Town planners ask community to look to the future for town plan update
March 19, 2025 | By Lisa Scagliotti 
Find the town plan webpage on WaterburyVt.com in the Planning Commission section. Screenshot
Local residents who attended Town Meeting or voted on Town Meeting Day may have caught the colorful maps at the Waterbury Planning Commission’s display table in the entryway at Brookside Primary School.
That was the start of the next phase of the Planning Commission’s mission to update the Town Plan, something Vermont municipalities do once a decade.
The commission began with a survey last fall and now it has maps and more details to share with the community along with an invitation for local residents to think about their vision for the future to offer feedback for the plan.
Last week the commission held its first “visioning session” at the town offices and the next one is this Thursday, March 20, as a Zoom-only opportunity from 6 to 8 p.m. Two more are planned after this week:
Saturday, March 29, 1-3 p.m. at the Brookside Primary School gym
Wednesday, April 2, 6-8 p.m. at the Grange Hall Cultural Center
The first session attracted 15-20 people, according to commission Vice Chair Dana Allen. Information was presented at five tables with volunteers helping collect input. “We'd love to see more for this next session!” he said.
The topics are based on the required chapters for the Town Plan. Housing was a popular item of discussion and ideas as well as flood resilience, Allen said. “In our Government and Facilities session, some suggestions we heard were for things like municipal collective trash collection and the potential need for an overall facilities plan to include things like a community center or other public-facing facilities.”
The Planning Commission has a special webpage with details about the town plan update project that includes the meeting schedule, survey results from last fall and more detail on the content the commission needs to assemble for the plan. (Link to join the March 20 Zoom is on the schedule.)The meetings will explain the process, review input gathered to date and give attendees a chance to discuss ideas in small groups.
Municipal Plans are vital documents that guide public policy regarding planning, growth and development, and future public investments in the community.