Danvers Kicks Off Strategic Plan Campaign This Week

DANVERS, MA — Danvers will kick off its first-ever strategic plan process designed to develop goals and a roadmap for the town to reach those goals for 20230 and beyond with a virtual presentation this week.

Community outreach is a key element of the initial launch of the strategic plan's development to determine residents' priorities for the town.

"That's a big part of this," said Phil Schaeffing, senior planner and urban designer for Stantec, the consulting firm that will oversee the plan, at a recent Select Board meeting. "Through this community engagement process, we really want to strengthen the relationship between the town government and town staff and the residents of Danvers, especially as we think about new residents in town and new employees who come to work here."

The goal of the strategic plan is to identify needs and then prioritize them based on the finite resources expected to be available.

According to census figures, the town's population increased by 6 percent from 2010 to 2020 with housing increasing by 5.6 units. The town has also become increasingly diverse.

Danvers officials said there will be several ways for residents to share input over the next several months with the "first step" the kickoff presentation on Nov. 9 from 6 to 7 p.m. where Stantec and town representatives will introduce the planning process, discuss some trends influencing Danvers and talk about how residents can be involved with the strategic plan development.

Residents can sign up for updates on the project here.

The town anticipates completing the final plan by the end of 2023.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)