Town Plan update seeks input as it digs into ‘aspirations, goals, strategies’ for 13 chapter topics
August 21, 2025 | By Lisa Scagliotti
Project poster courtesy of the Waterbury Planning Commission
The Waterbury Planning Commission’s process to update the town plan is moving into a new phase, with the commission once again looking to collect feedback from the community to be incorporated into the updated plan.
This latest effort will unfold over the course of the commission’s next six regular meetings from Aug. 25 through Nov. 10, where it will be looking to hammer out specific “aspirations, goals and strategies” across 13 specific subject areas.
The commission began the process to update the town plan in late 2024 with the goal of having a new plan drafted by the end of this year and adopted in 2026.
Early steps involved a community survey and visioning brainstorming sessions, along with informal conversations with community members on Town Meeting Day. That information to date is collected and can be found on the town plan update webpage with the title “planWTB,” developed with the help of the SE Group, a Burlington-based planning consulting firm.
Planning Commission members are eager to have local residents weigh in to share their ideas regarding the future of the community.
“Vermont and Waterbury have a long-standing tradition of public participation in government. The Planning Commission is offering up a chance to have a direct say in how the Town Plan is developed,” Planning Commission Vice Chair Dana Allen wrote in a recent project update. “This plan helps guide decisions like Zoning Bylaw development. So if you want input on that – it's a great time to start.”
The process now has moved to the phase of asking town boards and commissions, local organizations, and the public at large for input on specific concepts for the plan, specifically “aspirations, goals and strategies” pertaining to each chapter in the plan.
The commission explains each this way:
Aspirations as “broad, long-term statements of desires and ambitions for the future” that address the reasons behind specific steps.
Goals are “specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound steps.”
Strategies are the “specific steps that are measurable and detailed” to be taken toward reaching the aspirations and achieving goals.
The project’s website lists 13 topic areas needing this level of detail: Land Use, Transportation, Utilities, Facilities & Services, Economic Development, Natural Resources, Energy, Historic & Cultural Resources, Housing, Flood Resilience & Hazard Mitigation, Recreation, Education, and Local Government.
The commission meets on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. Over the next six meetings, starting Aug. 25, the group will be reviewing input and collecting more feedback from attendees either in person or via Zoom. The commission typically meets in the Steele Community Room. Agendas posted on the commission website note the meeting time and location and have details to attend remotely.
At each of the upcoming meetings, the commission from 6 to about 7:45 p.m. will discuss the aspirations, goals, and strategies for specific chapters for the new plan. The tentative chapter/topic schedule is:
Aug. 25: Local Economy, Facilities, Utilities, & Local Government
Sept. 8: Housing
Sept. 22: Energy & Transportation
Oct. 13: Natural Resources & Flood Resilience
Oct. 27: Historic & Cultural Resources, and Recreation
Nov. 10: Land Use
Those wishing to share comments with the commission will have three minutes to speak at these meetings (possibly more if time allows after all have had a chance to comment once). The commission suggests people come with a list of points to make that address the aspirations, goals and strategies for the specific topics. For background, community survey information posted on the planWTB website is broken down along these topics and the 2018 town plan addresses these areas as well.
For municipal plan examples, find the current Waterbury Town Plan that was adopted in 2018, posted on the town website under the Planning and Zoning Department here. The Planning Commission also suggests checking out the recently updated plan for the City of Montpelier online here.
Anyone with questions about the town plan update process can contact Waterbury Planning Director Neal Leitner at nleitner@waterburyvt.com.