Evolving for Economic Resilience and Connectivity: Digging Deep in the Planner’s Toolbox to transform from big box shopping to a connected mixed-use Town Center.

Williston’s Taft Corners was the epicenter of big-box retail and suburban commercial development in Vermont in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Designated as Vermont’s first Growth Center in 2006, Taft Corners has since been a living lab for performance-based zoning standards and the encouragement of connectivity via planned “Grid Streets,” with varying degrees of success. Beginning in 2020, Williston explored and ultimately adopted a set of new tools, integrating a Form-Based zoning code with careful and more prescriptive planning for a network of walkable blocks and bikeable streets. Learn about the development of this “all-in” planning effort and discuss some likely future scenarios for this ever-evolving piece of Chittenden County.”