PEABODY — The City of Peabody is holding a virtual public forum on Tuesday at 6 p.m. to help shape the city’s next Recreation and Open Space Plan (ROSP).
City Planner Andrew Levin said the Massachusetts Division of Conservation Services (DCS) requires all plans to be updated every seven years and that the last update occurred in 2015.
Levin said the city’s Community Development Department, working with BSC Group of Worcester, has reached out to the public seeking input and has also had several productive meetings. He said the new plan will be created based on analysis of previous plans, field work, community information sessions and a comprehensive community survey that was conducted in November 2021.
A major topic of discussion at the forum is expected to focus on the survey, which added questions concerning the importance of building resilience to climate change and equity.
“We got a lot of great information from the community, which will be discussed at the forum,” Levin said. “Tuesday is an opportunity for people who don’t know about the plan to become informed, as well as a great opportunity for the public to have input.”
According to Levin, ROSPs create roadmaps for open-space conservation, acquisition, maintenance, and improvement while also establishing goals and objectives based on public input and community feedback.
The 2022 plan will provide a current snapshot of recreation and open spaces in the city, identify future recreation and open-space opportunities and goals, and establish a new seven-year action plan.
Levin said that while the updated plan will serve as a view to what the city has accomplished, it’s also a great look to the future.
“Another exciting thing that’s happening is there are many different projects that could come of it, so this meeting is a good way of getting the public’s feedback,” Levin said. “The great thing is you create a seven-year action plan to reach your goals. It’s basically a roadmap for the city to use to improve and expand recreational and open space. With the weather getting better and people starting to think about being outdoors again, the timing of the forum is good.”
For more information about the plan, the plan update and the public forum, go to https://peabodyrosp.wixsite.com/update.
