Downtown Danville is the “heart and soul” of the community. It has historic charm, a pedestrian-friendly ambiance and bustling restaurant scene. But it wasn’t a vibrant continuous retail core. They needed strategies to attract and support emerging retail formats that support its small town character yet boost economic vitality.

The updated Downtown Business District (DBD) Ordinance—created with staff, businesses and property owners, and the community—shifts the regulatory environment away from a careful, control-oriented format to a more facilitative approach. For example, it’s flexible about the type of allowed uses in the area and encourages blended uses (combining retail, dining, bar and/or entertainment uses in one space) and destination uses that can compete with online retail. It reduces parking requirements to lessen the cost and requirements for local business—and tied parking into an overall parking management strategy that ensures there is ample parking in the Downtown.

A graphically visual brochure clearly and concisely summarizes key regulatory information for the business community. This “Plan-on-a-Page” approach, coordinated closely with Town staff and the business community, includes the needed level of detail, and is also easy to understand. The Town uses this document as a key economic development tool to attract new businesses and investment.