With planned street and sidewalk upgrades, discussions continuing on the Padanaram Harborwalk, and construction expected to begin on a $1.2 million maritime center in 2018, Padanaram Village is undergoing a revitalization of sorts. Officials hope an in-the-works Harbor Management Plan will tie all of the projects and stakeholders together.

Dartmouth resident Steve Bliven, who has experience developing harbor areas, has been charged with putting together the pieces that will lead to developing and implementing the Harbor Management Plan.

“The main purpose of it is to identify any issues with the harbor, any needs, and any future vision,” said Town Planner John Hansen via phone.

To do this, Bliven talked to about 30 different entities representing committees, boards, staff, and businesses and put together a list of interests and concerns. On the list are transportation-related repairs along the causeway, bridge, and sidewalks; parking in Padanaram; water quality issues; emergency response; land use and open space management; moorings, dockage, and boat yards; and swimming, beaches, and walkways.

While formulating a Harbor Management Plan is a 12- to 18-month process — one that Hansen hopes will be finished by 2019 — the advisory board associated with the study will have to determine how much of the Dartmouth watershed is to be included.

Bliven explained that one option is to only include the immediate harbor area, bordered by Elm Street, Fremont Street, Pleasant Street, Harbor Street, Middle Street, Bush Street, and Russells Mills Road on the east side; Russells Mills Road on the north; Star of the Sea Drive, the upper edge of the harbor, Gulf Road, and Smith Neck Road on the west; and by Shore Acres Road on the southerly side.

The second option is to include the same area, but extend the western boundary to Bakerville Road, south to Rock O’Dundee Road, and north along Smith Neck Road and Shore Acres Road. This option would include the salt marshes and wetlands that empty into the harbor, said Bliven.

Residents will have the opportunity to share input, said Hansen, who would be the main contact for townspeople.

“We’re going to try to do a lot of public outreach with this. It won’t be done in a vacuum,” he said.

Following the study period, the town will be supplied with a list of recommendations that would satisfy its policies. The town would then be responsible for implementing the suggestions as it sees fit, explained Bliven.

The policies and recommended actions to move those policies forward would clarify, “This is how we address issues coming up in and around the harbor,” said Bliven.

Committee members would fit each suggestion into one of three, defined timeframes — short-term, medium-term, and long-term. How a suggestion fits into a timeframe will depend on the funding needed for that particular project, how much time it will take to accomplish it, and if more studies need to be done, said Hansen. The town uses a similar format for master plans and open space plans, he said.

Hansen said the town hopes to fund most of the Harbor Management Plan with a grant from the state Seaport Economic Council. The study is a $96,000 project, and the town hopes that the state will cover $80,000 of it, Hansen said. He added that the application was submitted last week — six weeks ahead of the May 1 deadline — and that the state will respond by August.

The rest of the cost will be covered by a $13,000 private donation, and $3,000 from the Waterways Commission, $2,500 of which has already been secured, Hansen said. These funds will confirm the 20-percent funding match that the Seaport Economic Council will require of the town.

Bliven sat in with the Pathways Committee during its March 21 meeting to hear the pedestrian viewpoint. The Pathways Committee has led bike rack installations, researched crosswalk projects, and is currently focused on establishing walking route around the harbor. Bliven relayed his preliminary findings from businesses and residents to the committee members.

“Parking, parking, and parking. It just kept coming up everywhere,” said Bliven.

Additionally, the issue of Chapter 91, which addresses public access to state properties on the waterfront, reappeared several times with maritime business owners, he said. He explained that anyone owning or operating on waterfront property has a license with conditions defining public access because the state owns the waterways.

Maritime business owners feel that the state is taking their land, and that opening their businesses up to the public is a liability, said Bliven. Pathways Committee members, whom have addressed the Chapter 91 issue before with both the state Department of Environmental Protection and Padanaram business owners, said they would be willing to work with businesses owners to reroute those public access conditions.

“That, to me, would be something that the town should support. We don’t want to intrude on their businesses,” said Pathways Committee Chair Alan Heureux.

Generally, a line along the waterway must be available, but the committee said it would support linear walkways to the waterfront and pocket parks. Businesses would have to pay the expenses themselves, as part of the licensure, but it would ease pedestrian traffic through work zone properties. Committee members said they would like to see proper signage, maintenance, and a clearly demarcated walkway.

Heureux said he has also proposed extending sidewalk updates down Smith Neck Road to Bayview. Currently, Smith Neck Road is under construction southerly 550 feet from Gulf Road, but is set to open by June.

Heureux said that sidewalks on Smith Neck Road, up Bridge Street, and along Elm Street would help the Padanaram Harborwalk come to fruition with little additional expense. The concept has been under development for the past three years, but Heureux said he’d like to see the sidewalks, signage identifying public waterfront access, and three more pocket parks along the waterfront (in addition to the ones at the 280 Elm Street condominiums and 4 Water Street) complete within the next five years.