Burlington Standard

The City of St. Albans has begun the process to revise and readopt the 2017 City Plan and welcomes community participation and input. The new plan is due to be adopted by the St. Albans City Council in 2025, however the City Planning Commission began discussions at the start of 2023 in order to allow for plenty of time to design an inclusive and dynamic process to allow for multiple perspectives on the future of the community. The City Plan helps the community make strategic decisions about what to focus on and how to prioritize projects.

The City of St. Albans is among many Vermont communities that have a municipal development plan created and adopted as enabled by state statute in 24 V.S.A, Chapter 117. The 2017 City Plan’s development was overseen by the City Planning Commission, with input from the public, and duly adopted by the St. Albans City Council in August of 2017. It can be found online with additional background materials at www.stalbansvt.com/cityplan.

The City Plan has many purposes and uses.  One is to comply with State statutes for land use planning and regulation.  Another is to include items required by many state and federal programs, such as the State Designation of Downtown St. Albans.  A third is to provide support for ordinances, grant funding, and activities that could benefit the City.  For instance, many grant applications are bolstered by being able to say that the proposed project is included in the City Plan.

“St. Albans is the best community I have ever lived in, and I want to ensure this community continues to offer diverse members a safe and accepting place to live, work and recreate,” says Carl Watkins, Vice Chair of the St. Albans City Planning Commission.  Members of the Planning Commission, chaired by Denise Smith, have expressed a strong desire to engage with the community in this process and welcome people to read the current City Plan and offer thoughts on what they would like to see in the new plan and provide ideas for engaging the community in meaningful ways.

Smith shared, “We have given ourselves plenty of time to work on the new plan to provide multiple opportunities for input, discussion, and process. It is important for a community to be intentional with our planning goals and strategies, as this is a plan for the future of our community and will be in effect for another 8 years until 2033.” Smith is challenging members of the community to think about, “What do you love about St. Albans now, what do you want to carry with you into the future ---what do you want your community to be, to feel like, and look like?”

The St. Albans City Planning Commission meets monthly on the 3rd Monday of the month. Commission meetings are posted at www.stalbansvt.com/pc.  Community members are encouraged to reach out to Chip Sawyer or Denise Smith at the City of St. Albans with any questions or ideas.

Contact: Chip Sawyer, Director of Planning & Development, City of St. Albans, VT

(802) 524-1500 ext. 259 | c.sawyer@stalbansvt.com 

Original source can be found here.