The responsibilities and duties of the Planning Department range from serving as liaison to various commissions and boards to developing and maintaining  plans for renewal projects, land use, historic preservation and housing.

The Division’s principal activities include:

• Development and maintenance of the City’s Comprehensive Plan.
• The development of area plans to provide more specific guidance for the development of various city areas; ie Downtown Urban Renewal, Waterfront Redevelopment, etc.
• The formulation of planning policies and standards that will ensure a quality living and working environment for Vicksburg’s neighborhoods and districts.
• Serving as an information center to assist citizens in understanding and applying to their property or to project proposals, the policies and requirements for the City’s Comprehensive Plan, land use planning, urban design and historic preservation.
• Review of private development projects and proposed capital improvement projects and other physical projects involving city property for consistency and conformity with the City’s Comprehensive Plan, land use, urban design and historic preservation regulations and policies.
• Applying approved plans, policies, city code requirements and other regulations to proposed land use and for the preservation of the City’s historic and architectural resources.
• Anticipating and acting on the need for new plans, policies and city code changes in the areas of housing, community and economic development, historic preservation, urban design and land use.
• Serving as liaison to the City’s Planning Commission, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Historic Preservation Commission and the Board of Architectural Review.
• Local and Federal/State housing initiatives such as down-payment and closing cost assistance, home buyer education, assistance to the Vicksburg Neighborhood Assistance Program (VNAP), and flood-prone property buyouts.
• Acquisition and disposition of city-owned property.
• The provision of requested technical assistance and planning information to government agencies, public officials, city boards/commission and community groups.