Voters, leaders optimistic as Laconia master planning process begins

LACONIA — The crowd was optimistic as city staff, volunteer board and commission members, and residents met to discuss a rewrite to the municipal master plan on Monday evening.

In the 2025-26 municipal budget, councilors appropriated $100,000 to update the city’s master plan, a long-range document meant to inform decision-making among staff, elected leaders and volunteers for the next 10 to 15 years. 

Resilience Planning & Design, a Granite State consulting firm which specializes in assisting communities with comprehensive master planning and land use policy, was tapped by the city to navigate the process, expected to take about a year to complete. They’ve worked in other municipalities in New England, including Dover and Bar Harbor, Maine, and most recently in Meredith.

By the end, the city should have a rewritten master plan, its first since 2018, and one leaders anticipate will be much more comprehensive. 

“This is an exciting moment,” Planning Director Rob Mora said Monday night at the Belknap Mill downtown. “Not just for the planning department, but for the City of Laconia.

“The work we begin today will help shape the future of our community in a meaningful and lasting way,” Mora said. “The master plan is more than a document, it’s a shared vision, a blueprint for how we grow, evolve and preserve what makes Laconia special.”

A key facet to the plan is including strategies to balance healthy municipal growth with sustainability, particularly in light of the anticipated development of the former State School property, where Pillsbury Realty Development says they’ll build 2,000-plus units of housing, mixed-use retail, and recreational space. 

Ensuring the plan accurately reflects the values and aspirations of city residents is the most important, Mora said.

“Let’s begin this evening with open minds and a shared commitment to excellence.”

In addition to councilors, board and committee members and city staff, 18 members of the public attended the meeting.

“For us, early on, it’s all about learning about the City of Laconia,” Steven Whitman of Resilience Planning & Design said in addressing the audience. 

The process should run as follows: the first phase of analysis, when existing trends and conditions are identified; a second phase of envisioning the future, key questions surrounding what the city will look like a decade or more from now; and the third phase of creating and, for years after, implementing the plan. 

Those three phases will take about one year to culminate in a final product — the city’s new master plan — and the process will include various opportunities for in-person feedback from members of the public.  

There’s a website, now live, which residents can use to stay up to date regarding the process and provide feedback. Visit laconianh.gov/341/Master-Plan to learn more. You can view a recording of the entirety of the kickoff meeting at youtube.com/laconianh.

Monday evening’s meeting was all about understanding the process and getting all groups involved on the same page — numerous community members in attendance expressed their hopes for the city’s future.

Ward 5 Councilor Steven Bogert said he’d like to see the city’s employment base diversify, creating good-paying jobs to support families in their pursuits of purchasing a home.

“We’ve experienced a lot of real estate growth but in 15 years, what have we done with it?” Ward 3 Councilor Eric Hoffman wondered. “I’d like to think that we’ve turned that into economic prosperity, and that we’ve managed to preserve our historic neighborhoods, preserve the feel of our residential neighborhoods, and managed the growth in the right places.”

Marcia Hayward, a member of the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment, said she hopes to ensure healthy development in the future without creating congestion. 

Pat Wood of Laconia Housing Authority said ensuring the city’s school district remains robust is a priority, and Ward 1 City Councilor Bruce Cheney expressed a different priority: 

“Someone mentioned the hospital — I think if we’re talking about 10 or 15 years out, we need to know if we have a hospital and what can the [city] do to increase the level of services at the hospital.

 “How you can encourage Concord Hospital to put more into Laconia Hospital?” 

A finished plan would address several key questions regarding the city’s development: land use policy and regulations; economic development; transportation; housing and community facilities — the city’s already identified a need for new Department of Public Works facilities plus a new community center — among other issues within those broad categories. 

“I think we need a city-wide facilities assessment,” Hoffman said, noting creating a plan for spending in maintaining public facilities is paramount.