ROCHESTER —The town of Rochester is working with state officials to redefine how land can be used throughout the town, Town Planner Nancy Durfee told the Rochester Select Board during a meeting on Monday, July 24. 

Rochester is working with the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District to determine priority development areas and priority protection areas in the town she said.

The town and SRPEDD previously named areas in North Rochester above Hartley Road and as priority protection areas as well as a small lot on County Road across from Pierce Street as a priority development area. 

According to the SRPEDD website, priority development areas are places that the town “wants to grow” with housing or business development. Priority conservation areas are land determined to be protected from development due to its ecological or historical significance.

According to Durfee, the procedure for identifying priority protection and development areas includes determining which areas are important at a local level and making decisions about what purpose the land will be used for.

Durfee explained that determining priority areas aides the zoning process. 

“You are the ones who shepherd the community and the community knows best where they would like to see these both take place,” said Durfee, addressing the Select Board.

According to the SRPEDD website, the organization is updating these areas in communities across the South Coast for the first time since 2013 to prepare for potential expansion of the South Coast Rail Service.

Currently, the project is in the local workshop stage, meaning that priority areas are still being identified. The next step, according to Durfee, is to review a draft of priority areas and have a discussion with the community. The last step is the regional screening stage that will designate the most important priority areas in the South Coast.

“This will give you a new lay of the land,” said Durfee.