COVINGTON, Ga. — The City of Covington received an update on the progression of its revitalized Downtown Master Plan at the Nov. 17 council meeting.
Nick Johnson and Adam Williamson of Tunnel-Spangler-Walsh & Associates (TSW) presented the mayor and council with information they had gathered through public engagement and some of the ideas they have for downtown.
Williamson, TSW’s principal-at-large, began by recapping the past several months that led to Monday evening’s update.
Engagement began with a public kickoff on June 24, followed by a downtown pop-up on July 19. In September, a three-day visioning workshop on the Square brought dozens of local participants who shared their ideas and concerns.
Future engagement will include an open house and public comment session in the early months of 2026.
Now that significant feedback has been compiled, with Johsnon noting that over 630 survey responses were received, preliminary recommendations are underway.
“We know that the city successfully completed phase one of the Downtown Master Plan last year, and this is phase two,” Johnson, the project manager, said. “This is where we take the SWOT analysis [strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats] from phase one, all the community input gathered there, and take it and try to condense it, coalesce it into several recommendations that are actionable that y'all can take to move forward.”
Johnson said that while the phase one geographical area of study was broad, this go-around, they will be narrowing in on the area around the Square, what they refer to as the ‘downtown core.’
“That’s where we feel like the most transformation can be made the most effective,” Johnson said.
After analyzing all of the community input gathered in recent months, the TSW team condensed their findings into five main points.
Between the points, a common thread united them all. People expressed a desire to see more on the Square and in the downtown core that catered more towards residents than tourists.
“The Square is doing really, really well, but if you go one block outside of the Square in pretty much any direction, it starts to be less of an inviting environment and there’s less activity,” Johnson said. “And some of that is just because of the land uses there, some of it is because storefronts are empty as you go away from the Square. Some of it is existing businesses that don't have that same kind of draw.”
Another point was that already existing assets, like the visitor’s center and events, can bring people downtown, but more can be done to encourage them to stay.
Additionally, data indicated to TSW that resident-oriented retail could be successful downtown in the form of businesses selling clothing, health/personal care items, jewelry, sporting goods and more.
“The other piece of this is that Covington is still growing,” Johnson said. “I think the numbers are at about 1,100 folks by 2035, and so that brings with it increased demand as well.”
Greater emphasis on trails was also suggested. Though it may seem to some that Newton County’s trail system is vibrant and well-known, Johnson said that he spoke with a surprising number of people who were unsure where to find the trails’ access points.
The fifth idea was to utilize public art to display Covington’s history, specifically in a way that goes beyond the film industry.
This idea seemed to pique the interest of Councilwoman Charika Davis. Davis asked Johnson what ideas he has for showcasing Covington’s heritage and history, and how far back in time he would plan to go.
“We heard from our core team that one of the big concerns they have is that Covington’s history is explored in a kind of one-dimensional way in a lot of times,” Johnson said. “And so I’m not sure what that looks like quite yet, but we know that it would need to be capturing a full breadth of Covington’s history with a lot of different storytelling opportunities from a diverse group of people.”
Another point that Councilman Anthony Henderson raised was parking. Henderson asked what Johnson’s thoughts would be about exploring the implementation of metered parking in areas of the city.
Johnson explained that the success of metered parking can vary from city to city, but said pursuing a mixed strategy with some meters and some free lots might work for Covington. He added that clear parking signage might be something the city should look into, regardless of whether meters are seriously considered.
“One thing I will say is we did do a parking count in addition to the parking counts that have already been done in previous studies, and one of the things that I think could be cleared up very easily is just consistency in signage,” Johnson said. “Like knowing if a lot is private or public, if it’s not private, when can you park there, all of that kind of thing.”
The agenda item did not require any action, and thus no official votes were made. Future updates should be made public in 2026.
