Community Development

Community Development consists of a group of Departments that work together to serve the public, guide the Town's land use and regulatory efforts, and provide staff support to Town regulatory boards in five primary areas:

Building Services (includes Mechanical, Electric, Plumbing and Gas)
Community Planning (Planning, Zoning, Conservation, Historic District, Growth Management)
Health (Board of Health and Public Health)
Licensing
Housing and Economic Development

Community Development staff work directly with applicants and their representatives to review development proposals, offer professional guidance and technical advice, and ensure that applicants understand the regulatory process to get their projects approved.

It is the goal of Community Development to help ensure that development and building permit applications are complete when submitted; to review applications in a timely fashion; to share information with the public about the status of all applications; to help ensure predictability of outcome with our regulatory processes, so that similar applications with similar circumstances produce similar results; and to provide fair and equitable enforcement of regulatory decisions.

Depending on the type and scope of the project, a number of different Town Department and/or Board reviews may be required. Every project is unique and we are happy to work with applicants so that they understand the necessary review steps and the time and fees involved.

The first step for any project is to set up a pre-application meeting with the Planning Department. The Town Planner and the Permit Coordinator will work with applicants to understand the proposed project, bring in other Community Development staff as necessary and appropriate, and lay out the regulatory pathway for the project. The Permit Coordinator will review submitted applications for completeness and quality of information to help ensure the fairest possible outcome.

Staff Contacts: