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Merrimack Valley Priority Growth Strategy September 2009Page 1 Merrimack Valley Priority Growth Strategy “The Regional Land Use Plan” for the Merrimack Valley Region Amesbury Market Square Produced by the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission Merrimack Valley Priority Growth Strategy September 2009Page 1 December 2014 (Updated) MVPC Officers Professional Staff Richard Byers, Chairman Administration Robert Lavoie, Vice Chairman Dennis A. DiZoglio, Executive Director Edward Ramsdell, Secretary Jenifer Dunlap, Financial Manager Robert Snow, Treasurer Nancy Lavallee, Office Administrator/Executive Assistant Dennis DiZoglio, Executive Director Environmental Brad Buschur, Rep at Large Joseph Cosgrove, Environmental Program Manager Peter Phippen, Environmental Planner and Coastal Resources Coordinator (8TGM) Commissioners Transportation Anthony Komornick, Transportation Program Manager Amesbury Robert Lavoie Mary Kay Beninati, Senior Transportation Planner Andover Joan Duff Todd Fontanella, Senior Transportation Planner Boxford Joe Hill Elizabeth Goodrich, Transportation Planner Georgetown Howard Snyder Daniel Ovalle, Field Services Specialist Groveland Robert O’Hanley James Terlizzi, Transportation Planner Haverhill April Derboghosian Lawrence Theresa Park GIS Merrimac John Thomas Jerrard Whitten, GIS Manager/Environmental Planner Methuen Kevin P. Hagerty Steve Lopez, GIS Specialist Kelsey Quinlan, GIS Technician Newbury John Weis Newburyport Ed Ramsdell Community and Economic Development North Andover Richard Byers Mike Parquette, Comprehensive Planning Manager Rowley Robert Snow Ted Semesnyei, Economic Development Coordinator Salisbury Lou Masiello West Newbury Brian Murphey Merrimack Valley Priority Growth Strategy Page 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 2 Executive Summary ........................................................................................................... 3 Existing Regional Conditions ............................................................................................. 5 Regional Challenges of the 21st Century .......................................................................... 21 Regional Priority Development Areas (PDA) .................................................................. 27 Areas of concentrated development, including a city or town center, consisting of existing and appropriately zoned commercial, industrial nad mixed-use areas suitable for high- density development. Protected Lands & Land Suitable for Protection ......................................................... 79 Agricultural preservation restrictions, protected federal, state or municipal lands, protected public and private outdoor recreation areas, &open space plans priorities, watersheds for public water supplies, active farmlands. Regional Connections ............................................................................................. 107 Regional roads, transit and bike/pedestrial connections that support the promotion of PDAs and protected lands. Transportation Access .................................................................................................... 127 Smart Growth Strategies for the Merrimack Valley ................................................... 163 "Smart Growth" principles/strategies that can guide the growth management of member communities Strategy Integration ........................................................................................................ 171 How member communities, the region, and state and federal governments can benefit by an identified regional priority growth management . Appendices Community GIS Priority Growth Strategy Maps The following sections are supportive of the Priority Growth Strategy and available at the MVPC website www.mvpc.org Methodology for Priority Growth Strategy Spatial Analysis CDC Land Use & Infrastructure Transportation Access Environmental Impact CDC Evaluation Charts Public Participation Glossary Merrimack Valley Priority Growth Strategy Page 1 INTRODUCTION The Merrimack Valley Planning Commission (MVPC) was created in 1959 with the general purpose to “foster a cooperative effort among its communities in resolving common, regional problems, to allow its communities to plan jointly, and to promote with greatest efficiency and economy the coordinated and orderly development of the region and the general welfare of its residents.” How do you get fifteen different communities, all separate a-political bodies, tied together through history, economics, transportation and natural resources to cooperate to resolve regional problems? How can communities plan jointly to promote the coordinated and orderly development of the Merrimack Valley region? The answers lie in the development of a regional strategy. A strategy based on “Smart Growth” principles, which identifies the roles each community plays and promotes a shared vision. The vision they share is a region that promotes development in the right place that generates good jobs, new tax revenues, creates affordable housing, stimulates the economy and creates a sense of place. A region that balances growth with preservation, maintains open space and the character of the region, and is served by an effective transportation system. This Strategy is an attempt to realize this vision. The strategy focuses on identifying Priority Development Areas (PDA) where communities want to encourage growth. It also identifies Priority Preservation Areas (PPA) that should be off limits to development to preserve the character of the region and protect environmental resources. And it evaluates the suitability of the regional transportation network to serves these land use patterns and recommends improvements that could be made to make it more complementary. To ensure that the Strategy accurately reflected the communities’ priorities, elements in the Strategy were generated and formed with active local involvement. Not only were community representatives interviewed and used as a “sounding board” but all local Master Plans, E 418 Plans, Community Development Plans and Open Space & Recreation Master Plans where reviewed for guidance. To augment the traditional public process a number of unique outreach efforts were undertaken. Forum presentations on the draft Strategy were made at the 2008 annual Regional Planning Day, Merrimack Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization, Merrimack Valley quarterly planning directors meeting, Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) committee and the Merrimack Valley Regional Legislative Caucus. Presentations were also made to community leaders, Boards of Selectmen and Planning Boards, throughout the region. In September, 2009 the commissioners of the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission unanimously approved the Merrimack Valley Priority Growth Strategy as the official regional policy plan for the region. In 2014 MVPC updated the Strategy to reflect the Commonwealth’s Planning Ahead for Growth initiative, which identified State PDA and PPA and recognized changes that had taken place in the region since 2009. Merrimack Valley Priority Growth Strategy Page 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY At the turn of the 20th Century the Merrimack Valley region’s locus of economic activity were the employment centers of Lawrence and Haverhill. With the decline of these industrial centers, residents from the valley began to seek employment opportunities outside the region along the Route 128 corridor and in Greater Boston. As this economic shift grew in size and shape the commuting patterns changed. Today only two communities in the region, Andover and Newburyport, attract more workers than the number of residents that leave their communities for employment opportunities. The increase in commuting has also led to an increase in regional traffic congestion. Not only did this economic shift change the region’s economy and commuting patterns, it also changed the region’s land use patterns. As more and more people moved closer to these new employment opportunities the supply and demand for housing dramatically increased the cost of housing in the greater Boston area. In search for more affordable housing lands previously used for farming or forestry in the Merrimack Valley region were developed for housing. Communities now needed to manage the impact of this new growth putting a strain on the regional infrastructure, traffic, and municipal services, particularly education services. The region’s limited capacity to meet this housing demand has had two affects. It has dramatically increased housing costs in the region, which has limited the ability of existing residents and workers to stay in the region. And this “sprawl” is moving north of the region into Southern New Hampshire, which is further adding to the region’s traffic congestion, particularly along Interstates 93 and 495. Further adding to this dynamic is the way the region’s communities finance municipal services. With their reliance on property taxes and the limits placed on this revenue source from Proposition 2 ½, most municipalities turn to economic development to expand their property tax base to keep pace with the increase cost of providing services. However, equally important based on a public opinion survey of Merrimack Valley residents conducted at the end of the 20th Century, was the concern many residents have about the region’s continued population growth and land development, and the implication for the region’s future quality of life. Clearly, these
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