Contact the Planning & Community Development Department if you have questions or concerns

Open Space and Recreation Plan Survey

The Town of Ware needs your input! Do you often use parks such as Grenville Park or the Ware Dog Park? How about walking trails including the Ware Rail Trail? Maybe you enjoy fishing in the Swift River?

The Town of Ware would love your feedback on its parks, facilities, recreational areas/opportunities, and open space. The Planning & Community Development Department is working on updating the Town of Ware’s Open Space and Recreation Plan. This plan includes several ideas and strategies for the next 10 years of maintaining parks and rec facilities, water and open space resources, and even creating strategies to conserve more undeveloped land.

How do we come up with these strategies? With helpful feedback from the residents of Ware. The Planning & Community Development Department has created a survey which will be available for pickup in Town Hall, the Ware Senior Center, and the Young Men’s Library Association. This survey is also available by click the following link: https://qfreeaccountssjc1.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1O27h70qeR2NKoS.  

The survey should only take 10 minutes of your time, and will be a tremendous help in our effort. Any questions or concerns you have can be directed to pcd@townofware.com

Beginning July 1, 2014, the Charter amendment (passed by Annual Town Meeting in 2013 and by ballot vote in April 2014), combined two departments creating the Planning & Community Development Department. The Charter amendment specifically addresses the Community Development Authority: There shall be a Community Development Authority which shall consist of five (5) members. All members shall be appointed by the Board of Selectmen for terms of three (3) years each, with terms staggered. The Community Development Authority shall have the following powers and duties:

Oversee all CDBG grants awarded to the Town and other grants which were obtained through the Planning & Community Development Department; Oversee loans provided to businesses from the Economic Development Fund; Oversee loans provided to individuals through any other loan programs administered by the Planning & Community Development Department; Determine which areas of the town constitute decadent, substandard, or blighted open areas as such terms are defined in MGL Chapter 121B, and prepare plans for the redevelopment of such areas; Working with stakeholders, prepare plans and oversee implementation of strategies to revitalize the downtown and millyard areas; Participate in general economic development projects; and Any other activities as needed to effectuate positive change in regard to community or economic development.

Duties & Responsibilities: The Planning and Community Development department is responsible for performing studies and preparing plans related to land use and development of the town, (including the Master Plan); to draft regulations which carry out those plans, and to administer said regulations (see the CD page for more on those efforts). The department includes, among others, the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Planning & Community Development Department News