By Rod Hansen
Staff Writer

Goffstown officials are seeking community input on the updated master plan, and will stage a fourth public hearing to get it.

Members of the planning board will receive public input on the 2006 Master Plan Update on Thursday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m. in the Mildred Stark Room at Goffstown Town Hall.

“There have been three public hearings beginning last spring,” said Town Planner Steve Griffin. “The planning board wants to have a fourth one and have a chance for people to make any input they want to make before the board votes on it.”

The town’s master plan was last updated in 1997, and had since been complemented by a corridor study completed in 2003 by the engineering consulting firm Wilbur Smith Associates.

That study examines the corridor of Route 114 and Route 114A that reaches the center of Goffstown Village, running east to Pinardville and south to the Bedford line. The corridor study has been useful in showing town officials how to measure the town’s rural and commercial virtues, and has played a role in several decisions the planning board has made, Griffin said.

“The corridor study had very much of an economic base and a design base, with ideas on how to protect the visual character of the town while realizing that we do want to encourage commercial growth,” Griffin said.

The master plan serves as the town’s guiding document in connecting its vision with policies such as zoning decisions and capital improvement program proposals, according to a fact sheet on the master plan.

The opening page of the new update draft also spells out some of the expectations of a master plan.

“The master plan’s primary purpose is to serve as a tool of the planning board as a decision-making framework to guide development within the town,” according to the introduction.

“The master plan, however, is not a static document,” the introduction continues. “It should evolve over time to reflect the changing needs and circumstances of the town.”

The newly updated plan uses eight principles in guiding its vision. These principles include maintaining and reinforcing traditional compact settlement programs, incorporating a mix of commercial and residential uses, and involving the community in planning and implementation.

Community involvement stands as a major goal of the master plan update, Griffin said. In hosting a fourth public hearing, he said the planning board hopes to measure community concerns on a variety of subjects.

The master plan itself is a two-part document. The first part outlines the community vision. That section also includes passages on land use and an action plan.

The second part includes appendices covering topics such as 114/114A corridor management, economic development, conservation, recreation, housing, transportation, education, community services, and facilities and utilities.

The planning board must vote on the updated action plan for the document to be adopted, Griffin said.

Copies of the update are available in the planning office, at the Goffstown Public Library and on the town Web site, www.goffstown.com.