The economic development visioning session at Burr & Burton, traced through the Town Plan project site and the published minutes of Manchester’s boards, April to August 2026.
“Whatever happened with that meeting? The town said they’d consider things, so where did that go?”
A member question, August 2026After the first version of this note went out, Michael Allen wrote in to point us to the Town Plan project site, which his firm runs for the Planning Commission. It fills the gaps we missed working from the town’s own pages and board minutes:
The workshop input was incorporated into the rewrite of the Manchester Town Plan, which is renewed every seven years. Regrowth Planning is organizing input from the visioning sessions into a Goal / Policy / Action framework. A draft of the goals and strategies was posted on July 1 and presented to the public on July 13. The project schedule calls for a draft plan this fall and adoption in December 2026.
At its May 12 meeting, the Planning Commission summarized the workshop feedback: big ideas were appreciated, but the consensus was that the town should “start small and gain momentum.”
Cost estimates and funding mechanisms have not been decided. On June 29 the commission chose to keep the public draft high-level and to address funding and costs after public feedback. The schedule stated at the July 7 Selectboard meeting: a rough plan by end of summer, review by town boards, Selectboard approval, then the Bennington County Regional Commission and the State.
Michael Allen of Regrowth Planning briefed the commission on the housing forum held the week before. April 29 was the second session in the Town Plan visioning series. The minutes state: “The next ‘visioning workshop’ discussion on the Town Plan is going to be held on April 29th at Burr and Burton.” An attendee suggested the Manchester Business Association notify its members.
Source: PC minutes, April 13
The workshop was part of the Town Plan update, facilitated by Regrowth Planning at the Rowland Center. It was a public workshop rather than a board meeting, so it does not appear in any board’s minutes. Its own record is on the project site: the meeting video, the presentation slides, and six pages of meeting notes with timestamps into the video.
Per the notes, about 79 people attended in person and on Zoom. Allen presented three preliminary ideas: a “matchmaker” to place small startups in vacant commercial space, a light-industrial tech and education park with on-site training and housing, and a year-round venue for movies, music and events. The themes recorded from the floor: smaller, lower-impact moves before building anything new; use the vacant spaces the town already has; pop-up and temporary measures; state regulation, taxes and Act 250 as obstacles; farms, artists and forestry as the industries to build on; and transportation as a constraint on most ideas.
Source: Meeting notes, April 29 · Slides · Video
Chair David Michelson gave an overview of the April 29 session. This is the first appearance of the workshop in any board’s minutes.
“While big ideas were appreciated the consensus was that the town should start small and gain momentum.”PC minutes, May 12
Two workshop ideas were discussed: a tech campus as part of the Manchester community, with Southwest Tech’s role in Bennington cited as a model, and an attendee’s request for a sidewalk from downtown to the rec park. On the sidewalk, a commissioner noted an existing walking trail serves the route and could be better marked.
Source: PC minutes, May 12
Allen presented a document of Goal, Policy, and Action items described in the minutes as “the framework for the construction of the town plan,” to be expanded for public comment. Michelson asked that possible funding solutions be incorporated into each category and requested a vision statement for the plan revision. A public information session was proposed for July 13 at a location other than town hall.
Source: PC minutes, June 8
The commission debated whether the draft should include specific funding mechanisms and cost estimates. The recorded consensus: keep the July 13 public document high-level, address detailed funding and costs after public feedback, and include placeholder language showing the town is considering funding sources “beyond property taxes.”
Source: PC minutes, June 29
Asked how the Town Plan group interacts with the Selectboard, board chair Ivan Beattie said it is a Planning Commission process, with the Selectboard approving afterward. Town Manager Scott Murphy said a draft would be released July 13, and that by end of summer a rough plan should go “to various boards for finalizing before the Plan goes to the Selectboard. Then it goes to the Regional Planning Commission … and finally must be approved by the State.” The Town Plan is renewed every seven years. This is the only Selectboard reference to the effort in the May through August minutes.
Source: Selectboard minutes, July 7
The Draft Goals and Strategies, dated July 1, was posted on the project site ahead of the meeting and presented at Manchester Community Library. Like April 29, this was a public session rather than a board meeting; its record is the project site’s meeting video, presentation slides, and GNAT TV’s coverage. Comments on the draft were invited through July 27, and the comments received are posted on the project site.
The draft’s economic development goal is to “diversify and grow Manchester’s economy.” Its listed actions include focusing recruitment on tourism, culinary arts, recreation, light industry, clean energy, trades and medical services; a “Tier 1 style” municipal law to streamline downtown redevelopment approvals; a map of downtown parcels with redevelopment potential within six months of adoption; long-term planning for a technology / light-industrial park; a regular roundtable with small and new business owners to identify municipal hurdles; and a program to encourage use of vacant commercial space.
The town’s own Planning & Zoning documents page still lists only the adopted 2025 plan. The draft is on the project site.
Source: Draft Goals and Strategies, July 1 · Slides · Video
A dedicated workshop session compared the draft outline with the existing plan. The minutes describe housing and economic development as “the most notable topics of discussion.” Ideas recorded:
Source: PC workshop minutes, July 16
Responding to public interest in an outdoor concert venue, the chair cited feedback from multiple community meetings: start small, using resources already at the town’s disposal, to test interest before building anything large. The commission also discussed retaining Allen as a town planner, proposed a roundtable with larger area businesses, and announced a follow-up public workshop for July 28.
Source: PC minutes, July 20
The July 28 workshop session was held as a discussion, but the commission lacked a quorum. The town’s agendas page states: “The Planning Commission did not have a quorum, therefore no decisions/actions were made during the discussion. No minutes are required as the discussion did not qualify as a Planning Commission meeting.” A further workshop session was held August 13; its minutes are below.
Source: 2026 PC Agendas & Minutes page
Allen walked the commission through his updates to the draft, which the minutes note is available on the project site. Two funding ideas were discussed: a tax on vacant commercial properties, and a sales tax above a set dollar figure paid into a municipal fund, which would need State approval. Chair Michelson said the plan should set out “a clear pathway forward to fund the policy action items or they will likely not get accomplished as has happened in the past.”
The commission also took up a Bennington County Regional Commission map change that redesignates Manchester Center from village center to downtown, and whether that carries a step 3 center designation; Allen suggested a meeting with BCRC. On housing, the question was whether to revert minimum lot sizes in the rural districts or allow a one-time single-lot exemption, with Allen cautioning that smaller lots alone would produce more $700,000 homes rather than affordable ones. Parking reform was raised as a topic that could sit in several sections of the plan. The next session was set for August 26.
The board thanked Michael Allen for his work on the Town Plan rewrite. Chair David Michelson said he wished the strategies update had reached the commission sooner, and asked staff for an earlier draft ahead of the August 26 session. A meeting between Jonathan West, Allen, and the Bennington County Regional Commission is being arranged to review further changes — prompted by a wording change around “Town Center” — and to confirm the plan’s mapping matches BCRC’s latest data. No date has been set.
Source: PC minutes, August 17
| Record | Covers | References the effort? |
|---|---|---|
| Town Plan project site (Regrowth Planning) | Jan 20 to Jul 27 | Yes: workshop video, slides and notes; draft goals and strategies; survey results; public comments; schedule |
| Planning Commission minutes (8 sets) | Apr 13 to Aug 17 | Yes, every meeting |
| Selectboard minutes of Jul 7 | Jul 7 | Yes |
| Selectboard minutes of May 5, May 19, Jun 9, Jun 23, Jul 21, Aug 4 | May 5 to Aug 4 | No reference found |
| Town Economic Development page | as of Aug 18 | No plan content |
| Planning & Zoning documents page | as of Aug 18 | 2025 adopted plan only; the 2026 draft is on the project site |
| 2026 PC Agendas & Minutes page, Jul 28 entry | Jul 28 | Yes: no quorum, no minutes required |
How this was assembled. Compiled from the Town of Manchester’s published meeting minutes and website on August 18, 2026; updated August 27 with the August 17 Planning Commission minutes; corrected and expanded September 1 with the Town Plan project site and the August 13 minutes. It reports what the record says and quotes it verbatim. Planning Commission minutes are published as drafts and approved at a later meeting; each set quoted here has been approved except the three most recently posted, July 20, August 13 and August 17. The town’s minutes remain the official record.
Correction. Earlier versions of this note worked from the town’s own website and board minutes, and described the workshop and the July 13 session as having no record of their own. We’ve corrected this to include Regrowth Planning’s Town Plan project site, which has the video, slides and notes from both sessions and the July draft, after Michael Allen wrote in to send us those resources.
Prepared by Manchester Commerce, the chamber of commerce for Manchester, Vermont, in response to a member question. Monthly board decisions are published at Town Watch.