City officials, steering committee members, and a consultant are continuing to gather feedback for the city’s ongoing comprehensive planning process, Chelsea Pa’Lante.
At Monday night’s city council meeting, City Manager Fidel Maltez provided an update on the planning process following the steering committee’s second meeting last month.
“Over 150 comment cards were collected at the Chelsea Pa’Lante Fest on March 15,” Maltez stated. “Utile, our consultant team, along with city staff, had over 200 conversations with Chelsea residents and stakeholders during what we hope will be an annual event to celebrate our city. We’re still in the information gathering phase and survey outreach (is) ongoing, with 167 respondents to date.”
The comprehensive planning survey closes on May 23. Anyone interested in taking part in the survey should visit palante.chelseama.gov/home.
Some of the key takeaways from the engagement work so far, according to Maltez, include a strong appreciation for Chelsea’s diversity, community resources, and transportation access. Priorities that were raised include affordable housing, more recreational spaces, cultural events, and safer streets.
Some of the additional research conducted by Utile shows that Chelsea is younger and more densely populated than the state average and that overcrowded housing remains a significant challenge. In addition, the research shows that three-quarters of residents are residents with large, multifamily housing predominating, and that most people who live in Chelsea also work in the city.
“The next phase of the process will focus on developing the plan framework, including visioning workshops, scenario development, and identifying implementation strategies,” stated Maltez.
Those visioning workshops will take place throughout this summer, with additional survey work taking place in the fall based on feedback from the engagement work.
“Rounding out the fall of 2025 and winter of 2026 will be focused engagement events to help develop the draft plan,” Maltez added. “The consultant team aims to provide a final report to the planning board by mid-2026.”
District 8 Councilor Calvin Brown thanked Maltez for the update. He also thanked all residents who have already given feedback for the plan,and encouraged everyone to take part in the survey.