Our Comprehensive Plan

There's a Community Forum happening on March 24, 2025.  click here to learn more about it! 

Orange’s Long-Range Comprehensive Plan is the town’s vision and road map for the future planning of our community.  This community-created document ensures that future decisions made by our town boards, businesses, partners, and developers are aligned with our priorities, address major issues, and celebrate what makes our town special. In Massachusetts, towns are required to have a comprehensive plan for their long-term development. Orange has not undertaken a comprehensive update of its Plan since 2005. Grow Orange 2035 will be the town’s new plan and will address the most pressing issues Orange is facing as they relate to growth, development, capital investments, infrastructure upgrades, and other community-wide opportunities and challenges. Grow Orange 2035 will include our shared vision and goals for the future of our town and will set forth recommended strategies and actions to achieve them for the next ~10 years.

• Determine what has changed in Orange since 2005, the last comprehensive update of Orange’s Long-range Comprehensive Plan.
• Analyze the existing conditions of the community and identify what issues and challenges we need to plan for over the next 10+ years.
• Create a community-wide vision for Orange that reflects the values and desires of the many people in town.
• Identify focus areas and actions for future land use: such as in zoning, regulatory initiatives, natural resource protection, town infrastructure investment, and capital improvements to achieve the community’s vision. This should include opportunities that exist to enhance community life, build our local economy, and protect our rural areas.
• Actively gather feedback, thoughts, and opinions from residents, business owners, community leaders, and town visionaries like you!

A Long-Range Comprehensive Planning Committee has been created to guide the creation of Grow Orange 2035. The Planning Board and Board of Selectmen will also be closely involved in the creation of the Plan. In Fall of 2024, consulting team,  Resilience Planning and Design ,  RKG Associates , and  SSV Architects  were hired to assist the town in the creation of Grow Orange 2035.

For more information on the planning process,  click here .

Over the next year, public participation opportunities will be organized and advertised through this website. We recommend  signing up for our email list  to receive periodic updates (approximately 3-4 messages throughout the project duration) about public events, major project milestones, and other opportunities to give your feedback.

What is your vision for the future of Orange? Do you have an idea, comment, or question related to Grow Orange 2035? We want to hear from you.  Submit your comments here! 

Questions? Get in touch with the Long-range Comprehensive Planning Committee.  planning@townoforange.org 

Here are additional documents you may want to explore:

•  Town of Orange 2005 Master Plan 
• Long-range Planning Committee Minutes