Hamlet officials now have a plan in place to guide the town’s development for the next decade. A comprehensive plan was officially adopted by the town council Wednesday.
Planner Lauren Wahl with HWC Engineering, who facilitated the planning process, noted that Hamlet has many features that set it apart from other small towns. “You have such wonderful utility infrastructure updates, obviously capacity for any industrial development, which is unique for small towns because that can be a really bit feat for a lot of people Obviously, your proximity to U.S. 30. And my favorite is your locally-commissioned art that you have around here. It’s pleasantly surprising from somebody who spends a lot of time in small communities to see something like that,” Wahl said.
Some of the plan’s main goals include upgrading the town’s entrance off of U.S. 30, expanding the town limits, and creating a “community campus district” that would tie together the area around the Town Park, Starke County Fairgrounds, and baseball fields.
Wednesday’s adoption comes after several months of work, according to Wahl. “We’ve worked with town staff,” she said. “We’ve met with community stakeholders. We had two public meetings. We also met with the comprehensive plan steering committee multiple times throughout this, to really refine the document that you have tonight.”
While the plan was created as a prerequisite of Constellation of Starke’s Stellar Community application and some of the regional projects are mentioned, Wahl stressed that the document itself is specific to Hamlet.
She says the final version will be posted to the town’s Facebook page, and copies will be available at Hamlet Town Hall.
