Letter To The Editor: Survey Deadline Approaches For Dover Residents

Speak now, Dover residents, or forever hold your peace. Well, not forever, but possibly for a long time to come. 

It’s last call for Dover residents to respond to Dover’s first town-wide planning survey in nearly 20 years.

The deadline for responding to the survey is June 30. 

The Dover Planning Board launched the survey just before Dover’s Annual Town Meeting in May. The Planning Board developed the survey with the help of Dover’s Long Range Planning Committee and with input from other boards and committees. 

The survey was mailed to every household in Dover and is still available on the town’s website, www.doverma.org/survey.html. 

“We are hoping all residents return the survey either by mail or online,” said Gino Carlucci, Dover’s Planner. “The Planning Board wants to receive as many responses as possible by the June 30 deadline,” he added. 

So far, the response to the survey has been strong. The Planning Board has already received more than 600 responses, and a steady stream of responses continues to come in. 

“The more responses we receive, the more representative and reliable the survey results will be,” said Mark Sarro, Planning Board chairman. “Everyone’s response is important because these are really important issues for Dover’s future,” he said.

The survey seeks the opinions of Dover residents on a broad range of issues including property taxes and town spending, schools, and land use issues such as open space and playing fields.

Comparing the results of this survey with the results of the last planning survey taken in 1993 may reveal interesting trends in the views of Dover residents and in the town’s planning priorities. 

The Planning Board is not yet releasing any of the survey results. The results will be published as part of Dover’s updated Master Plan scheduled for release in 2012.

Between now and then, the results will be used to inform the policy recommendations in the Master Plan. 

State law requires all towns to have a Master Plan. Dover’s current Master Plan, last updated in 2004, is available on the Dover town website,  www.doverma.org/planningboard. 

The Planning Board asks all Dover residents to be sure they have responded to the survey by the June 30 deadline. Anyone with questions on the survey can contact the Board at 508-785-0032, extension 238 or by email at planning@doverma.org.