CUMBERLAND — The Town Council is scheduled Monday, Nov. 9, to discuss proposed amendments to a growth area in the center of town.

That area, like two others in town where growth is being encouraged, lies mostly in the Medium Density Residential zone. The amendment would expand that area to the east and south, to include land farther down Route 9, toward the Village Mixed Use and Highway Commercial zones.

The town’s 2009 Comprehensive Plan calls for connectivity between those zones, Town Planner Carla Nixon said Monday.

The Planning Board recommended the expansion Sept. 15, echoing a prior recommendation by the Ad Hoc Land Use Committee.

The Town Council will make the final decision on the matter. The council could choose to expand the growth area or shrink it, Nixon said. The public will have an opportunity to weigh in at the Nov. 9 meeting.

The growth area is “just something on paper,” the planner said. “Unless the council follows up by changing the actual zoning for this area, it’s not going to mean it’s going to grow any more than it could now.”

“It doesn’t say ‘This is where growth is going to happen,'” Nixon added. “It’s where growth should happen, if it’s going to happen.”

Alex Lear can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 113 or alear@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @learics.

The Cumberland Town Council is scheduled Monday, Nov. 9, to discuss the proposed expansion of a growth area in the center of town. The area in orange shows the current boundaries, and the red line delineates the proposed expansion.

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