MCI Master Plan Committee holds first meeting, targets December zoning package for Concord prison site

CARLISLE — April 24, 2026 — Concord's newly formed MCI Master Plan Committee held its first meeting Thursday, launching a planning process aimed at delivering draft zoning for the former Massachusetts Correctional Institution site by November 2026. Select Board Chair Mark Hellman, who chairs the committee, opened the session by distinguishing this effort from prior visioning work: "This is about making a decision about what should be done." The consulting team — led by Stantec with Speck Dempsey and Community Scale as partners — outlined a timeline running from a public kickoff on May 5 at the Concord Free Public Library to a design charrette week of June 8-11, with draft zoning targeted for November and a final master plan package in December. Paul Boba Hogan, DCAM senior project manager, confirmed the eventual development RFP will be run by DCAM, not the town, though zoning and community priorities set through this process will be embedded in its requirements. A debate over zoning methodology — whether a regulating plan approach could be implemented through traditional zoning or would require a form-based code instrument that has been scoped out of the project — was left unresolved, with consultant Jeff Speck arguing the regulating plan functions as a practical equivalent, while committee member and former Planning Board Chair Matt Johnson pressed for clearer answers before the process advances further.