COG receives award for Dedham Master Plan12/18/2009
In December 2009, COG received the American Planning Association’s Massachusetts Chapter award for Outstanding Comprehensive Plan for its work on the Dedham Master Plan. Completed in the spring of 2009 and accepted at the May 2009 Annual Town Meeting, the plan included several unique features, including a chapter on town governance and an emphasis on Dedham’s neighborhoods. From the New England Planning Newsletter:
Dedham Master Plan. A high-quality plan developed by Community Opportunities Group that presents a model for use by other suburban communities grappling with conflicting zoning and the need for planned transit-oriented development. Unusual in that it devoted an entire section to governance, Dedham used the Master Planning Process as a vehicle to address issues relating to the municipal capacity to implement the plan once adopted. Rounding out the plan was the extensive public participation process that involved reaching out to individual neighborhoods coupled with an incredibly strong cultural resource sections made this a truly comprehensive plan. Donna Jacobs, “2009 APA-MA Chapter Awards,” New England Planning Newsletter, (March/April 2010): 13, 14.