CHINCOTEAGUE, VA — Chincoteague's first town planner in years is working to qualify the island community for the Virginia Main Street Program and establish a historic district.
The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development manages the Main Street Program (VMS). Communities in the Commonwealth with a VMS designation have access to resources to support revitalizing historic commercial districts.
"I think having the historic district designation will help us with our Main Street designation," Chincoteague's new Town Planner, Amanda Baker, said. "Just because there's more resources to protect and things that deserve to be revitalized."
Baker, who previously worked as Salisbury's city planner, is the first to fill this role on Chincoteague since the early 2000s.
"The town is growing. We have several things we'd like to accomplish," Town Manager Mike Tolbert said of the hire. "It does make sense for the town to have a planner now."
An earlier effort to establish and register an official historic district on Chincoteague was put on pause in the 1990s. Tolbert hopes a historic district and a VMS designation will bolster other downtown revitalization efforts.
"We are currently installing our first public sewage system downtown and we're hoping that helps revitalize the downtown some," Tolbert said. "If we can also get a Main Street designation to the point where we can also leverage some grants in that area, that will be very helpful."
As town planner, Baker will focus on compiling information to earn Chincoteague its desired state recognition, something Tolbert said the town's relatively small staff has been unable to do in recent years.
One of Baker's first tasks is cataloging historic buildings contributing to the district.
"So whether that's from architectural standards or historical value," Baker said. "Once we have all of that information cataloged, then we can send that up to the state and they'll come down and take a little tour and just get a feel for what the boundaries of the district are."
The new Chincoteague planner will also find and apply for grant opportunities.