Downtown Master Plan (Transit Oriented Development) - July 2025

The Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) was awarded a Federal 2022 USDOT Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant to create a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Plan for Northwest Vermont in the amount of $2.1M. The project was to develop comprehensive TOD plans for 10 communities across a five-county region in Northwest Vermont. This multi-phase project included a Real Estate Market Demand Analysis (substantially complete) and Community Master Planning and Municipal Zoning Updates. It was to evaluate ways to improve transit service that connected rural communities with employment centers and reduce dependency on personal vehicles for commuting.

On January 10, 2023, the city council voted to support our inclusion in the TOD, and the City Manager submitted a Letter of Intent requesting to be one of the 10 communities to be a recipient. We were chosen, and in late January 2023, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed with CCRPC and that the CVRPC (Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission) would act as our guide. Our Downtown Design District was the area chosen for the work.

We then entered into choosing a consultant to complete the master planning, and TPUDC (Town Planning and Urban Design Collaborative, LLC) from Franklin, Tennessee completed the Vision Book. In the workshops, 8 groups were created and specific tasks were given, looking at our Downtown on a map, and a lot of feedback was given, that helped shape the Vision Book.