The Marion Planning Board wants public comment on the town’s master plan, which serves as a road map for future development.

“We can’t emphasize too much that this is a community effort,” Planning Board member Norm Hills said. “People have to be involved.”

Hills and fellow board member Rico Ferrari updated Selectmen on the master plan Tuesday evening.

Revising the plan is a process that started last year. With the help of representatives from the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD), the Planning Board held a community workshop in September.

The workshop was designed to determine what issues residents want the master plan to address. However, only 19 people participated.

Selectman Stephen Cushing said more opinions would be beneficial.

The master plan addresses many aspects of living in Marion, including housing, open space and natural resources, land use, transportation and public services. Residents, town employees and officials will be asked to participate in events to help formulate the plan.

According to Hills, the master plan should be ready for approval in two years.

Before that occurs, “There’s a lot that’s going to happen in the next year quickly and we want people to participate,” Hills said.

Additional workshops and public forums will be scheduled this spring and summer.

A $25,000 grant SRPEDD awarded the Planning Board will pay part of the cost for engineering studies related to the master plan.

To fund the plan, Hills said money from the Planning Board’s account will also be spent, but more is needed to develop the whole document.

Hills said the Planning Board will likely request more funds at a future Town Meeting.

Additionally, the Planning Board will seek $30,000 at the 2016 Annual Town Meeting to hire a part-time town planner. Ferrari said a town planner is key to ensuring the plan is enacted.

“If you don’t implement it, it will sit there like the 2015 report,” Ferrari said. “Had we done this a long time ago we wouldn’t have had the issues that came up in the last eight years.”

At the end of the presentation, Hills requested meetings with town departments to gather input.

“They know where the skeletons in the closet are and might have some good ideas that never got voiced,” Hills said.

For more information on the master plan or to make comments, click here.