Work on town of Washington visioning statement continues

WASHINGTON — Tom Beaumont, co-chairman of the Comprehensive Master Plan Review Committee for the town of Washington, is still trying to bring everyone together to produce the final visioning statement, which will guide the creation of the town’s 2010 Comprehensive Plan.

At the last meeting of the committee, there was a discussion of the outside consulting firm River Street’s current draft statement with general agreement that it wasn’t perfect. Margaret Irwin, consultant from River Street, said she “had absolute confidence in the town committee,� and that “they are deliberating where they should be deliberating.� She said she observed that there is not disagreement on actual content, but more on the style and length of the statement.

“Some want a statement that is two sentences long, and others want a four-page statement,� she said.

Beaumont, who has worked on the comprehensive plan (formerly known as the master plan) project for the last two-and-a-half years, indicated that the final visioning statement draft will blend the thoughts of the town’s public visioning sessions, the individual subcommittee’s ideas and those of River Street. He stressed that the goal is to produce a “people’s document� that is inclusive and representative of everyone in Washington, even those who did not complete the initial public survey.

“No one should come away feeling not listened to,� Beaumont said.

He said he expects that two or three statements will be prepared and discussed during the month of March before the committee reaches any agreement on a final version. Even the final version of the visioning statement might well be modified or revisited in the future, according to Beaumont.

Work on the comprehensive plan is moving forward even without the final visioning statement. The next step will be to prepare a preliminary draft of the actual plan, and then to hold public hearings, hopefully by the end of this coming summer.  Beaumont said he does not envision any massive changes to the existing 1987 plan or the 1991 zoning law.