HOLYOKE — With continued momentum for the city’s revitalization, Holyoke officials have started plans to update its decades-old comprehensive plan with a new version to guide the city over the next two decades.
The state requires cities and towns to maintain a Comprehensive Plan for their long-term physical development and Holyoke has not officially updated theirs since 1999. Through comprehensive plans, cities and towns can envision aspirational futures for themselves and identify implementation pathways for achieving them.
These plans span all aspects of physical development, from types of housing available to transportation, or the community’s resilience to climate change and more. The city is now calling on residents to be aware of this process and get involved by voicing what they want to see for the city’s future.
“The 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update will refresh Holyoke’s vision for its future,” the city said in a statement. “Holyoke’s Office of Planning and Economic Development is leading the project in collaboration with the Holyoke Planning Board. To support them, a team of consultant urban planners has been retained, led by Cambridge-based agency Landscape+ Planning with support from Northampton-based Cambridge Econometrics, Boston-based Nitsch engineer and Queens-based Hive Public Space. Several of the consulting planners are native Spanish speakers and several live in the Pioneer Valley.”
When speaking to Reminder Publishing about the city’s economic efforts early this year, Director of Planning and Economic Development Aaron Vega told Reminder Publishing updating the city’s Comprehensive Plan was vital in continuing the growth made in the last few years and setting the city on the right course for its future.
“As the mayor always says, ‘you get what you plan for,’” Vega said. “We’re putting together an advisory committee and this is initial outreach for all residents and business owners to participate in. What does the future of the city look like? What are the obstacles and challenges. We can look at things like zoning changes, where we want to focus our energies. We’re confident now as far as industries, we want to focus on green industry, energy production, carbon reduction companies like Sublime, food production companies, those things will be solidified in the plan.”
Vega added key outcomes of the project will be a citywide, long-range plan that can articulate the vision and goals for the continuing development of the city, while establishing a framework for ongoing and more detailed planning efforts.
The plan will include a comprehensive assessment of Holyoke presently and an in-depth analysis of current zoning, and strategies for topics like industrial development, the housing crisis and environmental sustainability.
The city has already committed to shaping the new comprehensive plan through inclusive and meaningful engagement of residents through public outreach. A bilingual team from Hive Public Space will meet community members at public events and though various methods for participants of all ages and abilities geared toward reaching underrepresented voices in all of the city’s wards.
Citywide public listening sessions are also scheduled for the fall and winter.
The city aims to complete the project in the summer of 2025. For more information and updates, visit holyoke.org/comprehensive-plan-update/.
“The timing is right for Holyoke. Getting involved in the plan really helps us inform where we’ll go over the next 10-15 years but also help give us the information to apply for the right grants, to attract the right businesses and to put Holyoke on the right track,” Vega said.
