Your Voice for Andover’s Future
Now is your chance to provide input to create a livable, affordable Andover for years to come. On Wednesday, November 9, 2022, 7 p.m. at Memorial Hall Library there will be a Development Workshop with the Andover Master Planning Steering Committee and consultant Utile. Careful planning today can lead to achievements tomorrow. Be sure to join in the conversation.
A Master Plan Guides Change
A good town Master Plan is meant to manage change; it is not meant to be a granular study of every issue. The Master Plan incorporates what is important to us as a town — our values, our aspirations and the goals that we share for our community. Town boards and leaders use the plan as a policy guide and framework in their work on land use and development.
This Work is Part of a Ten-month Long Process
The plan is developed with town staff working with residents. Town staff guide the plan, however, it’s the input from town residents that determines what is in the Andover Master Plan.
Right now Andover is in the middle of the ten-month-long town-wide planning process. Through meetings and surveys, residents have been exploring issues such as transportation and mobility, housing, economic development, climate, urban form, and land use, among many others. From this work, a long-range plan will be developed that knits together past, present, and future initiatives covering the entire town, from the downtown to the town’s many neighborhoods. The 2023 plan will provide a coordinated roadmap for the future development and evolution of the town, and will establish a framework for more detailed studies down the road.
Current efforts to revise the Master Plan launched in June 2022. So far there have been:
3 steering committee meetings,
2 online resident surveys producing priority rankings for some 15 issue categories,
a public meeting presenting analysis and soliciting further comments and suggestions,
comments from residents during Andover Day.
In addition to resident input there are existing town plans that inform this Master Plan. Those plans include the 2012 Master Plan, 2016 Downtown Plan, 2018 Housing Production Plan, 2018 Open Space Plan, 2019 Park Playstead Municipal Complex Master Plan, and 2021 Downtown Rapid Recovery Plan.
To see how land in Andover is currently used, check out the Composite Land Use Map. This map shows residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, government owned land, and different types of conservation land.
Join the Development Workshop on November 9
The process continues next week with a workshop. On the evening of November 9, residents are invited to join the Master Planning Steering Committee to share additional community feedback and continue to gather comments, ideas, and reactions to fold into the plan in order to develop an achievable and implementable action plan.
Share Your Voice Emphasizing the Importance of Affordable Housing
ACT is particularly interested in how we can help address community requests for building more affordable housing in town. The Master Plan includes assessments of existing resources and issues, as well as projections of future conditions and needs in consideration of community goals and desires. Join in the conversation.
For more information, visit MasterPlan.andoverma.gov.
