A new program of the MA Department of Housing & Community Development’s (DHCD) is the Local Rapid Recovery Planning Program. It was created to help downtown/village center business districts recover more quickly from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. DHCD funded consultants to work with the communities to help create Local Rapid Recovery Plans, which were completed in early October 2021.
In Franklin County the following Local Rapid Recovery Plans were created:
Downtown Greenfield, City of Greenfield
Turners Falls, Town of Montague
Northfield Main Street Corridor, Town of Northfield
Sunderland Village Center, Town of Sunderland
Village of Shelburne Falls, Towns of Buckland and Shelburne
VILLAGE OF SHELBURNE FALLS RAPID RECOVERY PLAN
The FRCOG is the plan facilitator working with the Towns of Buckland and Shelburne and the Greater Shelburne Falls Area Business Association as their community partner. This Draft Plan was approved by The Shelburne Select Board voted to approve the Plan on 9/27/21 and the Buckland Select Board voted to approve on 10/05/21. The Final Plan was submitted to DHCD by 10/8/21.
Click here for the Village of ShelburneFalls Rapid Recovery Plan (PDF, 16 mb)
To view the presentations from the two Community Meetings, see below.
Click here for the PowerPoint presentation from the June 16, 2021 meeting (PDF, 12.7 mb)
Click here for the PowerPoint presentation from August 25, 2021 meeting (PDF, 27.6 mb)
For project inspiration check out resources provided by MA Department of Housing & Community Development (DHCD). They offer concise examples of Best Practices in the project categories of: public property, private property, revenue and sales, arts and culture, administrative capacity, and business support. They also have recorded webinars with panels of experts (click here and scroll down halfway down page to view). DHCD’s Rapid Recovery Plan program published an Outdoor Dining Toolkit to guide communities in helping business owners creating outdoor dining spaces.
If there are any questions or comments, please email Jessica Atwood at [email protected].
