Community Improvement Plan

Background

In June 2017, Shelburne Economic Development, in collaboration with the Shelburne BIA, identified a need for a Community Improvement Plan (CIP).

The CIP provides a strategy to articulate a vision for the downtown and surrounding areas, to attract more people and businesses to Shelburne.

The CIP aligns with the Town’s recently consolidated Official Plan which established a growth management and intensification strategy that directs development activity to the downtown and adjacent area where infrastructure is readily available.  The plan would support the achievements in the following categories: walkability, safety, affordability, sustainability, and design quality.

The CIP project budget was $80,000. $40,000 in funding was received from the Province’s Rural Economic Development (RED) grant program.  The CIP Study commenced in August 2018 and the project, via RFP, was awarded to The Planning Partnership (TPP).

TPP divided the Town of Shelburne CIP process into three phases:

• Phase 1: Background Review + Assessment
• Phase 2: Design Guidelines
• Phase 3: Community Improvement Plan Report

Community Consultation

Consultation Strategy was undertaken with stakeholders: 

Phase 1: 

Background Review + Assessment included two workshops (November 2nd and 3rd 2018) with the business community and the public.  the Visioning Workshops engaged with both groups and provided insight for potential community improvements, appropriate financial incentive programs and resulted in the Planning Partnerships first report 'What we heard report #1'. The findings were presented to Council on December 3^rd, 2018 - CIP Council Presentation.

Phase 2:

Design Guidelines included the background report was refined to incorporate feedback/edits received from the business community and the public. Design Guidelines were prepared and finalized and were presented at an Open House on February 7, 2019.  The Open House began with a brief presentation by The Planning Partnership that provided an overview of the project, the previous visioning workshops, the online survey, and the design guidelines drafted for each Big Move. Following the presentation, participants were invited to provide their feedback to the design guidelines drafted for the Big Moves around themes of buildings, public realm, and mobility resulting in 'What we Hear Report #2'.

Phase 3:

Community Improvement Plan Report - During this phase the Implementation Strategy was prepared and finalized. The report accompanied the Background Report and Design Guidelines to form the Draft Community Improvement Plan. The Plan was presented to the public on May 24, 2019. Additional information provided included the Implementation Strategy and Marketing strategy. 

Over a period of about 11 months The Planning Partnership worked with the stakeholders to discuss the CIP. The Final report accompanies the Background Report and Design Guidelines to form the final Community Improvement Plan. Supported documents including a Monitoring, Evaluation and Financial Strategy and a Marketing Strategy were also prepared. The final Community Improvement Plan was presented to the public at a statutory public meeting on May 24th, 2019.

Council adopts the Community Improvement Plan October 3, 2022