The Board’s mission is to ensure that development proposed within the City is compatible with the orderly development of the immediate neighborhood and surrounding areas, that the proposed development will be planned so as not to discourage the appropriate development or lessen the value of other parcels of land in the vicinity, and that development proposed for environmentally, aesthetically or ecologically sensitive areas of the City will reflect and consider the same.
The Planning Board reviews applications for Development Plans, Demolitions, Conditional Uses and Major Land Subdivisions. Development Plan Review is required for all project proposals exceeding certain thresholds in the Unified Sustainable Development Ordinance (USDO), which includes all new commercial, industrial and institutional construction. Demolition of buildings that are not located within Historic Districts, is also subject to review and approval by the Planning Board.
