A Downtown Action Plan for Canton

November 2018 Main Street Matters (content updated Nov. 2020)

By Emily Koller, Planner; and Riley Triggs, Architect; Town Square Initiative / Texas Main Street Program

Editor’s Note: The Canton Main Street Program applied for downtown planning assistance through the Texas Historical Commission’s Town Square Initiative in late 2017. Though the Town Square Initiative no longer exists, the following article is still a good introduction to the process and benefits of a community-wide visioning/planning process.

The Canton Action Plan Process

Project Background

The Canton EDC recognized that downtown Canton was at a turning point and wanted to develop a more strategic vision to help the historic core of Canton - a Texas Main Street city since 2001 - reach the next level. Recommendations and outcomes of this plan will be implemented by the Canton EDC, Canton Main Street, the City of Canton, Van Zandt County, downtown property and business owners, and other leadership organizations committed to downtown’s future.

During an action planning process, the TSI team spends a considerable amount of time in a community in open houses, group meetings, and one-on-one conversations with property and business owners, which are critical to shaping the understanding of the existing conditions as well as defining recommendations that are feasible and achievable. Forming relationships with community leaders and the key downtown stakeholders is critical to the team’s effectiveness and the overall success of the process. The Canton process used an aggressive schedule to reach consensus on what should be included in the plan.

Schedule

The planning process in Canton ran from January to October 16, 2018 when the Canton City Council adopted it as the official planning document for downtown Canton. The process began with a community survey that resulted in 213 responses, which is more than average for a town with a population of around 3,500. Two large public events were planned—the first, an open house during the grand opening of the farmer’s market on April 21, and the second, a community presentation of the proposed ideas with voting and socializing at Val’s Restaurant on August 7.

Each of these visits included a structured meeting with downtown merchants as well as one-on-one meetings with property owners. There were over 200 total attendees at these events representing 6% of the population, which provided TSI not only with a lot of information, but it fostered trust and optimism for the process as well as the action plan. At each step there were opportunities for the public to offer, prioritize, and vote for ideas to be included in the action plan.

Interactive Opportunities

The community was asked to participate in interactive exercises throughout the process including:

• an online survey;

• a preference activity to help define what character is desired for new uses/development;

• a voting exercise to prioritize and refine the 15 ideas for Canton, which eventually became the specific project recommendations.

The survey provided the initial context for what is positive and what is less so in downtown Canton. There was a clear indication from the beginning of the process that entertainment uses were missing from downtown and Canton in general. The term “hang-out” was used over and over. Many community members from all backgrounds noted the lack of places where friends and family can get together to socialize and relax - uses that came up included soda fountains, smoothie shops, more restaurants, restaurants with full bars, music venues, and beer gardens. People noted that they leave town regularly for movies, nightlife, and bowling, and there was a strong desire for more events in downtown especially food and family related activities.

Using the results of the survey, an activity was designed that illustrated the different character of these potential new uses: music venue, coffee shop, lodging, and residential. Attendees at the open house during the farmers market shared their thoughts on what they would like to see and then voted for the example projects that best represented the type of character that seemed appropriate to them. Clear favorites included a coffee shop with a large outdoor hang-out space and a boutique hotel as compared to a tiny house lodging or a bed and breakfast on the square. The music venue category was the most popular and there was no clear preference. “Any type of venue will be fine!” The community was lukewarm on adding new residential downtown.

(Left) Emily Koller and Alan Cox of TSI get feedback at the weekly Farmers Market. (Right) The community voted with orange dots for what type of activities they want to see downtown.

The types of uses and their character was taken into consideration as the TSI team formulated the concepts, or 15 ideas. After consultation with the Canton EDC and Main Street project leaders, TSI presented these 15 ideas to the downtown merchants and at a larger public meeting on August 7. Received favorably overall, the most popular ideas included: the entertainment hub in the former Quality Furniture building, walkability improvements that would prioritize downtown as a place for people, returning the historic plaza theater back into a theater, and incentives for historic rehabilitation work and building stabilization.

Place Assessment

During the community polling and public meetings, TSI did their own place assessment (see below) of the town looking for areas of strength and improvement including Safety, Historic Integrity, Interest, Gateways, Appeal, Comfort, Access, and Security. This helped to identify what assets could be built upon and what liabilities needed to be purposefully addressed in future projects.

A Vision for Downtown

A clear vision is necessary to get everyone headed in the same direction to effectively achieve tangible results. An action plan moves from understanding of the existing conditions and agreeing on the preferred outcomes to translating that into actionable items. This often involves moving past assumptions and objectively looking at each city’s unique situation.

Canton is known for its First Monday Trade Days when thousands of people come to town once a month, but few of those visitors venture past the Trade Day grounds into downtown. The original impetus behind the planning project was to capture more of these visitors so that the permanent downtown merchants could benefit from the visitor traffic. But creating a town for tourists is not necessarily desirable nor sustainable. So, throughout the process careful attention has been given to making sure focus is kept on working to make Canton a good place for locals first, then in turn, that makes it a good place for visitors.

One thing is certain: If you do it for the local, the visitor will come; if you do it for the visitor, you will lose the local and, eventually, the visitor because it is the local who gives a place character. - Roberta Brandes Gratz

Combining the community feedback with TSI’s assessment and the Canton project team’s desired outcomes, a vision was developed highlighting streets and public space improvements, catalyst projects, historic preservation activities, and public/private partnerships.

The plan up above represents the community’s desire to return downtown to its place as the heart of Canton once again. There is a strong emphasis on adding new entertainment uses for the community to enjoy as well as enhancing streets and public spaces so that downtown becomes a comfortable, appealing, and memorable place. Projects address the connection to Trade Days, but the emphasis remains on making downtown the place to be for locals. If done well, this will naturally draw Trade Days visitors seeking the local experience.

These principles are articulated in the following vision statement:

• Downtown will be lively and feel like the heart of the community once again — it will be the place people come together to socialize, relax, and hang out.

• Downtown will support a sustainable mix of businesses that utilizes local talent and serves the community.

• Residents will not have to leave Canton unless they want to for entertainment, goods, and services.

• The momentum from these efforts will help Canton create a separate identity beyond Trade Days, while at the same time enhancing the Trade Days experience for visitors, encouraging return trips beyond First Mondays.

A mix of simpler, immediately actionable items along with longer-term more complex initiatives were developed from the action planning elements to provide guidance on selecting and prioritizing effective means of carrying out the plan.

Implementation Phase

The Canton Downtown Action Plan is a thoughtful result of several months of research, observations, community input, and at the core of it, passionate conversations between the TSI team and many earnest individuals of the Canton EDC, city staff and officials, business and property owners, and engaged citizens. The Action Plan is the beginning of an exciting, deliberate reawakening of the physical, cultural, historical, and economic downtown heart of a proud, vibrant, and spirited community.

Next Steps

After the adoption of the action plan, the next step for Canton is to begin implementing the individual projects needed to achieve the goals of the plan. An implementation matrix was developed that includes estimated length, estimated cost, and role of each member of the team. TSI is continuing to work with the city on individual projects that include a Texas Department of Agriculture Main Street Improvement Grant for rebuilding a block of new accessible and walkable sidewalk, parking management, identity development, wayfinding system, preservation stewardship incentives, residential infill guidelines, theater renovation, entertainment hub, parklet program, and painted crosswalks. This matrix will inform the individual work plans for the Main Street program, Canton EDC, and the City of Canton. The projects from the plan are the first steps toward a rejuvenated Canton downtown, and TSI will continue to assist over the course of the next 2-5 years supporting their implementation.

It is important to keep the community informed and engaged throughout the realization of these projects. Including as many members of the community as possible is essential to keep up interest, foster personal connections to the vision, and ensure continued high levels of enthusiasm and support for a better Canton. Setting realistic expectations, meeting them, and celebrating the successes of each step along the way is essential to maintaining project momentum and credibility.

TSI has no doubt Canton is about to transform downtown into an even better version of itself. The process of creating the Canton Downtown Action Plan has already had positive effects in the community, and a renewed optimism and energy is already present. Since beginning the planning process in January, a new pocket park has been completed, two new businesses fitting into the action plan are under construction, and a major vacant building has sold with the intent of fulfilling one of the plan’s recommendations. From this action planning process, it is clear that Cantonians are ready for a better downtown, and more importantly, they are ready to make it happen!