Andover Planning Division Hosting Coffee With A Planner

ANDOVER, MA — The Town of Andover Community Development and Planning Department has announced it is bringing back Coffee With a Planner for the first time since before the pandemic.

At 9 a.m. on Jan. 25, the department will welcome interested community members for a discussion at Old Town Hall, located at 20 Main Street. The conversation will take place in the first-floor meeting rooms and coffee will be available.

Paul Materazzo, the Town of Andover's director and planning and land use, said the department hopes to hold a Coffee With a Planner event each month.

"Before COVID, we initiated this initiative, it's kind of an informal way for the community to drop in and learn about various ongoing initiatives on the planning team," Materazzo told Patch.

Materazzo said that each month, the planning division will be prepared to talk about a different topic. Residents also will have a chance to speak about what's on their minds, according to Materazzo.

The first session, Materazzo said, will focus on the zoning recodification process, which has been going on for a couple of years.

"We're presenting to Town Meeting this year to recodify the zoning bylaws," Materazzo said. "Essentially it's a house cleaning of the existing zoning bylaws to rationalize the formatting and bring the current document up to state law in certain sections."

Future sessions could focus on planning department-related issues like master planning, complete streets, transportation, housing, business, and arts and culture, according to organizers.