Description of Services

The Land Use Department provides a wide range of services to the town’s residents and businesses. The goal of the Land Use Department is to further the welfare of the citizens of Townsend by helping to create in increasingly better, more healthful, convenient, efficient and attractive community environment. It is the task of this Department to supply this foresight and direction to maintain the Town’s rural character.

Contact Information

Additional Information

Mission Statement

The mission of all the Land Use Departments is to guide the development of land and its use within the Town of Townsend in a manner that preserves the Town’s unique character, while guiding reasonably planned growth and development.

Townsend's Stormwater Management Program (SWMP)

The Federal Water Quality Act of 1987 (which required the EPA to develop a program for regulating municipal and industrial stormwater discharges.  In December 1999, the Phase II regulations required small municipal separate storm sewer systems like Townsend, to develop, implement and enforce a Storm Water Management Plan.  The objective of the SWMP is to reduce discharge of pollutants, to protect water quality, and to satisfy water quality requirements of the Water Quality Act.  These objectives are accomplished through the implementation of Best Management Practices for each of the six minimum control measures:

• Public Education and Outreach

• Public Involvement/Participation

• Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination

• Construction Site Stormwater Runoff Control

• Post-Construction Stormwater management in New Development and Redevelopment

• Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operations

Storm Water Management Practices - The following information is provided to the public as part of Public Education and Outreach:

Nonpoint source water pollution (stormwater pollution) occurs when water runs over land or through the ground, picks up contaminants and deposits them in a waterbody or infiltrates to the groundwater.

According to the EPA, nonpoint source pollution is, now, the leading source of water quality degradation.  Water quality degradation can have harmful effects on drinking water supplies, recreation, fisheries and wildlife.

The Town of Townsend provides the following tips that you can use to reduce you and your family's impact on pollutants in storm water runoff:

1. Don't dump anything into storm drains - dispose of hazardous waste through Townsend's monthly waste oil and hazardous waste collection.

2. Sweep up salt and sand on your walkways and driveways after snowmelt.  Don't hose down driveways or sidewalks.

3. Reduce fertilizer and pesticide use and toxicity.  When mowing the lawn, mulch lawn clippings to provide a natural fertilizer.

4. When watering lawn, don't overspray.  Water that runs off sidewalks and roadways carry contaminants (oil, grease, and metals) into the drain system.

5. Pick up litter and pet waste - they end up in our streams either directly or through storm drains.

6. Get involved in your local watershed association - Nashua River Watershed Association, etc.

7. Maintain your septic system - water ponding above your septic system during a storm can mean that your system is breaking out.  The breakout can carry bacteria and viruses with it.

8. Divert runoff from pavement to grassy, planted, or wooded areas of your property.

9. When washing your car, use phosphate free, non-petroleum based cleaning agents.

10. If you see a suspicious discharge to a waterbody or storm drain (catch basin, slotted manhole), contact Townsend's Conservation Agent at 978-597-1723.

11. Inspect your vehicles and equipment for leaking and damaged parts.  Keep your vehicles in good repair, especially when it comes to leaks.  All vehicle fluids are hazardous.

12. Personal property should not be connected to the storm drain system (i.e. downspouts, laundry hookups, or septic systems).