Milton officials begin laying out path for comp plan update

Members of Milton Town Council and the Milton Planning and Zoning Commission met Sept. 16, to begin laying out a path to complete the state-mandated 10-year update of the comprehensive development plan.

The town has until 2028 to finish the update, but the way forward will involve a lot of meetings, writing and public participation. 

At the Sept. 16 meeting, P&Z Chair Richard Trask said the commission’s first step should be to figure out the goals and objectives of the plan. Trask said the existing plan goes a bit too much into the history of Milton and contains almost too much information, but doesn’t go as deep into policy solutions as it should.

“It’s basically a history book with very little process associated with it,” he said. 

Trask said there is good information within the existing plan that needs to be updated and categorized. He said that can serve as a foundation for an update. Trask’s idea for updating the plan is to assign portions of the existing plan to each member of the commission and hold individual workshops on each topic. 

Mayor John Collier questioned the approach of parceling out different sections, but agreed the town should not bring in consultants to work on the plan until later in the process. Councilman Robert Gray took the opposite approach, saying the town should bring in experts first and then solicit public input. Gray said he believes getting input from experts first would result in a better product later.

Two large issues the commission indicated it wants to tackle are affordable housing and expanding the town’s commercial/industrial base. 

On the latter, Commissioner Don Mazzeo said if the town does not expand the commercial base, the bulk of the costs for running the town will fall on residential taxpayers. He said the plan should look at ways to encourage more commercial/industrial entities to come to Milton.

On affordable housing, Trask agreed it will be an important topic, but it is not one the town can solve alone. He said the town will need buy-in from the state and developers to increase the amount of affordable housing available.

Both the planners and town council members agreed the first step should be to take the existing plan and begin redlining it to determine what doesn’t need to be there anymore or can be labeled as accomplished. They also agreed that educating the public on the purpose of the comprehensive plan – a roadmap for future development of the town that carries with it the force of law – and what it is trying to accomplish are important goals prior to getting input from those same citizens. 

“Before you go to the range, you need to have a target,” Commissioner George Cardwell said.

Trask suggested holding two work sessions in January to start putting together the message to be conveyed by the plan. He said town officials need to figure out priorities so a lot of time isn’t taken up talking about topics that are not relevant. 

Ultimately, both the planners and town council members seemed satisfied that there is a path forward.