Bike/Walk Month kicks off May 1, and so does the CommuteSMART Seacoast B2B Challenge! (Photo courtesy of CommuteSMART Seacoast)
Planning
During the week of Apr. 26 Strafford Regional Planning Commission received word that the two regional projects submitted to the2021 Piscataqua Region Environmental Planning Assessment (PREPA) Grant Program were awarded funding. SRPC's successful grant in Dover will support reviewing and amending the Wetland Protection District to strengthen existing buffer standards and build consistency among all regulations with buffer requirements. SRPC staff will be working directly with the City on this effort.
For the project in New Durham, the town's successful application will allow municipal staff to sub-contract with SRPC to increase buffer and setback regulations on 1st through 4th order streams to 100 feet within the Water Quality Protection Overlay District, the Aquifer Overlay District, and the Open Space Conservation Subdivision.
May 1 kicks off Bike/Walk Month and as is tradition a series of events have been lined up to celebrate! The signature program of CommuteSMART Seacoast, the B2B Commuter Challenge starts May 1, and companies can stillregisterto go for the glory! Teams log their smart commutes during the month of May and compete against other area businesses for most sustainable trips in their respective size category. You can learn more here.
New this year, Strafford Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has teamed up with Rockingham Planning Commission, Seacoast Area Bicycle Riders (SABR) and local area bike shops to create a trail passport with associated prizes and incentives. The trail passport includes 10 trails in the Strafford and Rockingham Planning regions and participants are entered into the raffle based on the amount of trails they visit and log using the digital form. We hope area residents will use this as an opportunity to get active and explore the area in a safe, and socially distanced way!
Strafford Economic Development District (EDD) staff recently launched its "COVID-19, Successful Business Stories" story map on its ArcGIS Online site.
This map is meant to highlight success stories from the greater Strafford region about businesses that have adapted and maintained business during the global pandemic. The five stories shared were gathered by economic recovery coordinator Natalie Moles through one-on-one interviews with business owners.
This story map is meant to document these stories of resilience and innovation and is a growing resource. If you are a business owner with an adaptation story, please reach out to Natalie at nmoles@strafford.org; she would love to document your story.
