I am pleased to announce that the Shepherdstown 2025 Comprehensive Plan has been adopted by Town Council and implementation is underway!

The plan reflects months of collaboration between the Town’s Planning Commission and  dozens of folks—town residents as well as our neighbors from greater Shepherdstown—who care deeply about our town’s future. Developing the plan required  countless hours of public input, data collection and analysis, and thoughtful deliberations. As a result, the plan clearly reflects who we are as a community, where we’re headed, and what kind of future we want to build—together.

The 2025 Plan is a roadmap, or blueprint, for shaping the town’s future while honoring its unique identity. It balances Shepherdstown’s desire to preserve its historical character and cultural vibrancy with opportunities for thoughtful development.  

The Plan presents an updated vision statement  for the coming decade and beyond:

Shepherdstown will be the cultural hub of West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle while continuing to cherish our historic treasures, natural beauty, and small-town riverside charm.

The Plan is built on four pillars—four key goals—that will be the framework for our work ahead:

1. Promote Shepherdstown’s economic prosperity and cultural vibrancy.
2. Preserve, protect, restore, and complement Shepherdstown’s historic attributes.
3. Conserve natural resources and preserve green spaces using orderly and cohesive planning and zoning while supporting growth and development in the greater Shepherdstown area.
4. Administer a range of high-quality and affordable services for residents, businesses, and visitors.

Finally, it’s important to acknowledge that while the Plan presents our vision for the future, it is not meant to serve as a detailed work plan. As such, it does not itemize every task or assign detailed timelines, but rather, lays out the vision and goals and priorities that will be the focus of our work. This approach allows my office, the Town Council, residents, and community partners to stay grounded in shared values and direction as we work together to ensure our town remains as special as ever.

The Town Council and I have hit the ground running since the adoption of the Plan, and we are already starting to implement important components. For example, we’ve recently created two new key staff positions—a Finance Director and a Project Manager—both designed to support long-term implementation of key Plan goals.

From Vision Into Action 
 
Among other items, we have also upgraded our approach to communicating with residents,  streamlined our financial operations, and made several strategic investments that will make a huge contribution to the future of our town—such as the allocation of funds in support of the new nonprofit, Experience Shepherdstown, which has the mission of producing downtown events, attracting visitors, and supporting our businesses. Relatedly, our recently announced Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) community partnership was developed with the Plan’s vision and goals in mind.

Successful implementation of this Plan will require dedicated action and oversight. Along with the Town Council, I am committed to integrating the 2025 plan’s vision, goals, and strategies into the town’s annual operating and capital improvement budgets. In addition, we will develop semi-annual progress reports for residents and host public meetings to ensure true transparency, highlight results, and gather input from residents on evolving needs and opportunities.

We said we would get this done. And we did. Now, with your help, we begin the real work of bringing the Plan to life.

Please join us by volunteering to help the town implement activities—from sustainability to housing, economic development to historic preservation. We welcome your voice, time, and energy. Please reach out and stay engaged.

You can view the full plan right here. I encourage all residents to join us in this next chapter as we move from vision into action.

Finally, I thank all our residents and the many others from the greater Shepherdstown area and community organizations who contributed so much time, effort, talent, and wisdom in helping to create the 2025 Plan. Thank you all so much for all you are doing in support of our little town.

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 Mayor James Gatz
 Town of Shepherdstown
 www.shepherdstown.gov