Completion of Norwalk’s Updated Comprehensive Plan and its Contributors are Hailed
A year in the making, Norwalk’s new update to its 2006 comprehensive plan is completed and was approved by City Council on November 19th. The update was shepherded by a small core committee consisting of Mayor David Light, City Administrative Assistant Lisa McCoy King, former Mayor Sue Lesch, Recreation Director Ian Berry, Sarah Ross and Kayla Cross from the Huron County Growth Partnership, and plan writer Ben Kenny.
Plan oversight was provided by a thirty-four member Steering Committee that met nearly monthly for a year. Numerous leaders from community institutions and organizations, municipal department heads, and others were interviewed or participated in focus groups to provide up-to-date information. A public survey this past summer, overseen by Ian Berry, gathered the opinions and ideas of over 800 City members.
Norwalk City Council Vice President Samantha Wilhelm said,
“This City Council and future City Councils can lean on and into this community development document over the next decade. We may not agree on the philosophy of how to solve current issues but cultivating a consistent plan and discussing these ideas will lead to prosperous changes. A tremendous thank you to Huron County Growth Partnership and the City for working well together. Under Dave and Sarah’s leadership, they were able to bring together many talented and intelligent community members to help bring this shared vision to life. As we check in on the plan periodically we will be able to assess the needs, progress, programs, and services that help make Norwalk vibrant. The work is never done and we look forward to achieving these goals and setting new goals when it is time to revise the plan.”
The result is a ninety page document that provides a summary of recent successes and opportunities, as well as a series of goals drawn from the Steering Committee, focus group discussions, input from a variety of outside sources, and points of consensus in the public survey. The plan is organized into six categories or “pillars”: Land Use; Housing; Natural Resources, Transportation, Utilities, and Infrastructure; Economic Development; Quality of Life, Community Character, and Downtown; and Community Facilities and Community Services. The document furnishes updated Census and other data about the City, summarizes the results of the citizen survey, includes a zoning map and conceptual growth area map.
Sarah Ross, Executive Director of Huron County Growth Partnership said,
“HCGP was thrilled to play an active role in crafting this visionary plan and is even more thrilled to begin executing it. The plan addresses all components critical to the future growth of our community and economic development goals such as job retention and attraction, and population retention and attraction. From investments in infrastructure, to quality of life, to creative redevelopment, and placemaking visions, this plan will ensure Norwalk is a City of choice for individuals and corporations.”
Download the Executive Summary of the 2025-2035 Comprehensive Plan