Vernon Town Center plans (Photo by Diana Goovaerts)
Vernon. Vernon recently received the State Planning Commission’s endorsement to extend its Town Center.
Township planner Jessica Caldwell said the project extends the Town Center to the east and west, including the municipal center and the area around it, and the Mountain Creek area. The Town Center also will be extended all the way down to McAfee.
“What it does is provide, at least from a state plan perspective, a larger area where we’re proposing to have growth occur within municipality,” Caldwell said. “When someone’s applying for a permit or something from the state, this expanded area gives them a different designation.”
Caldwell said the extension doesn’t completely coincide with the sewer service area, but that the Town Center designation could help the township expand it.
Vernon received Town Center designation on July 16, 2003. The designation was set to expire on June 23, 2020, but, because of the pandemic, that deadline was extended to Jan. 4, 2022.
The state approved the current plan on July 7.
The plan’s goal is to create a four-season recreational community, promote agri-tourism and eco-tourism, promote businesses that serve residents and tourists, and create a mixed-use Town Center.
The Land Use Board will hold a public hearing on the plan on Wednesday, Sept. 8.