How our Area Plan was Developed
Why It Was Developed
In late 2005, an article to change the zoning for a portion of the
Tom Nevers Area was submitted for approval at the April 2006 Annual Town
Meeting. Discussions with the Planning Department about this proposed
zoning change revealed that other neighborhoods had undertaken, or were
considering, Area Plans for their local areas—and that it was the policy
of the Planning Department to consider proposed zoning changes in the
context of an overall plan for an area—a plan which fully reflected the
desires of the residents of that area. The Planning Department then
suggested that an Area Plan for the Greater Tom Nevers Area be
undertaken and that any zoning proposals be included as part of that
overall plan. The sponsor of the 2006 article agreed with this approach
and tabled the article at Town Meeting.
Who Developed It
The logical group to spearhead development of the Greater Tom Nevers Area
Plan was the Tom Nevers Civic Association, Inc. Established in 1976, the
TNCA was formed to represent the residents of the Greater Tom Nevers
Area—giving voice to their concerns at the local, town, county and
statewide levels. It is a non-profit organization, under IRS code
501(c) 4. According to the bylaws of the TNCA, each family that owns
property in the area is automatically a member of the association,
regardless of whether they pay annual dues or not. Currently, there are
nearly 600 TNCA members and all communications from the association are
sent to all members. The area covered by the association stretches from
the eastern fence of the Nantucket Memorial Airport to the western
boundary of the village of 'Sconset, and from Milestone Road on the
north to the Atlantic Ocean on the south. The TNCA is considered the
official representative of this neighborhood in the Nantucket Civic
League.
To facilitate the development of the Greater Tom Nevers Area Plan,
the TNCA board of directors agreed to underwrite any reasonable costs
associated with its development and to assist in communicating details
about the plan and its development to its full membership. To assure
objectivity, the TNCA board of directors also agreed that the Area Plan
should be developed independent of the board and not subject to its
approval.
The Process We Followed
It was agreed that because of its far-reaching importance, the
development of our Area Plan deserved much thought, careful attention,
and the full participation of all our property owners. It was not
something to be left to a "select committee" or formulated in some Ivory
Tower.
Since our Area Plan would impact the quality-of-life and property
values in our neighborhood for many years to come, its development
deserved a comprehensive and open approach that gave everyone a chance
to be heard and everyone an opportunity to shape its outcome. To that
end, we followed an eight stage process that was reviewed by the
Planning Department and given their full approval. These are the stages
we progressed through:
Stage 1 – Forming an Area Plan Work Group
In June 2006, an 11 person Work Group was formed to initiate the
process of preparing the Area Plan. The members were chosen in
proportion to the number of lots in each of our local areas: Tom Nevers
East - 4, Tom Nevers West -3, Tom Nevers South - 2, Wigwam - 1, Madequecham
- 1.
In addition, two members of the Nantucket Planning & Economic
Development Commission volunteered to join the Work Group and several
others served as support personnel and advisors. Except for the
president of the TNCA, no other member of the association's board served
as a member of the Work Group. The Work Group met on a regular basis
throughout the development of the Area Plan and through a series of TNCA
newsletters, all property-owners in the Greater Tom Nevers Area were
kept fully informed of the Area Plan's goals and development process and
were encouraged to actively participate. (See the full
Greater Tom Nevers Area Plan for a list of the Work Group
members.
Stage 2 – Initiating the Planning Process
An organizing session was held to map out the overall effort and to
start reviewing all existing plans, reports and studies developed over
the years, which might impact the Greater Tom Nevers Area. The Work Group was
also briefed by the Planning Department on the organizational
requirements for a Master Plan—under Massachusetts General Law, Chapter
41, section 81d.
Stage 3 – Developing a Goals & Policies Statement
An intensive work session was held to enumerate and prioritize our
overall community needs—along with a frank assessment of the particular
concerns in our various sub-neighborhoods. (Tom Nevers East, Tom Nevers
West, Tom Nevers South, Wigwam and Madequecham.) This effort resulted in
a preliminary statement of our “Goals & Policies”.
Stage 4 – Focus Group Research
During the summer of 2006, eight moderated focus groups were
conducted to define issues, concerns, and probe weaknesses/strengths for
each of the eight topic areas prescribed as elements for inclusion in a
Master Plan (per State Law 41-81d.) All residents of the Greater Tom Nevers Area
were invited to participate, either in person or by submitting comments
to Work Group members, orally or by email. In addition, Work Group
members personally contacted many people in the area to elicit their
views. (See the full
Greater Tom Nevers Area Plan for a list of the participants and the results of these focus
group sessions.)
Stage 5 – Developing the Preliminary Plan with Course-of-Action
Options
Guided by the findings from the focus groups, the Work Group then
refined a Goals & Policies statement and structured a Preliminary Area
Plan, with some alternative action options. At this stage, the Work
Group also conducted a series of interviews and discussions with members
of various Town Departments and other groups that impact the Greater Tom Nevers
Area. The purpose of these meetings was to gather information about
ideas and recommendations that came to light during the focus group
sessions and to evaluate their practicality. (For example, a strong
interest was expressed in several of the focus groups to extend NRTA bus
service down Tom Nevers Road. This concept was subsequently explored
with the NRTA director. The intent was to include, as part of our Area
Plan, recommendations that had been pre-discussed with the responsible
organizations to let us fully understand costs and/or other potential
obstacles to their adoption.)
Stage 6 – Full TNCA Member Survey
In November 2006, a detailed and broad-based property-owners survey
was conducted by mail. Its purpose was to measure the views of all TNCA
members across the full spectrum of issues identified in the focus
groups and reflected in the preliminary plan and to quantify their
support or lack of support for various initiatives. The survey
questionnaire was mailed to 100% of the TNCA membership—and the response
to this survey was 40.2%, an unusually high return for a survey of this
type. A summary report was issued on February 15, 2007. (See the full
Greater Tom Nevers Area Plan for a copy of the
survey questionnaire and Summary Report.)
Stage 7 – Drafting the Area Plan
Guided by the survey results, the Work Group then drafted a detailed Area Plan,
complete with all the maps and
documentation required under State Law 41-81d. A summary of this Area
Plan was published in a TNCA Newsletter and mailed to all
property-owners. In addition, the draft plan was posted on the Planning
Department's website for general comment.
Stage 8 — Finalizing our Area Plan
All comments received were carefully evaluated for inclusion in the
final draft of the Area Plan. This finalized draft was then formally
submitted to the Nantucket Planning & Economic Development Commission
for their review and comment. After incorporating their few requested
changes, the complete Area Plan
was re-submitted to the NP&EDC, where it was officially approved on
3/31/08.
The Greater Tom Nevers Area Plan now becomes an integral part of
the overall Nantucket Master Plan and will be used to guide the Town's
planning agencies. Equally important, our Area Plan now also provides
the Greater Tom Nevers Area itself with an agreed-upon,
neighborhood-wide road map for ongoing improvements and continued sound
decision-making.
Download our complete
Greater Tom Nevers Area Plan with all its
support documentation. |
