Surveys and Public Meeting Recaps

Citizen input is crucial to our comprehensive plan because it ensures that the plan reflects the diverse needs, aspirations, and perspectives of Salem’s citizens. By actively involving residents and stakeholders in the planning process, our comprehensive plan will become more inclusive, transparent, and representative of our community's values and priorities. Citizen input fosters community engagement, builds trust in the planning process, and ultimately leads to a more effective and responsive plan that addresses the real concerns and desires of the people it impacts.

2024 Comprehensive Plan Development and Review Recap

The year 2024 has been an exciting time for our review of the Comprehensive Plan. This process involved key stakeholders from various sectors and disciplines to ensure that the plan will reflect both the needs of the community and professional best practices. Key activities included the involvement of graduate students from Virginia Tech, advisory committee meetings, community workshops, stakeholder engagement sessions, departmental reviews, and open houses.

Advisory Committee Meetings: Regular advisory committee meetings were held throughout the year to guide the planning process provide ongoing counsel and feedback on key issues, ensuring that the plan aligns with current best practices and meets long-term goals. The committee will also help ensure that the planning process remains transparent, balanced, and rooted in the needs of the community.

Community Workshops and Stakeholder Engagement: A series of community workshops were held to directly engage residents, businesses, and local organizations. These workshops served as a platform for community members to share their perspectives, offer feedback, and ask questions. In addition, meetings with key stakeholders focused on obtaining insights from students, local businesses, and other relevant groups to ensure the comprehensive plan addresses a broad spectrum of concerns and priorities. Staff and TownStudio visited First Baptist Church, Salem Red Sox, students at Salem High School, met with representatives of the Roanoke Valley Association of Realtors and the Roanoke Regional Home Builders Association. Input gathered from these sessions directly influenced the plan's direction.

Departmental Reviews: Each department involved in the comprehensive planning process conducted internal reviews to assess current practices, policies, and strategies. These reviews allowed departments to evaluate their goals, identify gaps, and align their operations with the overarching objectives of the comprehensive plan.

Open Houses: Open houses were held to present key findings, solicit public feedback, and discuss the draft elements of the comprehensive plan. These events were accessible to all members of the community and featured displays, presentations, and opportunities for attendees to engage with committee members, Commissioners, staff, and our consultant. The open houses served as a critical touchpoint to ensure that the plan reflects the values and aspirations of the community and that residents have a voice in shaping the future.

Subcommittees: City Council, Planning Commission, Advisory Committee, and citizens were invited to participate in the formation of subcommittees that were to focus on major topics of the comprehensive plan. Housing, open space and parks, multi-modal transportation, and business corridors were the four topics of discussion. Multiple meetings were held, and the corresponding themes and strategies were finalized.

2025 will see the drafts of the plan created, reviewed, and finalized, ultimately ensuring that the plan balances Salem's historical charm with a forward-thinking mindset, preparing it for success in the years to come.

Community Workshop #2 - Recap and Results

The focus of our second community workshop was greenways, and parks/open space. This community discussion was attended by over 50 Salem residents. A portion of that discussion included a "pocket park" design for the Tuttle Property located at 230 West Main Street. That grant application has since been submitted, and we look forward to sharing an update on that effort should the City be awarded the requested funding from the Virginia Outdoors Foundation.

Additionally, workshop participants engaged in design activities that produced ideas pertaining to the creation of neighborhood parks and greenway/trail connectivity. The map below depicts a rough draft of the results of that effort, in which potential neighborhood park locations identified. The overarching desire that workshop participants identified was park/open space accessibility, and introducing smaller-scale, neighborhood-centric parks is one strategy that can help achieve that goal.

Another objective identified in this process was that of expanding and/or connecting existing greenways, as well as pinpointing locations that may be conducive to new multi-use paths. The Roanoke River Greenway is a tremendous asset to the Salem community, and an inclusive greenway/open space map can help City leadership and staff continue to identify ways to capitalize and expand upon its success.

Do you have any thoughts, ideas, or comments on the map below? Let us know!

Email msdillon@salemva.gov

Community Workshop #1 - Recap and Results!

Workshop Attendees mingle with City Staff, Planning Commissioners, and City Council Members

Our first Back to Salem's Future - Plan 2045 community workshop began with Glenn Walters of TownStudio conducting a brief introduction into the Comprehensive Plan process. Attendees learned about a Comprehensive Plan's scope and primary objectives, the importance of community engagement and feedback from key stakeholders, and an approximate schedule for its completion. You can find the introductory presentation here:

What is a Comprehensive Plan?

The first collaborative exercise that participants engaged in was the evaluation and re-formulation of a vision statement which describes the future of Salem. Attendees were divided into groups, and worked together to provide valuable feedback that translated into the following vision statement:

"Salem is a beautiful and proud city. Our people are our greatest assets, and our “small-town” feel defines our character. Our commitment to exploring economic opportunities, nature and the outdoors, diverse neighborhoods, community services, sports, and best in class schools foster a pride of place and a unique quality of life that is shared by all our citizens. As we encounter change, we will respond wisely, learning from our history and embracing the future with a fresh mindset and a commitment to excellence."

Does that vision statement resonate with you? How would you change it? Let us know!

Contact Max Dillon - msdillon@salemva.gov

Glenn also introduced the concept of a corridor study with those who were in attendance. Essentially, a corridor study is an assessment of a road's existing conditions

(West Main Street, 4th Street, Apperson Drive, etc.), identifies challenges, and proposes recommendations to improve the safety, efficiency, and functionality of the corridor. For more information, you can access the corridor study presentation here:

What is a Corridor Study?

Following that presentation, audience members actively participated in a live polling session focused on identifying challenges and opportunities for improvements to West Main Street and Apperson Drive.

This activity allowed folks to share their opinion anonymously - check out some of the results below!

Surveys and Public Meeting Recaps

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2024 Comprehensive Plan Development and Review Recap

2025 will see the drafts of the plan created, reviewed, and finalized, ultimately ensuring that the plan balances Salem's historical charm with a forward-thinking mindset, preparing it for success in the years to come.

Click here to learn more about our preliminary takeaways from housing discussions and polling results.

We heard you! Learn more about the results from our first community polling exercise by clicking here.

Community Workshop #2 - February 5 - 6:00pm - East Salem Elementary School

Join us for our second Community Workshop which will entail a discussion of greenways, parks and open space, and planning/design activities! We hope that you will join us to make your voice heard!