Work on the chapter is underway, and we will be reaching out to local residents and business owners to ensure that the Master Plan addresses all of the issues that are important to local stakeholders. Please respond to our public opinion survey via this link, or alternately via the QR code to the right. If you prefer paper copies, those are available at the Town Offices. The survey will be available during the month of October 2024.

If you are a local business owner, please join us for Coffee Hour at Northwood Brewing. Members of the Northwood’s Master Plan Advisory Committee will be present to solicit your thoughts, concerns, and suggestions with the goal of finding ways to enhance the local business environment. This listening session will be Wednesday, October 16 from 9am to 10:30am.

A Community Forum to solicit your thoughts on desired commercial and industrial businesses is tentatively planned for the evening of Thursday November 7. For more information, click on the logo below.

The Master Plan is a powerful tool that allows local residents to have a say in determining the community’s future. The town’s zoning ordinance and land use regulations rely the master plan for their legitimacy and legal authority. In fact, courts in New Hampshire and elsewhere have ruled that a current and comprehensive plan is a prerequisite for a zoning ordinance. NH RSA 674:3 recommends that the plan be updated every 5 to 10 years.

NH RSA 674:2 provides helpful guidance on the contents of a master plan, both components that are required and those that are optional. NH’s former Office of Energy & Planning published a helpful summary that explains the purpose of a municipal plan and identifies those who are responsible for the plan’s preparation and adoption. NH RSA 674:3 III requires the master plan update to be a public process.

Northwood’s Master Plan Steering Committee is committed to engaging Northwood residents and business owners to the maximum extent possible. 

Northwood’s Master Plan Steering Committee strives to engage residents (both year round and seasonal) and local business owners in a dialog on the town’s future. The committee drafted a Master Plan vision chapter, based on the input of those who joined us in this important discussion that describes the community to which we aspire in the coming years.

The committee engaged Northwood residents by several means. The results of those efforts are documented here.

On January 5, 2023, the Northwood Planning Board adopted the following Master Plan chapters: Introduction, Vision, and Existing Land Use.

On July 15, 2024, the Planning Board adopted the following Master Plan chapters: Housing & Demographics, Community Facilities, Natural Resources and Water Resources, Recreation, and Public Input.

Positioned in the queue are two more chapters: Economic Development and Future Land Use.

We conducted a survey of Northwood residents and stakeholders between January 3, 2024 and February 16. We heard from 169 respondents. Have a look at the results: 1) Community Facilities, 2) Water & Natural Resources, and 3) Recreation.

We had a very public work session on August 29, 2022 at the Northwood School. If you missed it and wish to catch up, the session was recorded, and may be viewed here. Here are some links to the work session agenda, the slides we presented, and the Existing Land Use Map that is based on data from 2015.

The primary purpose of the session was to solicit resident and stakeholder input for the Vision chapter of the Master Plan. The comments and suggestions were many and varied. The verbatim (written) comments from participants may be viewed here.