What Town documents support the Formula Business Bylaw?

The proposed Formula Business Bylaw is firmly rooted and explicitly expressed in a number of Town documents. It is a recommended Action in support of the Town’s stated Goal to protect the unique character of Concord’s village centers.
 
Article 29 is the Planning Board’s direct response to the Goals and recommended Actions expressed in the following Town documents, among others:

• 2018 Comprehensive Long Range Plan recommends that:
  

Section 3.1, Big Ideas for Integrated Planning states:  “Concord residents greatly value the independent businesses in Concord Center, Thoreau Street Depot Area, and West Concord.  These three village centers have different characters and each boasts local businesses that offer unique retail, food, and service options for residents.”
 
Section 4.4, Land Use, Goal 1, Action 1 recommends that: the Town “adopt zoning and other alternatives to protect unique features of existing village centers (e.g., potential expansion of the existing formula business bylaw…”

• 2007 Village Centers Study:  “The first common recommendation is to support and maintain the village character of each village center”.  The Study specifically identified consideration of formula business restrictions in its recommendation for Concord Center.
  

• 2005 Comprehensive Long Range Plan: a goal for Concord is to have “successfully preserved its small-town character”
  

Chapter 5:  “Concord’s history helps to define us as a town, a nation and a people.  We as Concordians have the obligation to protect that history and its context.  Our unique heritage and historic sites draw over a million visitors a year, and thanks to careful preservation efforts, Concord still remains a uniquely attractive town with a strong sense of place and of history.  It is elegant in its simplicity and almost universal in its appeal.  Town-wide property values and commercial enterprise benefit from the remarkable character of the town.  Despite this fairly successful track record of preservation, Concord is challenged on a regular basis by potentially detrimental changes and growth demands.  The town’s attractiveness and unique character can be easily and inadvertently lost.  We citizens are the stewards of Concord and its rich history, and it is therefore incumbent upon us both collectively and as individuals to prevent further erosion of the visible links to Concord’s past.”