FREEPORT – The Planning Board will hold a public hearing next week on a comprehensive Active Living Plan that has broad community support, according to Town Manager Peter Joseph, but has detractors, as well.

The Active Living Plan is the product of the Active Living Task Force, chaired by Anne-Marie Davee; Donna Larson, the town planner; Al Presgraves, town engineer; and with input from more than 800 Freeport residents. Town Councilor Kristina Egan also is a member of the Active Living Task Force. The Bicycle Coalition of Maine and the Freeport Conservation Trust also have had significant input into a plan meant to support a healthy, active lifestyle.

The public hearing at the Town Hall begins at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10.

Joseph said that the Planning Board could incorporate the Active Living Plan as presented into the town’s comprehensive plan, suggest changes or not approve the proposal at all. The plan will have no impact on the proposed 2014-2015 municipal budget, he said.

“A lot of the road improvement elements in the plan is stuff we would have included in the budget anyway,” he said.

Joseph said that the Planning Board will make a recommendation to the Town Council in a month or two.

“I think there is a ton of community support for this,” he said. “It has broad appeal.”

However, Joseph said, “there’s questions from the public as to whether it should be adopted as part of the comprehensive plan, or adopted separately.”

Some residents are wary of the focus on outdoor recreation and its ties to tourism, Joseph said.

“They’re afraid of a crowding of conservation areas,” he said. “There’s this strange friction between improving our conservation areas and overusing those areas.”

The task force turned in hundreds of volunteer hours collecting data and surveys. Larson compiled a116-page report, including text, photographs and maps.

Larson said that the Active Living Plan promotes a lifestyle in which people are able to build physical activity into their daily routines.

“For some, active living means walking or bicycling to run errands, get to work, or go to school,” Larson wrote. “For others, it means taking a walk or snowshoeing along a wooded trail. Still for others, it means being able to walk the dog in the neighborhood, plant vegetables in a community garden, play with family and friends in a nearby park, or to have places to put a canoe or kayak into open water.”

Joseph said that the theme of bicycling, pedestrian trails and outdoor activities has broad support.

“They’re talking about a connector path between the high school, the middle school and the library,” he said. “The key is to really get there from here. It would cross Mallet Drive near the Masonic Hall. They’re talking about pedestrian connectors.”

The Active Living Plan outlines no less than 88 projects, 26 of which are considered priority projects.

As for implementation, the plan proposes to transition into an Active Living Advisory Committee, appointed by the town through a public application process. Members would represent all four voting districts and stakeholder groups such as the Conservation Commission, Freeport Conservation Trust, the Traffic & Parking Committee and L.L. Bean.

There would be eight “nodes of activity,” including:

Downtown Freeport.

Hedgehog Mountain/Pownal and Hunter Road Recreational Fields.

North Freeport Recreational Area.

East Freeport Trails.

Wolfe’s Neck Farm and state park.

South Freeport Village.

Casco Bay YMCA/Cousins River Trail.

Winslow Park.

Connecting the town’s infrastructure with new trails, on-road facilities and the acquisition of new open space is a priority. Each trail extension, addition of open space and facility improvement is intended to increase physical activity.