Dover 2023 Begins! (Began?)

This past Saturday we got lucky here in Dover. I woke up at 5 to see snow falling. After my normal morning routine (gym, sustenance etc), I got ready for the kickoff session of our Dover 2023 exercise. This kickoff meeting took place at the Dover Middle School. We met from 9 am until noon, and had a very creative and constructive discussion about the future of Dover.

We have hired a consultant to walk the community through this process, and he and the principle staff member overseeing this project, the talented and intelligent Tim, were already at the Middle School setting up when I arrived. We had coffee, water, fruit and snacks all set. All we needed were people to attend and share their ideas.

I'll be honest, I wanted to be forced to call the fire department and get an occupancy load count. We had plans for 200 plus people. We had a smaller turnout, but those that came, came to work. We had a great community minded discussion. The participants broke into small groups with two facilitator's per group who helped the participants through the process. It was great to see how people feed off each other and learned from and collaborated with each other over the course of the two plus hours of small group work.

In the end the three groups reported back to the larger group what they value about Dover and what they see as challenges that lie ahead. What was fascinating is that we had very similar answers for each group. There is a strong appreciation of the community Dover has become. There is a strong appreciation for the family friendly town we are, and an acknowledgement of the value we have placed on education and economic diversity. Regarding challenges, we see that infrastructure, and maintaining the high levels of education and the balance between developed and undeveloped land. Additionally, a challenge is the continued efforts we have to make on transportation efficiency.

Up next are neighborhood meetings. These will build off the community conversation, and delve deeper into the questions about the future of Dover. These neighborhood meetings will be geared towards the next steps. In other words, we will go that next step in and look closer at the results from Saturday and ask the follow up question: What does this mean? People will be encouraged to think about the consequences of the challenges and value that has been articulated. We will also be working in some electronic polling to see how people feel about different aspects of Dover, such as service levels and facilities.

I encourage you to check out www.Dover2023.com, come to a neighborhood meeting (dates/times/locations below), and bring anyone you can think of to attend as well.  All of the meetings take place in the cafeteria of the school.

Tues.   March 13        7-9 pm       Garrison Elementary 

Wed.   March 14        7-9 pm        Woodman Park Elementary       

Thurs. March 22        7-9 pm       Horne Street Elementary 

Also, please take a moment and fill out the survey we have for residents to take. It is located here.Thanks for being part of a Dover that is building a positive and fruitful future.

By the way, now that I re-read all this, maybe the title should have been Dover 2023 has begun.

Dover 2023 – Building our Tomorrow

What will Dover be like in the year 2023?  More importantly, what do Dover residents want it to be?  These questions will be the central focus of a new community wide project that will unfold over the next several months.  The “Dover 2023 – Building our Tomorrow” effort is designed to get the community thinking about where it is now, where it has come from in the past few decades and where it wants to get to in the future.  Does the community want more or less growth?  More businesses, recreation, a better downtown?  What do we value? All of these questions, and more, are up for discussion during the Dover 2023 process.  I feels strongly that “developing a vision for our City is the key first step to building the community that we want to become.”  This longer term perspective is particularly appropriate since Dover will be celebrating its 400^th anniversary in 2023. 

The Dover 2023 project is a unique visioning tool that will seek to engage a wide and broad spectrum of the community through a series of city-wide conversations and neighborhood workshops over the next three months.  These meetings will be supplemented by a website as well as Facebook and Twitter sites which will provide a calendar of events, posting of important documents, and opportunity for direct public input.  The Dover 2023 process will begin on Saturday March 10 from 9 am to noon at the Dover Middle School Cafeteria, focusing on what makes Dover a great place today and what could be done to make it even better. Kirt Schuman, Planning Board member and Chair of the Dover 2023 Steering Committee, is hoping for a large turnout at all Dover 2023 events. “It’s really important for me that the vision is reflective of all the community’s stakeholders including residents, business owners, and property owners,” says Schuman.  “Speaking as a local business owner and resident, it’s critical that all voices be heard.”

After the March 10 conversation there will be a series of neighborhood workshops held at each of the elementary schools in March and April to develop a vision for Dover’s future and a strategy to get there.  Parker stresses that these meetings will provide the opportunity for you to tell us your dreams for the City.  It is our goal that these dreams and ideas will translate into decisions which will shape Dover for the next decade and be the foundation for a new tomorrow.  Bob Carrier, Deputy Mayor and member of the Dover 2023 Steering Committee and long-time Dover resident, is very excited about what this process will deliver. “After experiencing some decline in the 1970s, downtown Dover is back,” says Carrier.  “We’ve seen many exciting changes to the whole City in the past twenty years or so.  It will be fascinating to discover what our residents and business owners want to see more of in the next twenty.”

DOVER 2023 EVENT CALENDAR City-Wide Conversation to define Dover’s core values and strengths:  March 10: 9 am – Noon at Dover Middle School Cafeteria Neighborhood Workshops to develop the Vision for Dover in 2023: March 13, 7-9 pm at Garrison School Cafeteria March 14, 7-9 pm at Woodman Park School cafeteria March 22, 7-9 pm at Horne Street School cafeteria Neighborhood Workshops to finalize the Vision and figure out how to make it a reality: April 10, 7-9 pm at Woodman Park cafeteria April 12, 7-9 pm at Garrison School cafeteria April 16, 7-9 pm at Horne Street School cafeteria Final City-Wide Conversation to review and finalize the Dover 2023 Vision: May 5:  9 am – Noon at Dover Middle School Cafeteria

The city-wide conversation on March 10 will be followed by a series of workshops where the project will seek input and ideas from Dover’s neighborhoods to develop the vision and strategies to implement the vision.  The final city-wide conversation will be on May 5 to review and finalize the vision and implementation strategy developed at the neighborhood workshops

The results of the Dover 2023 process will be used to guide the City’s new master plan, budget and capital improvements program for the next decade.

Documents and the ideas that are developed through the process will be housed for ongoing public review and comment on the project’s website www.dover2023.com, as well as on Twitter and Facebook.  So dream about Dover’s tomorrow, mark your calendars and join in the Dover 2023 community visioning process!

The City has hired Hawk Planning Resources from Concord to assist in preparing the Dover 2023 Vision.  In addition to the web site, additional information can be obtained from the Planning Department or the consultant:

Zoning Amendments

Tonight, the Dover City Council will review and hold a public hearing on proposed amendments to the zoning code. These amendments, which began in idea form over a year ago, have been the work of Planning Board members, volunteers, staff and result from an extensive review and understanding of our current ordinance.

I would certainly invite the public to attend a this public hearing to provide feedback on the posted zoning amendments. This is the first public hearing the City Council has held on the amendments, but is the third overall. The first was held as part of the Tuesday, November 29, 2011 Planning Board meeting. The second was held on December 20, 2011. The meeting will take place in the City Council Chambers at City Hall. The ten (10) amendments will promote development that will have a positive tax impact, protect natural resources, and better manage growth.

The proposed amendments were presented to the Planning Board at their work session on October 25th after 9 months of drafting and review by the Planning Board. The amendments are the result of an ongoing comprehensive effort by the Planning Board to review the land use regulations for the community. Planning Board members and interested volunteers developed these amendments with staff. Additionally, these amendments contain elements suggested to the City by the United States Environmental Program Agency. These amendments focus on energy efficiency, alternative energy allowance, and sustainable planning and building practices.

A letter has been mailed to all property owners explaining each of the amendments, and inviting recipients to attend the public hearing. My goal in sending the letter, was to explain the amendments in laymens terms. I am sure I have written it here, and said it many times elsewhere that you shouldn’t need to have a master’s degree in planning to understand the City’s land use regulations. We want to have amendments that can be understood and worked with, ones which create opportunities and not roadblocks.

The complete text of the proposed amendments are available on the city's website at here, listed under the "Current Reports” section on the home page. Additionally, a copy is available for inspection under the Planning Department’s page. Hard copies are available at the Public Library and the City Clerk's Office and Planning Department at City Hall.

After the December 20th public hearing, the Planning Board unanimously voted to approve amendments. Now it is the City Council's opportunity to review the amendments. After the public hearing tonight, the Council will hold a workshop where I will give an amendment by amendment review of the proposals. You can follow along by looking at the presentation I'll use.

If you have any questions, or comments, please me at 516-6008, or via email.

Community Character

What does an attractive City look like? It is an interesting question. I suppose, like with any other subjective measure, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What I want in a City might be different than what you want, and what your neighbor wants may be totally different.

I asked the question because I was watching a movie the other night, with Ms Dover Planner, and a comment was made about how the city the movie was set in (Paris) is beautiful in the day and night, and especially in the rain. While I can't comment on any of those opinions, I liked the overall thought. Today it has snowed, and I felt, looking out the window, that it was an attractive snowy day. I am sure that when I leave to go home and the snow has turned that brownish gray color that dirty snow gets I'll reconsider. Is a community's beauty the same?

Do we like it when we are insulated from it (ie a visitor), but see it for the gritty reality it is when we live someplace?

I've probably said before that I always hear from friends of mine that moved here, how great Dover is, and how the people who grew up here don't see it for the place it truly is. We found similar suggestions in 2006 as part of the last Master Plan survey work. People who moved here within 5 years, which was a higher percentage than lifers, had a much more favorable opinion of Dover than the lifers.

Two questions jump to my mind. First, do people that move here feel it is better because they chose to come here, so maybe there is a desire to validate that choice? Second, what are those of us who have lived here for decades missing? What don't we see?

Dover residents were asked to participate in a citizen's survey in the summer of 2011. One of the results of that was that 84% of respondents reported that Dover has an overall quality of life rating of “excellent” or “good”. That is a very high number, in my mind. Respondents noted that they like the look and feel of Dover and that they enjoy the cleanliness of Dover. Interestingly the respondents were asked how long they have been residents and the two highest responding categories are those that have lived here 2 - 5 years and those 20+ years of residency.

This information is fun to play with and interesting to think about. The overall tie into it is that we are in the process of starting the Community Visioning components of the Master Plan. This is an update to work began in 2006. We have a committee in place, a consultant in place and some dates and times we will be holding public hearings. What we need is the public to speak. We will ask questions like, what do you think of your neighborhood, and what do you want to see it evolve to in 20 years. We will have plenty of notice for these sessions, which will begin in March and we hope to have a large turn out.

If you have suggestions of how we can get 200 (out of 30,000) people to attend these sessions, please feel free to comment here, on Facebook, or email me.

PS, I wanted to have a photo to go along with this entry, and when I Googled "Community Character images", most of the things I found were pictures of the TV show Community. There is a connection with this blog entry, somewhere, I am sure of that.

Community Service

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Right's Day. It is a day in honor of a man who did a great deal of community service in his life, and there has been a movement in recent years to have a day of caring and serving be the focus of the day.

A few years ago, my son and I signed up for, and assisted with, service in Rochester. We went to a shelter and assisted the humanitarians who run the shelter with a day of cleaning and purging through the accumulated articles that had found their way to the shelter. Some of the articles had been left behind when people moved on, some had been donations that the shelter could not use, and others were things that had broken or tore, or what have you, that had just become unusable.

I really enjoyed this day. Theo and I had a strong experience together and with those we chose to serve.

On Friday, I received a copy of the magazine that the college I attended sends to alumni. Not surprisingly the magazine is primarily a ad for the school's alumni giving program. They want to show you the value of the school's name and how others who have felt that value have given back (especially financially). One way they accomplish this, is by focusing on current events at the school. This being January, and being delivered close to MLK day, a focus was on service programs and academics.

When I was a freshman, all those incoming students into the Liberal Arts college had to partake in a day of service the first day of school. I suppose, more accurately, it was the day before the first day of school. We all arrived a day or so early and after unpacking and getting to know our roommates, we were loaded into the school's gymnasium, er athletic center, and it was impressed upon us how we needed to give back to the community around us. Well, that and we all learned the school's fight song, so we could sing along during basketball games (I proudly only went to one - a girls homecoming game).

So after the group discussion and sing along, we were escorted to buses and driven to Southeast Washington, DC. My group patrolled the Anacostia River looking for garbage, and drug paraphernalia. This being 1993 there was a lot of both. Actually, there wasn't too much garbage, just syringes and the like. Anyway, we performed this clean up for about 6 hours. It was very rewarding. In retrospect, I look at this adventure as one of the highlights of my college years. It really was a great experience to be in the nation's capital (in itself very different than Dover), and reaching out to a community.

Last night, we had the kickoff meeting for the Master Plan Steering committee. We had met once before to go over logistics, when we'll meet, elect a chair etc, but this was the first meeting with the consultant. The seven folks who have volunteered to assist us are performing a similar community service. I don't mean they are picking up drug paraphernalia, but they are reaching out and venturing into an unknown place, offering to help us.

These are people who could join a committee or board with a clear function, say the rec advisory board, instead they have placed their lot with a committee which is charting the future. Charting the unknown, as it were. It is a great group of community minded folks who are interested in giving back and shaping the community. One major difference between my formative service day in 1993 and last night is that the group last night wants to work with the community, and not for it. We didn't have any residents (as far as I know) from Southeast DC with us that day, but the group last night will have residents of Dover working with us for the next 6 months.

I am proud of the group selected by the Planning Board to assist me in developing the community vision for Dover. I know many of the members, and so will you. We have long term volunteers, a councilor, a planning board member, some new faces and some you will hear a lot more about in the coming months and years. The group is energetic, interested, and boosters of the community around them. They care, and they are invested in Dover.

The best part is that you are also going to do some community service along with the group. You wont' have to attend monthly meetings, but we will ask you to contribute in other ways. We'll have three community wide meetings, as well as three regional meetings in smaller settings. We will have surveys and dialog in written and online methods, as well as in person dialog. We will start the outreach portion of the Community Visioning in the coming weeks, if not days, and there will be a role for us all.

So, congratulations, and welcome aboard, because whether you know it or not, you've been drafted to help develop a community vision.

FastTrans Service Changes

Do you use the FastTrans service here in Dover? This service  is a downtown transit loop project. The intention of the project is to encourage the use of public transit for trips that take place between two Dover locations, such as home to work or home to shopping or personal service appointments.

The City of Dover applied for and received CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality) funding to assist with the development of the program. CMAQ funding has been instituted by the Federal government to create surface transportation options that  contribute to air quality improvements and reduce congestion. This funding will be phased out by 2013.

The air quality would be improved by encouraging  people to use the service instead of driving individual automobiles while in Dover. 

There are three flexible on demand routes that run the inner core of Dover.

• The initial route was along Sixth Street and Portland Avenue.
• The second loop focused on the Broadway and Silver Street corridors.
• The third route augments the existing public transit network and will follow 108 and Locust Street.

We are now coming to an end of the CMAQ funding period, and while the City will be continuing the service, there will be some changes made to the delivery of this valuable service. The public is invited to an informational session on proposed long- and short-term changes to the FastTrans service. The session will be held on Thursday, Dec. 29, at 5:30 p.m., at the Dover Transportation Center.

During the Dec. 29 session, COAST and City of Dover officials will discuss the history of the service, and look to the future, including funding. The public is encouraged to share comments and questions.

For more information, contact COAST at 743-5777.

Tracking Success

As we celebrate ten years of revived passenger rail service in Dover, here's what I remember the day the Downeaster came to town. I remember that on December 15, 2001, I had lunch at the pizza place next door to the transportation center, and watched the festivities from there, as opposed to being part of the mob, with a fellow employee of the Community Services Department.

I remember that I felt bad for Bruce. Bruce was the planner (who recently retired) who had championed the City's efforts to secure the train stopping in Dover. I felt bad because Bruce was in the Air National Guard and he had been called up as part of the massive call up post 9/11. So as people were celebrating the arrival of something he had worked so hard to help secure, Bruce was in the Middle East defending the rest of us.

Beyond that specific day, what I think about the Downeaster falls into two categories. The first is emotional and the second is rational. The emotional is the connection the Downeaster has to parental memories. My son was 3 in 2001. He and I would drive downtown, get a coffee and a pastry, run to the post office for the mail (we had a PO Box), and then head to the transportation center to watch the train come through every Saturday. We rode it for the first time together in December of 2002, when we went to Exeter and back.

My son's reaction to seeing the train, and (in my experience) general every child's reaction is that of elation. Kids love to see the train come into town, and they love to ride trains when they can. This feeling I think is second only to planners love of the idea of a train, or mass transit for that matter. Not sure where the emotional connection comes from (that's why its emotional, right?), but it is a visceral response. Eyes light up, we start swaying to a fro, get nervous; the whole nine yards. You'd think the prom was coming up and we are taking a model.

This flows into the rational connection I have with the Downeaster. We are very lucky as a community to have not only the Downeaster stop through Dover, but to have our station downtown. The ability for travelers to step off the train, cross the street (admittedly not the safest crossing), and shop, eat, stroll, etc, is a true bonus for us. I won't go into ridership numbers or the statistical info, but will say they are excellent and continue to grow each year.

The Downeaster was Amtrak's fastest-growing service in fiscal years 2006 and 2008, and continues to be a route that brings in necessary revenue for the Amtrak system. Are there things that could be improved upon? Sure, there are in every aspect of life. That said, on a birthday, let's focus on the great thing it is to be located on this line, to be able to experience that feeling of giddy joy riding the train and celebrate ten years of success.

A Year In

I was thinking about the use of social media and planning, or government for that matter. Have I found value in it? I've been doing a Facebook page, this blog and our twitter account for a year or so, I'm not counting.

Are they valuable? I am not sure. I enjoy the opportunity to get information out, and to have a venue, where I can hope to pass information along, and hopefully engage the public to participate more in planning in Dover. Does that happen? I am sure that some study exists to tell me yes, and another to tell me no.

Locally, I know that the twitter and Facebook followers are up. Here in Dover, the Library is the only other department with a Facebook page. They also blog and have a twitter account. We use the tools very differently. I tend to use them more as here's some info, digest it and use it as you will. The Library tends to be a bit more interactive. Their blog site seeks input on books and book reviews. They also use it to pass information (hours, programs etc) to the reading public (figuratively and literally, I suppose).

I am amazed that more Planning offices don't use this tool. It is not overly complicated, and as long as you budget time for it, and stay on it, I think that it doesn't add any more time to my day or week.

I take a systematic approach to it and plan the entries out, as much as I can. I think that like going to gym or eating healthy (both things I am working on), you have to make, and not find, the time to pursue social media. In some ways this is similar to traditional media.

Beginning in January, I told my staff that on average we were going to produce one press release a week. This could be a success we had, or it could be a project or program we are planning. Everyone has to take part in this and help move the ball forward.

I use these press releases to help create posts for the Dover Download, video and email, as well as social media topics. This way we don't lose site of traditional media as we work to use social media outlets.

My wife asked me two questions about twitter the other day, she asked how I compare it to email and how it compares to Facebook.

Regarding email, it seems to me they should be similar, but I find email is much more prevalent. I think that people like the length and like the privacy of sending an email directly, I think people aren't convinced they can say enough in 140 characters. One thing I find is that if I get a question emailed to me, that has an answer which many people should know the answer to, I will use twitter to send a general answer out.

Regarding Facebook, I think twitter is the more appropriate avenue for non-personal updates. Facebook has the fan pages and the like, but it seems that more people follow me on twitter, and more people interact with our information on twitter. Maybe I don't do a good job using twitter to drive folks to the Facebook page.

Anyway, it's an evolution. It is also a comfort level. Just like everything else, there are things we are comfortable with, and the traditional is always more comfortable than the new and unknown. It is good to challenge ourselves and push to try things. Which is why I am going to try and find ways to be more interactive on the social media outlets.

First challenge, is to readers. Is there a planning topic, I should cover or you are interested in? Let me know. Feel free to tweet it, post to our Facebook page, or email it to me (c.parker@dover.nh.gov).

The Census Revealed

Last year, I encouraged residents of Dover to reply to census forms that were distributed (http://dovernhplanning.blogspot.com/2010/03/census-smensus.html). The middle of last week, the New Hampshire population figures were revealed. In total the State of NH was up 6.5% for a total of just of 1.3 million residents.

Locally, Dover has reached just under 30,000 residents (29,987). For rounding purposes, I'm going to feel justified saying we are at 30,000 residents. I am sure between last April and this April we'll have 13 new residents :). This is an 11.5 percent increase over 2000 (26,884). When reviewing the Office of Energy and Planning's estimates for population, our numbers are over 1000 residents higher. In 2007 we hired a company, DemographicsNow, to review and extrapolate population and other demographics. At that time, they determined we had 29,402 residents. That number now seems very solid.

If you live in Dover, you now live in the fifth most populous community in NH. We lept from 7th to 5th (incidentally, we scrambled over Rochester and Salem). Stafford County was the fastest growing county at 9.7 percent. To give some perspective, Dover is the only community in the top 10 to have double digit percentage population growth, and gained 3100 residents, highest numerical increase in the state, by a community. Windham, which is in Rockingham County, grew 27 percent to 13,000+ residents. It was the community with the largest percentage growth in the state, and gained 300 less people than Dover. To put Dover's growth in perspective, Cheshire and Sullivan Counties gained 100 people more than Dover each.

Those numbers are staggering. They are also evidence of what we who work for the City, and what residents of the City know. Dover is the place to be. We have a great quality of life, we have great geography, and truly have opportunities all around us to keep the onward and upward momentum at our backs.

So what's next? Well, the easy answer is to move forward. But how? I think that's a discussion we need to keep having. The Planning Department is happy to start that discussion and I think soon, you will see us put feelers out there. This data is perfect for us to start the next iteration of the Land Use section of the Mast Plan. This chapter will help the community define what we want to look like at 10 years, what we want to feel like in 20 years, and what we want to look like when we reach 35,000?

Stay tuned, because I have some ideas, and I hope you do as well. We can only continue to prosper if we work together to make Dover the community we all want to enjoy.

Dover's FastTrans

One of the project that the Planning Department has championed is the high frequency inner city bus service, known as the FastTrans. This project is providing regular, hourly bus service from downtown to homes, businesses, and remote parking in the city. There are three FastTrans routes, numbered 33, 34, and 35, which run every hour, from about 7AM until 7PM, Monday through Friday. Also as part of the FastTrans project, service on COAST Route 1, which serves downtown as well as the Dover Housing Authority, has been increased to hourly frequency.

This project was begun at the direction of the City of Dover to provide fast and affordable transportation throughout the greater downtown area. The project is funded through a "CMAQ" (Congestion Mitigation Air Quality) grant submitted by the Planning Department and approved (a federal grant for projects that will improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion) by the state and Federal Highway Administration. Funding for the local match of 20% come from the City of Dover out of registration fees and from Strafford County.

The goal in designing these routes for the City was to connect dense residential areas, remote parking lots, and transportation centers, with the core downtown area. These routes were each designed to make a full round-trip every hour. Users can get where they need to go in town as fast as they would in a car, and they can get back within an hour. Besides the high frequency of service, we've set the fare for these routes at just 50 cents. Whether you're a visitor coming in on the train or C&J, a resident with a car, or an employee of a Dover business, there's no better way to get around town.

The success of this project has been very rewarding. Dover has continuously worked towards reducing congestion downtown through offering transportation alternatives, but at the same time we do not want to totally discourage those that want the independence of driving. The Planners in Dover recognize that while we need to address our automobile dependencies we also need to be realistic about transportation limitations.

FastTrans is just one more way we can work to reflect the public's needs and desires. This project was developed as part of the City's Transportation Improvement Program, which is contained within the Capital Improvements Plan. This plan is about to come up for review again, and contains continuations of the FastTrans project as well as other new and exciting opportunities.

Plan, Plan, Plan

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Master Plan process. The MP, lest you forgot, is a guiding document for a communities growth and development. This week I was thinking about strategic plans. In this regard I am not looking to the community but to the make up and direction the department I oversee.

I am a systems thinker. I like to know how things evolve and operate. I wonder why processes are in place and who developed them. Who thought it was a good idea to do this or that. Some elements are out of my control. State RSA or local Ordinance dictate certain things, and that is all well and good. My thoughts are more closely tied to operational and practical areas.

In that regard I am going to take the task of developing a strategic plan for the department. This involves many of the same elements of a Master Plan, but on a more local level. Instead of looking from a high level at the City, I want to know where the City Manager views the department in the grand scheme of things, I want to know how the Planning Board views us, how the staff views the department and how the regular citizen views, or more likely does not view us.

Part of this will be a plan for improved communications and outreach as well as reviewing all document development and flow through. One tool will be this blog, and I hope to look for questions and answers out there in the wide world.

Part of this will flow from the presentation of the upcoming Capital Improvements Program. I want to redirect how we interpret, present and work through the CIP. THE CIp is am important part of our planning and I want to make it more citizen focused and interpretive. We'll see how that goes.

Communications

One of the hallmarks for the success of planning in Dover has to be our efforts to encourage participatory planning. The department works because we strive to understand the needs of the community and how we as a community want to develop.

We have tried various methods to engage the public and found some to be successful (our google maps for each planning and zoning application) and some unsuccessful (monthly planning discussion sessions). I like the idea of thinking out of the box and trying to encourage as many people to be involved with planning as possible.

I understand that planning is not about popularity contests, and polls, but rules and regulations, and that the flip side is that our rules and regulations should be community derived and proactive, generally, as opposed to reactive.

Blog
This Blog is one of the methods I have found to engage the public. I see, by the side counter, that we have 8 followers. This sounds low, but it amazes me to meet people that say they read the blog through RSS feed readers or other forms of aggregation. I like the free form though process that can be used here and the ability to get information out in a longer format.

Twitter
Speaking of length of posts, I really enjoy twitter as a communication format. As far as social media goes, I'd say it is the best non-personal tool out there. Our feed twitter.com/DoverNHPlanning has a healthy following, and I enjoy the challenge of consolidating a thought into 140 characters.

This tool has been great for sending out links to agendas and meetings. I have also found that people ask questions via tweeting, and then I can respond to every follower (almost 100) with the answer. Seems to me, if one person has the question, so do others.

Facebook
I have a love hate with Facebook. I see the benefit, but find it annoying. I created a FB page for the Planning Department, but find that it is not as intuitive a tool for non-personal information. It really works better for sharing info with friends.

That said, I tend to repeat tweets on Facebook, albeit with a bit more information and characters. The Community Trail and Friends of Willand Pond are also on Facebook and that is good to see efforts like that.

Google Maps
I really like this option. Google Maps are so intuitive and multi-functional. We use the maps to plot the location of project applications for Planning, Zoning and now Conservation commission applications. In the past we have also used the function to document the growth of the Community Trail and the Pay N Display parking meeter locations.

I find that these maps are well used and informative in a positive way.

DoverDownload
The newest adventure we have undertaken is that weekly I am interviewed by the Media Services Coordinator for the City, and give a blurb, or two, about the Planning world for the video DoverDownload. This feature runs on Channel 22 and is also available online for viewing. This tool is good, because it allows for a more personal touch than a straight press release, but also isn't as wordy as a blog (ha ha).

The rest...
While I don't see the need, anymore, for the monthly Planning Discussions, I do hope to have them maybe on an as needed basis or quarterly. I am not sure if no one knew about them, people didn't want to come at 7:30 am or maybe I need to switch colognes.

Email is still the most used way to interact with the public and I am constantly trying to keep up with it. I can be reached at c.parker@dover.nh.gov, and am happy to reply to questions, or assist with understanding plans or projects. I have a in-department policy with email and phone calls. Both must be returned within 24 hours. Even if the response is that you are looking into something, staff need to respond.

Press releases are also a good tool. They are definitely more traditional, but that isn't a bad thing. I think we have done a good job of noting successes and passing information along this way, and will continue to do so.

Overall I see interacting with the public as a trial and effort situation. We will continue to reach out and try to reach people via any means we can. I am open to ideas and welcome the challenge of trying new tools (tumblr anyone?).

Let me know if you have a suggestion, maybe I'll interact with it.

Rezoning, 2010

It seems like just yesterday we were talking about rezoning. Well, here we are again. Residents of Dover should have received the citywide mailed letter over the last two weeks. Compared to last years effort, this rezoning initiative is relatively minor. There is no Form Based Code, there are no areas being rezoned, and there are no shifts in environmental regulations.

What we have this year are twelve (12) regulation amendments that focus on clarifying and cleaning up regulations. I think it is safe to say there are as close to housekeeping as we have ever gotten.

The Process
Last year, as we were winding down, the Zoning Board chair asked the Planning Board why the ZBA had not been invited to the table. It was explained that as the interpreter of the ordinance, the ZBA can not be involved with crafting the regulations. At the same time, I realized that their input was important. Subsequently, in November of and December of 2009, any boards the Landuse regulations interact with were asked to review the regulations and suggest areas for the Planning Board to review. The results were reviewed by the Board in early January.

In all there were just over twenty (20) areas pointed out. The Planning Board selected 18 or so to review. Over the past five (5) months, the staff and Board have reviewed and developed amendments that will have a public hearing on June 22nd.

The Amendments

A full text of the amendments is located here. They are described briefly below.

The first amendment removes the word morals from the zoning purpose statement.

The second amendment refines the definition of abutter to include a first class mailing to those who own condominium units. This amendment also refines the definition of customary home occupation, and adds a new definition for farm animals for house hold use, livestock, poultry and swine, as well as a new definition for conservation lots.

The third amendment renames the B-5 district from Commercial/Retail to Gateway and adds purpose statements for each district.

The fourth amendment adds the Conservation Lot use to the R-40, R-20, and R-12 districts. This will allow a lot owner to subdivide their parcel without creating a lot with frontage solely for the purpose of donating the new lot to a conservation entity.

The fifth amendment adds the extraction use to the I-4 district. It also renames the gravel pit use to extraction in the R-40 district.

The sixth amendment moves drive in theaters from the R-40 to B-4 districts.

The seventh amendment adds clarification to the rules governing the conversion of a single unit house to a two family unit.

The eighth amendment adds the use of farm animals for family use to many residential districts, as well as describes the limitations to allowing urban agriculture.

The ninth amendment allows retail stores in high density residential districts via a special exception.

The tenth amendment renames the Commercial subdistrict in the Central Business District and removes the allowance for freestanding signs.

The eleventh amendment adds regulations for illuminated signs to have dimmers at night, and brings the City's election sign regulations in compliance with State law.

The final amendment clarifies the height allowances for fences (3 feet in front of your house, up to 8 feet on the side and rear).

If you have any questions or comments, please attend the Planning Board meeting on June 22, 2010 at 7:00 pm in City Hall. You are also encouraged to come by the office or contact staff via phone, 516-6008, or email c.parker@dover.nh.gov.

Energizing the Populus about Planning

I have been thinking a lot over the past 6 to 9 months regarding public participation in planning. A lot of it stems from involvement with the recent rezoning efforts. Some stem from other areas, such as Willand Pond, and a final aspect could be linked to the fact I am a social person, by nature.

Over the fall, I attended a workshop on Form Based Code (FBC). This was just before Dover's City Council voted to adopt the proposed zoning, and I was partaking in a conference sponsored by the New England Chapter of the Congress for New Urbanism on Form Based Code. I spoke, with Steve Whitman, our consultant, on Dover's development of the FBC. During the discussion, I spoke to working with the public and redrafting the code to reflect community concerns. One architect, who was also presenting his draft of a code for a community in Connecticut, who I admire, commented that public participation is one thing, but he felt I went too far and had let the public control the document.

I disagreed with him. I understand his concern, those of us with a technical knowledge should work with the public to educate and motivate for new trends etc, and should be proud of the education. That said, we can not be snobs about it. We can not be the educated elite. What we did with the FBC, and other amendments, was work with the end user - the public - to craft the regulations so that they fit the community of Dover (the City of Dover is the municipal infrastructure). The changes we developed are part of our role as facilitators of public discourse regarding community vision.

I think we need to remember that at the end of the day the public has to be ready for new regulations, and has to support them. Somethings take time to develop and need to be reviewed and formulated more than once, and that is OK. In the end I think that my architect friend is not wrong, just has a different set of glasses on than I do. He is looking at planning as a private consultant, and not as a public official. There is a lot of difference.

Getting the public involved in planning is not the easiest thing in the world. Planning is an intangible, and not as easily to relate to as public works, fire or police operations. You can't see a plan as easily as you can see the pothole in the street, or the fire being put out, or the suspect apprehended. Planning is integral to all aspects of the community, and is important, but until a project is in someone's backyard they don't realize they need our profession.

I am hoping over the next year to work on that. Participation and understanding of Planning and its role in the community is important. Whether it is drafting, with public involvement, the Master Plan, reviewing the Capital Improvements Program, or reviewing a plan for conformity with the above, planning is around the public.

I have been lucky to work for the past 12 years for an organization that encourages the public to be involved. I think it is vital that my department is not called the Planning Department, but is called the Department of Planning and Community Development. The Community moniker refers to the fact that Dover is an entitlement community and receives federal dollars to assist with urban vitality. I see it as being beyond that. My staff are active in the community, whether as a basketball coach, a non-profit board member, a participant in community activities (Apple Harvest Day, Cochecho Arts Festival etc) and when recognized myself and those that work for me are happy to discuss issues and goings on. We are proud to be part of the community.

To that end we can do more. I have hoped to really get this blog going more actively. It hasn't happened yet, but will. I have a FaceBook page to come online soon, and have an idea for other interactive functions. Over the past year, we have amended our web site to include a Google Map of projects before the Planning Board. There is more we can and will do with this technology.

A final piece I see is direct one on one discussions. I had the pleasure of meeting with residents in November regarding the zoning code amendments. I held two (2) information sessions that were attended by the public. There was no agenda, and no program. I showed up and was there to answer questions. I would like to continue this process. In that vein, beginning in February I will start what I see as a "Brown Bag Planning Breakfast" I will find a location and invite people to meet with me to discuss whatever planning topics they find important. This will be a simple back and forth discussion, no notes, no recording, no pressure.

My hope is that this forum will be similar to Coffee With the Mayor and allow residents, business owners and development agents to come forward and be part of the process. Watch for the update, and thanks for being part of the community.

Planning Efforts to Develop Community

I enjoy the fact that my title is Director of Planning and Community Development. While most people associate the department’s work with the planning side, the community development activities are equally important. In many ways we could just be considered the Community Development department, because planning should be part in parcel to community development.

In Dover community development could refer to just the administration of the Community Development Block Grant funds which Dover receives from the Federal government. Dover is considered an entitlement community by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This entitlement designation allows us to annually receive funds to assist low to moderate income members of the community. This funding has been utilized for both improvements to infrastructure (housing rehabilitation) and economic loans (gap financing).

I like to take the more wide-ranging view of community development as the empowerment of individuals and groups of people to effect change in their own community. You might say “huh” after reading that, and a more laymen’s term might be, I see my job being to assist the community in deciding what it wants to be when it grows up. Primarily this is accomplished through the development of the City’s Master Plan, and then through the implementation of the Plan’s recommendations through land use ordinance development.

Another part of the community development aspect is actually being part of the community. I think it speaks volumes to the fact that the City’s Planners, both the professional staff, and volunteers are visible community minded people. The planners have served, outside of work, on a variety of Boards and committees, have coached sports and attend many functions and activities part of their daily lives. This isn’t a requirement of the job or Planning Board appointment, but rather we are lucky enough to attract people who want to be part of the Dover community, professionally and on a volunteer basis.

How does this help shape a community? I think what it does is reinforces that when reviewing a plan application, we can understand what it will be like to live with the resulting plan. There are different levels of plan review. A plan can be reviewed for accuracy from a technical standpoint (Are the parking spaces the correct width? Does the building meet the setbacks?), from a spirit and intent aspect (is the proposal incongruence with the Master Plan), and finally from a community standpoint (does it feel like it should be there).

In many cases the Board relies on neighborhood communication for this level. By being active in the community, I think this expands the Planners’ (professional and volunteers) ability to understand and reflect the Community’s vision for itself, and helps us plan for a more community based planning process.

Community development also contains an increase in participatory planning. Participatory planning is a planning paradigm which focuses the planning process on engaging the entire community in decision making. Again this primarily takes place in developing the Master Plan – this is largely the visioning component.

Over the past two years, Dover has evolved its participatory planning opportunities to include more than just Master Planning. We have embraced things like a visual preference survey (a slide show of development styles and components which allows the public to rate), and increased use of electronic media.

I am increasingly optimistic that we can continue to engage the public through the electronic media, the web. In 2007 we began scanning plans and applications and making them available online. The goal of this project is to allow the public to see the plan set from home, and not need to come to City Hall during normal work hours. Additionally, we have created a map inset on the Planning Department web page (http://www.dover.nh.gov/planhome.htm). This map locates the applications for both the upcoming Planning Board and zoning Board of Adjustment meetings. Finally, we have begun using this blog (which unfortunately, takes more time than I anticipated it would, which is why I am not posting as often as I’d like). A Facebook page is in the works and I am sure there are other electronic means we can work towards.

Moving forward, I have proposed to that we look more to the public for areas that we should review in the City’s land use ordinances. In May of 2009, the Planning Board held a public hearing soliciting public input on changes for the land use regulations. This was an attempt to ask the public if there were areas we had not considered yet for review.

This is a valuable tool to involve the public in the land use process. I have spoken with Chairman Ron Cole, about holding these public input sessions three times a year. The next one will be October 20^th. At these sessions the public would be invited to suggest areas, not just in the zoning code, but also in the subdivision and site review chapters.

If you are reading this, you are probably interested in planning in Dover. My hope is that you are also interested in the community and being part of how it grows and evolves. More voices should be heard. The City has outreach opportunities, but you should not wait to be heard. I encourage you, if you have thoughts and ideas about Dover’s evolution, be proactive and reach out and let me know your thoughts, and please attend Citizen’s Forum at the Planning Board (Generally, meets the 4^th Tuesday of the month), or the upcoming land use regulation public hearing in October.

As always, thanks for reading this.I am working on a way to schedule time for a weekly blog. Wish me luck.

Rezone- A palooza

Land Use regulations should be dynamic (to a certain point) and should not be considered set in stone (to a certain point). This is a theory that I learned over the years. It reflects the idea that land use regulations (zoning, site plan regulation and subdivision of land regulations) should not be drafted and forgotten. A community changes, and so should its regulations. These changes should not be just for change sake, but have substance and support behind them.

In 2006 the City began reviewing its land use chapter of our Master Plan. In New Hampshire, and much of the country Master Plans, AKA comprehensive Plans, are recommended for review every 5 to 10 years. A Master Plan looks at the past and future, by understanding where a community is, how it got there, and where it sees itself in 20 years.

Dover first began the Master Plan process in 1968 and has continued to update its Plan in the ensuing 40 years on a relatively consistent basis. The city has broken the overall Plan into several chapters and updates these chapters independently to ensure that the workload is spread evenly out over time. The land use chapter is the core chapter in the plan and is tied to all other chapters. It really sets the frame work for long term development of a community.

In 2006, city staff worked with the Planning Board to determine where the community saw itself developing in the 20 year time period. This was accomplished though a telephone survey, a visual preference survey and through interviews with key stakeholders. A group of volunteers, some Planning Board members, some not, met throughout 2007 to develop and draft the land use chapter.

Included in this chapter were some progressive and some conservative recommendations. The overall guiding principal was to create a development environment where new development reflects the values and context of the existing structures. This would be accomplished by updating regulations to adjust setbacks, building materials and lot dimensions.

Fast forward to May of 2008. The Planning Board broke itself into subcommittees to work on implementing changes to the land use regulations. The board followed a process it also followed in 2002/2003 when the same tasks were reviewed as a result of the 1998 Land Use Chapter. These subcommittees worked on environmental regulations, dimensional regulations, and quality of life regulations.

Over the past year, these subcommittees have pushed forward working on making changes large and small - tweaks to overhauls. Below is a summary of the proposed rezoning changes, as well as some staff housekeeping updates. Further posts will outline subdivision and site regulation proposals.

Environmental
The group tasked with environmental regulations review the most recent State regulations (RSAs) to ensure conformity. The recommended changes this subcommittee has put forward include updates to the Conservation District. This district includes land surrounding streams, rivers, ponds, and other water courses. The district also includes areas of 20% or greater slope.

Included in the updates is language to bring conformity with the changes to the Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act that the State of NH enforces. Additionally, a definition for slope has been added, and a description of how to determine where land is at a 20% slope or not has been developed.

The updates also rework and update the Conditional Use Process, to give the Conservation Commission some guidance for reviewing a request. This will assist the Planning Board as it reviews and ultimately deliberates a requested Conditional Use Permit.

Finally, the group reviewed the City's Wetlands Ordinance. This ordinance was reviewed for conformity, but also to clarify some areas., In 2002, the ordinance was changed by reducing certain setbacks and increasing others. In 2009 the focus was on clarifying how those changes had reflected development, and tweaked to ensure continued community growth in a respectful manner.

Dimensional Changes
The dimensional group reviewed opportunities to adjust setbacks and other dimensional requirements. This group also looked at the build out scenario developed through the Land Use chapter and reviewed potential shifts in land use to accommodate the comm unites vision for growth.

The group reviewed opportunities to adjust zoning district placement and found that few areas needed attention. One area reviewed and recommended for adjustment is the area surrounding Exit 7 of the Spaulding Turnpike. These changes stem in part from an attempt to create 60+ units of residential on Mill Street. The community felt that this was too intense a development. One result of this rezoning process is the recognition that some development should be in this area, but at a less intensity. The resulting recommendation is to change the zoning for the area to the adjacent R-12 - medium density residential, whereby there could be 1 unit per 12,000 square feet of land. The accompanying recommendation is that the lots closest to Central Avenue should be a commercial zone, similar to the area at the intersection of Locust Street and central Avenue.

A further area rezoning suggested is the combination of multi-family residential districts to create less confusion between the 5 existing zones. In review the land use tables, it became clear that the City could combine 5 zones into 2 zones, and still offer variety and diversity in housing stock.

Another dimensional proposals include reducing front setbacks, and in some areas using the average setbacks for neighboring houses as a guide for determining front setbacks. This recommendation is coupled with increased rear setbacks to encourage larger usable rear yards. Moreover, a proposal is to set a set amount of wetlands buffer that can be counted as part of the yard to ensure that there is usable yard space.

Finally, the dimensional group also recommended a proposal for flexible reuses of the I-1 - restricted industrial zones. These are older factory spaces that exist in the inner city, that are ready for re-development and might benefit from diverse uses allowed in exchange for more context sensitive aesthetics and setbacks.

Form Based Code
In addition to the work the committees have been undertaking, there has also been a consul ant working to revise the downtown zoning to create development that is more context sensitive. This zoning style, known as form based code, looks to place stronger focus on form and less on function. The central business core would encourage multiple story buildings with durable materials and parking hidden behind the building, placing focus on the first floor on non-residential uses.

The consultant has worked over the past year to interview stakeholders, and held two charettes to understand what the community character of Dover is. This process has been very intense and has provided opportunity to preserve the past and enhance it as we move to the future.

Housekeeping
When the staff make recommendations they tend to editorial in nature. This is the case in 2009 as well. Last year the City Manager's budget moved building inspection services to the Fire Department. As an outgrowth of that, the Building Official is no longer the Zoning Administrator. Many of the staff changes are an effort to reinforce that change.

Additionally, staff has taken cues from other communities, and is suggesting that all definitions in the Zoning Code be in one section and be identified in capital letters throughout the chapter. This will signify that a word is a definition.

Moreover, staff was inspired by the tables generated by the consultant for the Form Based Code, and has revamped the table of dimensional regulations and the tables of uses to be more user friendly and navigable.

Finally, the staff is recommending some minor changes to the sign ordinance, extraction ordinance, and clarified the amendment procedures to ensure proper public participation is in place for future changes to the chapter.

All of these regulations can be found at the Planning Department's web page www.dover.nh.gov/planhome.htm