Amity Comprehensive Plan Update: Engaging the Community for a Shared Vision

Engaging Local Businesses through Targeted Outreach

The City of Amity is undergoing a transformative process as it updates its Comprehensive Plan, a guiding document that will shape the city's growth and development for years to come. Central to this process is the engagement of the community, ensuring that the voices of residents, businesses, and stakeholders are heard and incorporated into the plan. The City of Amity has undertaken a multi-faceted approach to community engagement, creating various channels for input and feedback to ensure an inclusive and transparent planning process.

Online Survey: Gathering Diverse Perspectives

To gather input from a wide range of community members, the City of Amity created a comprehensive online survey. The survey was designed to capture the unique perspectives, experiences, and aspirations of various stakeholders, including:

• Residents of Amity

• Local business owners and entrepreneurs

• Workforce and job seekers

• Community organizations and stakeholders

• Regional economic development partners

The survey covered topics such as economic development, housing, transportation, parks and recreation, and community amenities. By providing an accessible and convenient platform for participation, the online survey helped to ensure that the updated comprehensive plan would reflect the needs and priorities of the entire community.

Key Facts:

• 49% of respondents see maintaining small-town character amid growth as a critical issue

• 77% of respondents believe it is extremely or very important to preserve and enhance open spaces and natural ecosystems in Amity

• 74% of respondents consider parks, trails, and open spaces as extremely or very important to their quality of life in Amity

• 52% of respondents identified improving streets and transportation infrastructure as the most important challenge

• 76% of respondents expressed a desire for restaurants and food services to expand or locate in Amity

• 62% of respondents identified social media as the most effective way for the City to communicate and involve residents

• 37% of respondents emphasized the importance of affordable housing

• 65% of respondents are most supportive of protecting natural resources like water and open space

Key Themes:

Several key themes emerged from the survey responses, highlighting the community's priorities and aspirations for Amity's future:

1. Preservation of Small-Town Character and Historical Identity: 85% of respondents consider small-town character and charm as Amity's greatest strength. Maintaining this unique identity while accommodating growth is a top priority for the community.

2. Enhancing Local Businesses and Economic Growth: Supporting the expansion of local businesses, particularly in the food and service sectors, is seen as crucial for fostering a vibrant local economy. Residents seek diverse businesses, including retail, professional services, and tourism-related enterprises.

3. Housing Affordability and Diversity: Expanding housing options, including single-family homes, townhomes, duplexes, and affordable housing, is essential to support Amity's growing and diverse population.

4. Improvement of Transportation and Infrastructure: Improving streets, sidewalks, and overall transportation infrastructure is a top priority for the community. Residents also expressed interest in enhancing parking options and incorporating electric vehicle charging stations.

5. Community Engagement and Communication: Effective communication through digital channels, such as social media and email newsletters, is essential for keeping residents informed and involved in decision-making processes.

6. Commitment to Environmental Sustainability: Protecting natural resources, such as water and open spaces, and investing in sustainability initiatives like recycling and waste reduction are important to the Amity community.

Engaging with the Community at Amity Day

To complement the online survey and foster face-to-face interactions, the City of Amity hosted an informational booth at the inaugural Amity Day community event. The booth served as a hub for outreach and information sharing, providing an opportunity for city staff and volunteers to engage directly with residents, business owners, and other stakeholders.

Throughout the day, meaningful conversations took place about Amity's future, with community members sharing their concerns, aspirations, and ideas. This valuable input, along with the insights gathered from the online survey, helped to shape the comprehensive plan update and ensure that it reflected the community's shared vision.

Engaging Local Businesses through Targeted Outreach

Recognizing the vital role that local businesses play in shaping the community's economic landscape, the City of Amity conducted targeted outreach to engage business owners and managers directly. The City dedicated significant time to conducting door-to-door visits, sharing informational materials that outlined the purpose and goals of the comprehensive plan update and the specific ways in which local businesses could provide input to shape the city's future economic development strategies.

During these face-to-face interactions, the City actively listened to the challenges, opportunities, and aspirations expressed by business owners, documenting their feedback for incorporation into the planning process. This personalized approach helped create trust and partnership between the City and its business stakeholders, laying the foundation for ongoing collaboration and support.

Promoting Diversity and Accessibility through Multilingual Outreach

In recognition of the diverse population within the City of Amity, the comprehensive plan update team made a concerted effort to ensure that the engagement process was inclusive and accessible to all community members. A key component of this effort was the development and distribution of a Spanish-language version of the community survey.

By creating a survey in Spanish, the City aimed to remove language barriers and encourage participation from Amity's Spanish-speaking residents. The survey was carefully translated to maintain the integrity of the questions while ensuring clarity and cultural relevance. The availability of the Spanish survey was widely promoted through various channels, including targeted outreach to the Hispanic/Latino community.

Throughout the engagement process, the City actively sought out and valued the perspectives of community members from all walks of life, recognizing that a truly comprehensive plan must reflect the diverse experiences, needs, and aspirations of the entire community.

Conclusion: A Community-Driven Vision for Amity's Future

The City of Amity's comprehensive community engagement efforts have been instrumental in shaping the direction of the Comprehensive Plan Update. By providing multiple channels for input and feedback, including an online survey, informational booth at Amity Day, targeted outreach to local businesses, and multilingual accessibility, the City has ensured that the diverse voices of the community are heard and incorporated into the planning process.

As the City moves forward with the Comprehensive Plan Update, the insights and priorities gathered through community engagement will serve as the foundation for a vision-driven plan that balances growth and development with the preservation of Amity's unique character and quality of life. By fostering a collaborative and inclusive planning process, the City of Amity is paving the way for a vibrant, sustainable, and thriving future that reflects the aspirations of its community members.