The Temple Planning Board plans to take its next step in addressing housing needs in town on May 2, with the second in a series of forums to receive feedback.

The forum is part of an ongoing process undertaken by the Planning Board to assess housing needs in the community and attempt to address them through the town’s master plan, zoning ordinance and site plan and subdivision regulations.

The May 2 meeting is intended to inform the public and receive feedback regarding the town’s master plan, and areas the board is expecting to examine in the coming year.

A master plan is a document that is meant to serve as a guide for the overall character and future development of a community. It can identify priorities for the town as a whole, or for specific areas such as individual zoning districts.

Planning Board Chair Christine Robidoux said the chapters the town will be reviewing include the vision statement, population and housing, existing land use and future land use. Some of those chapters were updated in 2019, and others as far back as 2003, Robidoux said.

Some of the updates will include updated maps or data collection, but Robidoux said the forum will start the conversation on what other changes might need to be made.

“So of the data, it’s data, it is what it is. What will change in the master plan is what we do with that data,” Robidoux said. “And that conversation will happen over many months with focus groups, interviews and topic specific forums.”

One area the town will be looking at in the coming year is developing a definition for “rural character,” a concept that is referenced throughout the master plan, but doesn’t have a concrete definition.

“That means different things to different people, and we need to define that a little better so we know what people are looking for,” Robidoux said.

The reviews are part of a zoning overhaul that will be done with a $54,771 grant awarded by the InvestNH Municipal Planning and Zoning Grant Program, funded by the NH Department of Business and Economic Affairs.

During the Temple Planning Board’s meeting on Tuesday, Robidoux said there has been brisk interest in a steering committee for the grant, with more than 12 residents expressing an interest in participating. Robidoux said that is too many, and recommended interested people fill out a short survey so the Planning Board could make a final decision on the makeup, hopefully with a good cross-section of ages, amount of time living in town and residents from different districts.

Robidoux said those who are not on the steering committee, but showed an interest, should be encouraged to engage with the process in other ways.

The steering committee will consist of community members who will advise the Planning Board during the review of the master plan and zoning and subdivision regulations, and provide feedback on potential changes. Steering committee members will be involved in community engagement, including sitting in on focus groups, helping to facilitate community forums and conducting resident interviews.

Residents who are interested in joining the steering committee may submit an application, which is expected to be posted on the Planning Board page of the Temple town website, templenh.org, by the end of this week.

The forum on the master plan is scheduled for May 2 at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall, but will also be streamed via Zoom, and the video will be posted following the meeting for those who cannot attend in person.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.

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