Health & Fitness
Land Use Strategies in Acton - Learn More at our Upcoming Meeting
On Wednesday, January 22, 2014 at 7:30pm at Acton's Town Hall Room 204, Julie Conroy, AICP; Senior Environmental Planner of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) will present to the Acton 2020 Committee on issues related to land use and specifically on what is known as Transfer of Development Rights (TDR).
TDR is a regulatory strategy that harnesses private market forces to accomplish two smart growth objectives. First, open space is permanently protected for water supply, agricultural, habitat, recreational, or other purposes via the transfer of some or all of the development that would otherwise have occurred in these sensitive places to more suitable locations. Second, other locations, such as city and town centers or vacant and underutilized properties, become more vibrant and successful as the development potential from the protected resource areas is transferred to them. The Acton 2020 Comprehensive Community Plan adopted in 2012 recommends the use of TDR as a way of transferring future development potential from Acton's remaining open spaces into existing villages and centers. While less common, TDR can also be used for preservation of historic resources.
Ms. Conroy has worked at MAPC since 2010. She has over twelve years of experience as a planner; starting as an analyst for the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management. Ms. Conroy later became an environmental planner with the Horsley Witten Group where she prepared revised modules for the Massachusetts Smart Growth-Smart Energy Toolkit, including the TDR module. Currently, she develops policies, regulations, and guidance regarding land use choices that protect natural resources. Ms. Conroy also serves as project manager on large scale state and regional projects such as the Regional Climate Change Adaptation Strategy.
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Acton 2020 encourages members of the community to attend its January 22nd meeting to learn more about land use, the principles of TDR and its potential in the Town of Acton.
For more information, please email Acton 2020 acton2020@acton-ma.gov. To stay in touch with news from Acton 2020, you can like them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/acton2020 and subscribe to their email distribution list by emailing Acton 2020.
