Winchester strategic planning committee launches update, plans community survey to inform 2026 priorities

Winchester City's Strategic Planning Committee met June 2 to start a roughly six-month update of the city's five-year strategic plan and to approve a community survey to gather resident priorities.

Dan Hoffman, the staff presenter, told the committee the update will cover the strategic plan, performance measures and legislative affairs and said the process will supply fresh data for council's legislative priorities this fall. "This committee was put together, about a almost 2 years ago. Its purpose was to review the strategic plan as needed, as well as, look at the performance measures that are associated with our goals," Hoffman said.

Committee members were asked to review the current plan, identify dated items and bring suggestions to the next meeting. Hoffman described the plan's five goal areas'economic development/workforce; catalyst sites/affordable housing; community supports (including homelessness and public health); transportation and infrastructure (including WinReady transit); and internal functions such as communications and performance management'and said staff will marry new survey data to performance measures and objectives.

Why it matters: The committee's work will guide staff priorities and budget recommendations and inform the council's legislative priorities for the next General Assembly session. Hoffman said the committee's update should provide a clearer evidence base for spending and advocacy decisions: "When we put together our legislative priorities this year, this committee will have a lot of extra information at its fingertips," he said.

Survey and method: The committee plans to hire a third-party firm (the city has used ETC Institute previously) to administer a mixed-mode survey (mail, phone and online) designed for geographic and demographic representation across wards. Hoffman said the city's last survey yielded about 500 completed responses and that the consultant benchmarks Winchester against similar communities. The planned survey window is roughly 30 days, with staff aiming to have initial community results available by late August. Hoffman described follow-up focus groups or targeted follow-up (for example transit rider outreach) if the survey highlights issues that need deeper investigation.

Topics staff said will be emphasized include public safety perception vs. crime data, parks and recreation quality, transit (WinReady and Win Tran), homelessness and infrastructure priorities such as stormwater and blight enforcement. Hoffman noted items accomplished since the previous plan, including the launch of WinReady, a stormwater utility fee and a blight assessment, and said the update should remove completed items and add newly relevant objectives.

Process and schedule: Committee members will continue monthly work through July and August, meet again in September and expect to forward recommendations to the full council in the September'October window; the presenter's target is council consideration and finalization in early 2026. Hoffman emphasized the plan is meant to be a living document that informs budgets and legislative asks, not an exhaustive tactical manual.

Homework and next steps: Committee members were asked to read the current plan, mark dated items or suggested structural changes (for example consolidating priorities), and return to the July meeting prepared to discuss goals and objectives at a high level. Staff will circulate the prior survey questions and the draft survey instrument for review.

Meeting procedure: The committee also approved the minutes from the previous meeting before beginning the strategic plan discussion; several members indicated abstentions during that vote.

Looking ahead: Staff said subject matter experts (including public safety and community development staff) will attend future committee sessions to present data and options tied to the survey results. Hoffman said targeted follow-up, such as focus groups or direct outreach to transit riders or stakeholders at the Innovation Center, will be used where the survey raises specific follow-up questions.