Community Improvement Plan

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The City of Sarnia is undertaking a review and modernization of its existing Community Improvement Plans. The various stages of this process are outlined in the Project Timeline.


WHAT IS A COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT PLAN?

Community Improvement Plans (CIP) are strategic financial investment tools used by communities to stimulate and support key community outcomes. These plans are designed to leverage targeted public investment in the form of capital investments through a suite of grant offerings, with the intent to stimulate private investment in specific and defined community outcomes. These outcomes are community-specific and may include:

  • facilitate growth while encouraging private sector investment;
  • support the development of affordable and rental housing;
  • enhance the quality of the public realm;
  • create a focus for community activities;
  • beautification opportunities along the waterfront and improving connectivity between the waterfront and the downtown core; and
  • identify changes needed to land use planning policies, zoning, and/or other bylaws, policies, and practices;

WHAT AREAS OF THE CITY ARE INCLUDED?

The project area generally includes the areas known as:

  • Downtown;
  • Mitton Village; and
  • Northgate

Defined boundaries will be identified through the plan regarding residential and commercial incentives.


WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Get involved by:

  • following the project,
  • participate in the community engagement sessions, and
  • sharing within the community



The City of Sarnia is undertaking a review and modernization of its existing Community Improvement Plans. The various stages of this process are outlined in the Project Timeline.


WHAT IS A COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT PLAN?

Community Improvement Plans (CIP) are strategic financial investment tools used by communities to stimulate and support key community outcomes. These plans are designed to leverage targeted public investment in the form of capital investments through a suite of grant offerings, with the intent to stimulate private investment in specific and defined community outcomes. These outcomes are community-specific and may include:

  • facilitate growth while encouraging private sector investment;
  • support the development of affordable and rental housing;
  • enhance the quality of the public realm;
  • create a focus for community activities;
  • beautification opportunities along the waterfront and improving connectivity between the waterfront and the downtown core; and
  • identify changes needed to land use planning policies, zoning, and/or other bylaws, policies, and practices;

WHAT AREAS OF THE CITY ARE INCLUDED?

The project area generally includes the areas known as:

  • Downtown;
  • Mitton Village; and
  • Northgate

Defined boundaries will be identified through the plan regarding residential and commercial incentives.


WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Get involved by:

  • following the project,
  • participate in the community engagement sessions, and
  • sharing within the community



  • Adoption of CIP

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    22 Dec 2020

    On December 7, 2020, Sarnia City Council adopted a new Community Improvement Plan for the Downtown and Mitton Village commercial areas. During the 2021 Budget Deliberations, City Council approved $200,000 for the Community Improvement Plan including $100,000 for Public Realm Enhancements and $100,000 for incentive programs.

    Staff will be working on an implementation plan early in 2021 and reporting back to Council during Q2.

    The Adopted Community Improvement Plan and Notice of Adoption are available under the Documents on the right hand side.

  • Draft Community Improvement Plan

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    20 Nov 2020

    As the Community Improvement Plan (CIP) project continues to advance, and ahead of the virtual public meeting before Council at 10:00am on Monday, November 23, 2020 the Draft Community Improvement Plan has been released. The Plan will be available for review later today as part of the November 23rd Council Agenda package on the city's Civicweb.


    If you wish to speak to the proposed Community Improvement Plan we encourage you to preregister online at virtualsarnia.ca.


    Next Steps

    Tuesday, December 1, 2020

    2021 Budget Deliberations


    Monday December 7, 2020

    The final CIP document will be presented to Council for their consideration.

  • Draft Recommendations Memo

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    Phase II Complete

    Phase II of the Community Improvement Plan (CIP) project is now complete with the release of the Draft Recommendations Memo. The document summarizes the draft recommendations for the CIP project areas of Downtown, Mitton Village and Northgate including:

    • Overarching directions;
    • Visualizing opportunities for change; and
    • Private realm incentive programs.

    This phase also included the virtual workshops that took place on October 7th, 2020. A copy of the presentations and video recordings is available under the 'Documents' and 'Videos' sections on the right hand side.


    As we near the end of this project, there are some key dates to look forward too:

    Monday November 9, 2020

    The project team will present preliminary recommendations to Council as part of this Council Strategic Planning Session.

    Monday November 23, 2020

    The statutory Public Meeting will be held before Council to receive public comments on the proposal program.

    Monday December 7, 2020

    The final CIP document will be presented to Council for their consideration.

  • Online Workshops

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    05 Oct 2020
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    On Tuesday, October 7th, 2020 join in to share your ideas for Sarnia’s Community Improvement Plan (CIP) project!

    The intent of the CIP is to support city-wide strategic community investment priorities with respect to:

    • Identifying public investment opportunities in the public realm; and,
    • Providing incentive programs that will assist the private sector in key revitalization and redevelopment efforts.

    The new Community Improvement Plan is focused on 3 areas: Downtown, Mitton Village and Northgate.

    Three online design workshops are planned for October 7, 2020:

    • Northgate - 10:00 am to 11:30 am
    • Mitton Village - 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm
    • Downtown - 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm

    Each workshop will begin with a brief presentation, followed by an interactive design session.

    To register to join one or all of the workshops, please use the following link. A meeting link will be sent to you the day of the workshop.

    Each online workshop will be recorded and posted to the project web page on Speak Up Sarnia.

    Sign Up Now

    If you unable to attend, comment may be provided by email to sarnia@planpart.ca.

  • Project Update

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    24 Sep 2020

    Phase 1 - Background Report Now Available

    Work on the development of a new Community Improvement Plan (CIP), focused on the Downtown, Mitton Village and Northgate commercial areas, continues and the team is delighted to share that Phase I Background Review is now completed and Phase II Proposed Policy Directions & Incentive Programs is now underway.


    To mark this transition, the Background Review Memo is available in the 'Documents' section of the project page. This document summarizes the findings from Phase I into general themes, identifies various Best Practices aligning with the project goals and early ideas for these destination areas in our community.


    Phase II - Workshops Now Scheduled

    Phase II includes Virtual Online Workshops which are scheduled on Wednesday, October 7, 2020 as follows:

    • Northgate 10:00 am to 11:30 am
    • Mitton Village 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm
    • Downtown 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm

    Sign-Up Now!

    Each workshop will begin with a brief presentation, followed by an interactive design session. To participate in any or all of these workshops and share your vision, click the link below.


    Sign-Up Now!


    For those unable to attend, the sessions will be recorded and posted to the project page.


    Next Steps

    As we near the end of this project, there are some key dates to look forward too:


    Monday November 9, 2020

    The project team will present preliminary recommendations to Council as part of this Council Strategic Planning Session.


    Monday November 23, 2020

    The statutory Public Meeting will be held before Council to receive public comments on the proposal program.


    Monday December 7, 2020

    The final CIP document will be presented to Council for their consideration.