Sydnee Cseresznyes is the project manager for the Town of New Palestine’s new Comprehensive Plan, which will cost an estimated $48,000. The plan will determine long-term growth.
NEW PALESTINE — Officials who are putting together the Town of New Palestine Comprehensive Plan closed out their community survey and shared the suggestions they received.
The public survey was opened to collect feedback from a broad range of county stakeholders, officials said. The survey was conducted between June 21 and August 1. Officials noted they collected over 296 responses.
“This amount of participation demonstrated that there is significant public interest in the planning process,” Sydnee Cseresznyes, president VOLT Strategies, said.
Cseresznyes is in charge of the project and noted the survey is an important element for county officials to understand community perceptions about New Palestine, Indiana’s future, economic growth, quality of life, public services and infrastructure.
The vast majority of survey respondents were county residents, with some 93% indicating they lived in New Palestine while others indicate their connection to the community is through family or living just outside the town’s boundaries.
Most respondents were also under the age of 49 with residents ages 30-39 and 40-49 making up the largest age cohort at 24.56% and 24.91% of responses.
An interesting residential dynamic within survey respondents indicates the largest two categories of residents at a nearly equal percent have lived in New Palestine for one to five years and more than 20 years.
After assessing the demographic make-up of respondents, the survey gathered information on the town’s strongest assets and challenges, feedback on potential growth scenarios and identified priorities.
One of the topics, growth and development, showed people wanted to make sure there is a preservation of current charm and small-town character, support for diversifying residential housing stock, attraction of more restaurant and shopping amenities, positive growth strategies with flexibility, preservation of the historic core, and that there are plenty of parks and streetscapes.
The feedback highlights a communitywide interest in fostering a healthier, more vibrant environment through increased access to well-maintained parks, which are seen as essential for promoting both physical and mental well-being among residents.
The community priorities noted protecting community identity, the small town charm, the tight knit, family-friendly atmosphere are all important while balancing potential growth and managing community resources.
The community assets were identified as the quality of local schools, quality of place and community character, local family-owned businesses, having the Hancock Wellness Center, family-friendly community events and New Palestine being a safe community.
Land uses was also a hot topic with people wanting to make sure officials preserve the town’s green space, and agricultural land uses with scrutiny on potential residential development to combat growing too fast. There was also a desire for connection between proposed developments and the rest of the town, minimizing traffic impacts.
The challenges the survey summary noted were overcoming things like the lack of restaurants and cultural arts experiences, concern of growing too fast and too many lower-quality housing types with a strong desire for more trails and sidewalks with the cost of infrastructure and fewer fees a concern.
In the end, the survey noted the quality of life is a significant focus for respondents centered on quality of life and residential amenities, including recreational opportunities with a growing demand for more parks and trails, and a desire for additional retail amenities and access to restaurants.
The next step shows the steering committee getting together to discuss the initial findings report, providing a summary of all three focus group meetings, beginning the goal development and draft objective process, providing an action plan draft report, and discussing public meeting presentations for the remainder of the year.
