You can help have a say in the future of Amherst. The Planning Department of the Town of Amherst is beginning a week-long push on September 24th, as part of their plans to formulate recommendations to revise the Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code for the Town.
Dubbed "ImagineAmherst," the program seems to combine expertise from local volunteer technical and working committee members with public input to help formulate a new vision for the community’s commercial centers.
The Planning Department will take your input directly as a series of workshops called "charette."
The workshops will inform the community vision for six select areas by discovering what's most important to the community. The workshops will also educate the community about possible options for new zoning that could be applies in these areas.
The Charrette schedule in its entirety is as follows. Note, that if one can only attend a single event, the first (Saturday 9/24 at 9am) would be the most foundational; followed in priority by Wednesday 9/28 (7pm).
The design studio will be open to the public for most of the charrette. This is to encourage the public to stop in and see what the team is working on, share their ideas and check out the process. This gives an opportunity to provide input as plans are evolving. ImagineAmherst is meant to be a collaborative effort.