2015-12-00-CPC-rpt (Needs Assessment Report)

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• Seeks to advance community goals previously set forth in public documents that have received wide review and public input; • Attempts to meet multiple community preservation goals in its selection of projects to recommend to Town Meeting, and to the extent possible, meet multiple goals within each project; and • Communicates its mission and goals to applicants, to other community boards and committees and to the general public. After completion of its review, the CPC's recommendations are forwarded to Town Meeting for discussion and voting by Town Meeting members. Purpose This Needs Assessment Report ( "the Assessment ") is a summary of the CPC's work in developing community preservation goals for Lexington. The CPC has attempted to synthesize all planning efforts addressing the four purposes identified in the CPA. The Committee has reviewed Lexington's current resources and has outlined the needs and possibilities for community preservation activities which will enhance open space, recreation, historic resources and community housing. The CPC has set out the guidelines it will use to evaluate project proposals as well as the process it will follow during this undertaking. This Assessment sets out the goals and aspirations of the CPC, now in its ninth year of implementation. The purpose of the Assessment is to: • Provide a clear statement of both broad and specific goals that lie behind the CPC's recommendations; and • Lay out the specific framework the CPC will use in formulating its recommendations, both for the guidance of applicants and the understanding of Town Meeting. Goals Lexington's committees and commissions have a long- standing history of carefully assessing Town needs and goals in light of the shared values of its residents. The Lexington Comprehensive Plan, the Open Space and Recreational Plan, and the Town's Consolidated Housing Strategy and Plan were created in this spirit. (For a complete list of Plans, Documents and Studies that are used as CPC sources, see Appendix A). The CPC expects that the CPA will become a resource for carrying out the thoughtful community preservation recommendations contained in these studies. Subsequent sections of this Assessment discuss community goals and projects specific to preservation within each of the four designated purposes of the CPA. In addition to these goals, the CPC has articulated a set of guidelines that apply to projects generally. The CPC will use these guidelines in its review and decision - making process. They are intended to provide 4