Town of Union Announces Smart Growth COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

Planning effort to create a roadmap for Town operations and development

The Town of Union is undertaking a comprehensive planning process at a critical time in the community’s history. The State of New York Smart Growth Comprehensive Planning grant program allows the Town to create a sustainable, resilient, and forward-looking plan to guide growth and development in the Town of Union over the next 20 years. Funding for the plan is being provided by the New York State Department of State under Title 11 of the Environmental Protection Fund.

Comprehensive plans allow municipalities and community members to collaboratively target challenges and leverage their assets to create implemental development plans for their communities. Strategic comprehensive planning processes incorporate robust and authentic public engagement to pursue actionable strategies to guide long-term community planning.

The NYSDOS Smart Growth grant program allows communities to undertake comprehensive planning processes with a specific focus on utilizing Smart Growth Principles. Smart Growth is an inclusive approach to planning and community development that covers a range of principles with the goal of making communities more livable, economically efficient, environmentally sustainable, and overall, more resilient. Principles such as mixed land uses, green infrastructure, social diversity and integration, walkable/bikeable neighborhood design, variety of mobility choices, and stakeholder collaboration are some of the foundational aspects of Smart Growth planning.

The Town of Union’s Smart Growth Comprehensive Planning process kicked off in January and is led by a Steering Committee comprised of local residents, business owners, elected officials, and Town staff. The planning process is guided by a team of consultants led by MRB Group of Rochester, NY, and includes Maverick & Boutique of Ashfield, MA. The consultants, over the next seven months, will continue collaborating with the Steering Committee as well as reaching out to community leaders and community organizations to create a vision, values, goals, and an implementable action plan to guide future policy and development in the Town.

The Town of Union is committed to a collaborative planning process with multiple opportunities for community engagement. The Town of Union Smart Growth Comprehensive Plan will host its first Public Workshop on June 18 at 5 p.m. at Highland Park Recreation Center. The session will be facilitated in a drop-in format and include an overview of the planning process as well as interactive station boards. Residents and community stakeholders are encouraged to stop in and provide feedback on plan elements such as the community’s vision statements, planning principles, and policy areas, as well as any other input that may enhance the planning process. In conjunction with the Public Workshop, the Town of Union will launch a joint community survey with the Village of Johnson City, as they are also completing a Smart Growth Comprehensive Plan.

Town of Union Supervisor Robert Mack said, “An updated quality comprehensive plan is a must for communities. The Town's commitment to a written plan demonstrates vision from our leaders and residents regarding the future of our town.”

The Town of Union’s Smart Growth Comprehensive Plan will serve as a decision-making framework and tool to accelerate the community’s progress toward a shared vision of the future. For more information on plan activities or to provide input on plan elements, visit the Town website at www.townofunion.com.