Input from across Hancock County has resulted in a comprehensive quality of place plan for the county, which county officials and stakeholders say is set to serve as a guiding map to improve the environment, sense of belonging and amenities found in Hancock County.

Representatives from the Community Foundation of Hancock County and Hancock Economic Development Council spoke at Monday’s county commissioners meeting about the in-depth plan and its findings. The executive branch of the county issued a proclamation supporting the quality of place plan.

Hancock County Area Plan Commission will then consider passage of the plan at its meeting Tuesday as a guiding planning document to be used in the future.

Mary Gibble, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Hancock County, said the quality of place plan is a chapter of the county’s economic development strategy, which is one of the components of the Future Hancock Comprehensive Plan, which was passed in January 2023 to guide future development of the county.

The plan defines quality of place as “the elements of a community that make it a distinct, vibrant place to live, work and play.”

“This plan does not focus so much on things that we know are very important, in regard to affordable and attainable housing and the provision of child care, but more on the amenities and what we create in the way of vibrancy as described here,” Gibble told commissioners.

The community foundation, working alongside consulting firm HWC Engineering, engaged in public workshops, focus group meetings and a public survey to help craft the quality of place plan. The steering committee of the plan included members from local governments, school districts and non-profits.

HEDC executive director Randy Sorrell said right now, the work of economic development has shifted from entirely about bringing jobs to now focusing on the quality of the community as a reason to bring people and businesses to Hancock County.

“It’s not just trying to attract capital investment and jobs. It’s now having a place where companies want to locate — good schools, amenities and things like that,” he said.

The plan calls for four strategies to ensure quality of place for Hancock County: encouraging development across the county, enhancing recreation, attracting and developing unique destinations, and fostering connectivity.

One element of the quality of place plan was to identify a peer community, which was chosen to be Oldham County, Kentucky. It’s part of the Louisville metropolitan area and the richest county in Kentucky. Gibble said Oldham County was chosen because of its similarity to Hancock County, specifically one that was healthy, wealthy and near a suburban area but still rural in nature.

Another feature Gibble called out in her presentation is the capacity for funding when it comes to implementing some of the goals for this quality of place plan. The plan provides a guideline to grow the capacity of organizations that are key to creating quality of place when opportunities for funding do arise.

“When you are applying for grants, they want to see that you have a plan. It cannot be ignored that we have a one-person tourism department, that we have a one-person chamber for the most part,” Gibble said. “As a community, we need to be cognizant that we have some capacity issues for being the one of the fastest-growing counties in the state. We have to really continue this work. It’s not that we can’t do it, but we need to recognize it.”

Included in the quality of place plan is a strategic investment plan, which provides goals for the county moving forward, such as creating a distinct brand for each district, acquiring public art to install alongside the Mt. Comfort Road corridor, establishing a quality of place business incentive program for entrepreneurs and advocating for trail-oriented development in Hancock County.

One of these potential goals, a regional agricultural district and park, has been pushed by Sorrell. In August, he presented a potential opportunity to transform the Elanco campus in Greenfield into a dedicated ag tech and innovation district. At Monday’s meeting, he mentioned travelling to Georgia to a neighborhood called Serenbe outside the Atlanta metro area for a rural placemaking conference.

Serenbe’s website describes the neighborhood as an “award-winning biophilic community that connects people to nature and each other,” also mentioning that residents of the neighborhood value a sense of community, minimal mental stress and positive physical health.

“I’m hoping that over the next few years that we can get groups from Hancock County and leadership going to see and hear the stories,” he said. “Sometimes you just got to see it to understand it … you can’t take Serenbe and bring it and throw it down in the middle of Hancock County. Some of the concepts and things they’re doing in the rural areas … that are still pretty virgin territory, there are some concepts and things like that we could bring here.”

After the presentation, commissioners president Bill Spalding issued a proclamation acknowledging and thanking both the CFHC and the HEDC for their work in the quality of place plan.

Tuesday’s county plan commission meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. in Commissioners Court at the Hancock County Courthouse Annex, 111 American Legion Place, Greenfield.
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