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Our Community
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Durham Planning Department
The Planning Department oversees development in the Town of Durham and provides primary staff support to the Planning Board and Historic District Commission. Along with the Building/Code Enforcement Department, we also assist the Durham Town Council, Agricultural Commission, Conservation Commission, Energy Committee, Integrated Waste Management Advisory Committee, and Zoning Board of Adjustment, as needed and as resources permit.
Michael Behrendt, the Durham Town Planner, started work on July 1, 2012. Prior to coming to Durham he was Rochester, NH’s chief planner for 16 years, and before that he served as the planner in Beaufort, SC (near Savannah, Charleston, and Hilton Head). Michael and his wife Naomi Kornhauser have lived in Durham for the past 20 years or so. Please feel free to email at mbehrendt@ci.durham.nh.us, call, or stop in to talk with Michael any time. Comments, suggestions, and, certainly, ideas for improving the service that we provide and the quality of development in town, are always welcome.
Master Plan Vision
“In 2025 and beyond, Durham is a balanced community that has successfully maintained traditional neighborhoods, natural resources, rural character, and time-honored heritage, while fostering a vibrant downtown, achieving energy sustainability, and managing necessary change. Durham has effectively balanced economic growth, which has been essential in supporting our schools, resources, and town services, and stabilized property taxes. Durham has encouraged mixed residential and commercial development in and near the downtown including retail establishments, offices, services, eateries, and other businesses that serve local needs and interests while attracting visitors from neighboring vicinities. In designated areas beyond downtown, balanced development was accomplished by prudently integrating our community’s range of values. Through forward-thinking engagement on the part of our citizens and town government, in tandem with continued pursuit of a productive partnership with UNH, our vision for Durham was realized.”
Department Mission Statement
The mission of the Planning Department is to manage the development of Durham pursuant to the vision expressed in the Town's Master Plan, the Town Council goals, and the goals of:
- promoting orderly growth;
- preserving natural, historic, and cultural resources;
- supporting all modes of transportation including walking, biking, and use of public transit;
- revitalizing the downtown;
- enhancing the business climate;
- maintaining property values;
- strengthening social capital in the community;
- fostering beauty in the built environment; and
- creating a special "sense of place" for present and future residents, property owners, and businesses.
Orderly growth. Through the application of carefully crafted regulations and diligent stewardship, the Planning Department works to facilitate smart growth, including development that creates value and is compact, efficient in its use of infrastructure, pleasing, and sensitive to its surroundings.
Community values. The Planning Department seeks to serve the wide range of short and long-term stakeholder interests in Durham and to comprehend community values through the use of public hearings, public debate, personal discussions, surveys and other information-gathering techniques. Specific proposals are evaluated within the context of our ordinances and regulations as informed by these values and the Master Plan.
Environmental sustainability. The Planning Department carefully examines costs and benefits in order to protect our natural resources, including air, land (fields, forests, open space, and various habitats), and water (wetlands, aquifers, rivers, ponds, and flood plains), while encouraging responsible development.
Economic sustainability. The Planning Department especially embraces businesses which make a commitment to the community’s vitality by providing well-paying jobs, adding to the value of the built environment, offering choices for consumers, and participating in Durham’s civic life.
Social sustainability. The Planning Department works to preserve Durham’s distinctive identity and to enhance the quality of life by encouraging investment in social capital and facilitating the health, safety, education, and cultural expression of our citizens.
An Overview of Durham
This eight-minute video provides a nice overview of the community.
