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Community and neighborhood meetings: Home

Why conduct community and neighborhood meetings as part of the economic development process?

It’s essential for municipalities to induce applicants to meet with local community and neighborhood residents. Community engagement and community leader buy-in early in the development process may allow the developer or business owner to better meet the need so and interests of residents reduce challenges later on. Consider meetings and outreach via social media and other means to increase community engagement.
 

Community Examples

The Town of Farmington encourages applicants to do outreach activities during the pre-application meetings. For example, when Centerplan Developers wanted to get approval of the Charles House property, the town staff connected Centerplan Developers with the Unionville Village Improvement Association, and this organization held two community meetings. During this meeting, Centerplan Developers answered questions and addressed the attendees concerns. These meetings are essential to find common ground between businesses/developers and the community.