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I <br />REPORT OF THE PLANNING DIRECTOR <br />December 31, 1957 <br />Lexington Planning Board <br />Lexington, Massachusetts <br />Gentlemen: <br />My 1957 annual report is presented to you in the form <br />of a summary of my observations and recommendations and <br />of the work accomplished while I have been Lexington's <br />Planning Director, the report supplementing information <br />found in our previous accounts covering this three-year <br />period and extracting considerable material from Lexing- <br />ton's long-range development plan. My report is pre- <br />sented in this form with the thought in mind that you may <br />wish to transmit it to the citizens of Lexington as an <br />introduction to said plan which is being completed for <br />your consideration and for presentation in its preliminary <br />form. <br />Introduction <br />In general, planning boards have found that there are <br />two different means employed in obtaining a so-called <br />master plan. One course of action frequently followed <br />is that of a town appropriating a sum of money and employ- <br />ing a consultant to prepare what is sometimes referred to <br />as a "package" plan. A second procedure is that of having <br />a town planning staff prepare a comprehensive plan. <br />The first means of obtaining a plan is a fine one <br />where there is little likelihood of a community having a <br />resident staff of its own. As is most often the case, <br />however, there is little public participation in the <br />preparation of a plan submitted by a consultant and fre- <br />quently little knowledge of the plan's contents. In. such <br />an instance, how to effectuate the plan is the problem <br />confronting a planning board. If the plan is used or <br />modified to fit changing conditions, it will generally <br />point the way to real community development. <br />Undoubtedly, however, the second means of obtaining a <br />plan is the best one for a town. Instead of appropriating <br />a sum of money for a plan, most of.its cost is paid for <br />with salaries for the staff. Working with individuals <br />and agencies of a town government and with the public as <br />partners in an enterprise, much duplication of effort is <br />eliminated while a plan is created, not as a single event <br />but as all factors and ideas that are germane are <br />gathered, considered, and analyzed with the greatest of <br />