Planning & Community Development

Mission Statement

To serve the community by facilitating the creation and preservation of a healthy, safe, sustainable, and high quality living environment through the management of an effective and on-going planning and implementation process.

Each word of this mission has very specific meaning. In carrying it out, the department has several areas of responsibility:

• To protect and improve Montpelier's natural and built environment
• To strengthen the local economy and tax base
• To meet housing needs of low and moderate income residents
• To engage community in short and long term planning
• To provide information services to the public

Implementation

These are implemented through our planning, zoning, and community development programs and through the stewardship of public records. Most of our housing, loan, and economic development activities are carried out through an arm of our department referred to as the Community Development Agency (CDA), a moniker that remained long after the city's planning and zoning functions were added to it in the late 1980s.

Commission Involvement

We administer Montpelier's land development regulatory process, which includes zoning, subdivision, floodplain, and design review. The department staffs the Planning Commission, Design Review Committee, Development Review Board, and the recently formed Historic Preservation Commission.

Other Involvement

We are also very involved in many on-going activities relating to downtown promotion, economic development, tourism, and business promotion. We also administer several housing programs for low and moderate income residents. All of these program areas have benefited from the successful application for and administration of state and federal grants.