Martinsville officials’ efforts toward creating a comprehensive plan will continue at city council’s 6 p.m. meeting Tuesday at City Hall.
The meeting will continue talks held in 2024 and 2025 about Martinsville’s comprehensive plan, a document that serves as an operational and legislative guide for the city over the next several years.
“The Comprehensive Plan is the City of Martinsville’s most important document regarding growth, development, and change,” reads information the city published earlier in the year. “It establishes government policy to help guide public and private activities as they relate to land use and resource use. The Comprehensive Plan is our City’s basis for land development regulations and decisions (i.e., rezonings, conditional use permits), capital improvements, transportation, environmental, and historic resource protection.”
Localities are required to maintain up-to-date comprehensive plans, though they don’t specify a deadline. Martinsville’s last comprehensive plan was in 2021. A diagnostic revealed that some additions were necessary for complete compliance with the Virginia code requiring a plan.
“The most necessary improvements to achieve full compliance with the Code and align with best planning practices include a transportation section update to highlight priority projects, cost estimates, and alignment with Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) standards,” reads part of the 2021 plan diagnostic.
The diagnostic later describes the 2021 plan as not meeting the standard as a community guidepost.
“The current Plan reads more as an extensive community profile than as a functional, implementable policy document,” the diagnostic reads. “To increase its utility as a guiding resource, the Plan should be restructured to clearly present a community vision, goals, strategies, and actionable implementation steps grounded in public engagement, existing conditions, and relevant data.”
The city has retained the Berkley Group for assistance. Based in Virginia, the Berkley Group consults with local governments, among others, and provides them assistance on a number of goals.
“Community information will be gathered and updated, and new priorities, goals, and strategies will be established based on input from community members,” reads information from the city. “The vision and goals in the updated Comprehensive Plan will be based heavily on public input, so we appreciate all of the Martinsville community members who participated in our community engagement activities in early spring.”
The group will present its work at Tuesday’s regular session. Drafting work sessions with the Planning Board have yet to be scheduled.
Under current plans, a draft of the plans is scheduled for early 2026. A public hearing and adoption of the plan is currently scheduled for summer of next year.
