The Belchertown Planning Board has adopted Belchertown’s community plan. This plan may also be called a master plan or a comprehensive plan, but it may be better described as a community plan. It is a long-range policy plan intended for a community to use as a guide in directing its future. It is a flexible and adaptable policy guide to assist the town in becoming more of what the town wants to become. It guides land use, of course, and it also guides fiscal planning, historic preservation, natural resource conservation, economic growth, cultural amenities, and more. The community plan serves to point decisions toward the community's goals. It includes all components of daily life: housing, schools, transportation, economic development, cultural resources, open space, government, recreation, farming and more.

A Community Plan provides better legal standing for municipal decisions and for state grant programs. It may even have a positive effect on the town’s bond rating, according to UMass planning professor and consultant John Mullin. Planning Board member Jim Barry noted that, "However, there is a better reason for planning: Belchertown is the fastest growing town in our area, and one of the fastest growing towns in New England. Have you looked around lately? Our town is changing greatly. Although many people would prefer for the town to stay as they first knew it, we all know that is not possible. Change is inevitable. We have an opportunity and a responsibility to direct that change as well as we can."