Harvard Receives 2020 DLTA Grant

The Leominster-based Montachusett Regional Planning Commission or MRPC, notified the Town of Harvard last week that the Town has been awarded a $15,000 equivalent grant through the annual District Local Technical Assistance (DLTA) program administered by regional planning agencies such as MRPC. Harvard's grant will be to conduct an updated municipal buildout analysis (updating 2002 version done by MRPC through the State's EO418 program) adding both commercial and agricultural components and also developing scenario analysis into the model. A buildout analysis evaluates what could be built on remaining developable parcels in the community showing how many additional housing units and commercial space can be added and how much additional population, school children, and miles of new roads will be added at full buildout. Harvard will also ask MRPC to add a scenario building module so that different buildout futures can be evaluated, a component that not many other communities have included.

Figure 1 - Conventional and OSRD Developments Compared

 

Harvard will then have a fiscal impact analysis conducted on the updated buildout version and any scenario that evolves from the update. Then, each scenario can be run through a fiscal impact analysis tool to show the different revenue models that would likely occur through different buildout scenarios. The Agriculture Commission will also be participating in the project as they wish to show how much Agriculture contributes to the local economy and this component will be included in the study. If you have any questions about this project, contact me at cryan@harvard.ma.us or call 978-456-4100 x.323.