit an expression of interest via this form https://forms.office.com/r/2D6tY2fwZn.
Visit the project website to learn more and sign up for updates on our newsletter with this link.
March 6, 2024
SRPEDD is happy to partner with Norton to create the Town’s Housing Production Plan. Community input is crucial to the development of this plan, and Norton residents are encouraged to provide feedback on existing housing conditions in town and how the public can work on addressing issues to create a livable and prosperous Norton.
Please visit the survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/norton-housing-survey
For more information on the Norton Housing Production Plan, please contact Taylor Perez or Robert Cabral.
For more information on Housing Production Plans, please visit: https://srpedd.org/housing-production-plans