Copies of the comprehensive plan are available for borrowing at the Town Office.

DURHAM – The Comprehensive Plan Committee will hold a public hearing on proposed amendments to the plan at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8, at Durham Elementary School.

The public is invited to learn about the proposed changes and to suggest improvements to the plan.

Two major changes have been proposed. Three of the four “growth” areas in the plan are recommended for elimination, leaving only the Southwest Bend growth area. That area has been enlarged to accommodate about 70 percent of the expected development in Durham during the next 10 years.

In conjunction with the proposed amendment, the districts have been renamed:

• The existing resource protection district has been renamed “resource protection/rural district;”

• The existing rural residential district has been renamed “rural residential/transitional district;”

• Southwest Bend has been renamed “Southwest Bend/growth district.” Under the plan, new town roads will be accepted only in the Southwest Bend/growth district.

The other major proposed change relates to growth limitations. Two-thirds of the 45 annual permits for new residential construction in the existing comprehensive plan are to be in the growth areas with the other one-third for the remainder of town.

The proposed amendment does not differentiate between districts for issuance of permits, except that only one permit annually can be issued in the rural residential/transitional district for any applicant, unless there are permits remaining at the end of the year.

Copies of the comprehensive plan are available for borrowing at the Town Office during normal office hours.