Economic Analysis and Public Outreach for Brownfields Redevelopment in the Town and Village of Johnson, Vermont
With Brownfields grant funding from the Lamoille County Planning Commission, Weston & Sampson helped develop a Brownfields area-wide plan for the Railroad Street Corridor in the Town and Village of Johnson. We assembled a team of local environmental, economic, and planning experts familiar with the area and community to complete this project.
In collaboration with town, village, regional, and state officials and an active Steering Committee, we were able to gather all of the information necessary to perform an effective evaluation of the existing conditions and community needs. Using this base information, our team identified three key Brownfields sites in the area of interest that, if redeveloped, would act as “catalysts” for further improvement/enhancements to Johnson’s vibrancy and economic stability.
Weston & Sampson then met with the key site property owners to discuss the potential for redevelopment and proposed conceptual redevelopment schemes for each site. We also presented conceptual public realm modifications, which would improve the overall “feel” of the Railroad Street Corridor in general. Obtaining significant public input early and often was vital to this process, and multiple Steering Committee meetings, interviews with key community officials and businesses, and public outreach at established community event such as “Tuesday Night Live” provided essential feedback on our redevelopment concepts. Our team then used all of this input to fine-tune the redevelopment concepts and generate a comprehensive report that provided all of the economic and environmental information obtained and included a roadmap detailing each of the steps necessary for further redevelopment of each of the key sites.