Orleans County officials seek waterfront ideas
OBSERVER Photos by M.J. Stafford Officials from Orleans County pose at the Dunkirk Pier Monday with city of Dunkirk officials after a tour of the waterfront.
Vince DeJoy (second from right), Dunkirk’s planning and development director, is flanked by Orleans County Legislators Skip Draper and John Fitzak (right) during lunch at Demetri’s after a tour of Dunkirk’s waterfront Monday.
OBSERVER Photos by M.J. Stafford Officials from Orleans County pose at the Dunkirk Pier Monday with city of Dunkirk officials after a tour of the waterfront.
Vince DeJoy (second from right), Dunkirk’s planning and development director, is flanked by Orleans County Legislators Skip Draper and John Fitzak (right) during lunch at Demetri’s after a tour of Dunkirk’s waterfront Monday.
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A group of officials from Orleans County toured Dunkirk's waterfront this week, in search of ideas to develop their Lake Ontario shoreline.
The trip was spurred by a visit from Orleans County Legislator Skip Draper this summer for a niece's softball tournament. "I was amazed at the crowds that were along the lakefront, and the beautiful parks and the facilities that are here, and I want our county to look at developing its lakefront in a similar manner," he said.
He talked about his visit with fellow county Legislator John Fitzak "and we decided to bring our economic development agency, and our planning and tourism department, here today to see what's here."
Gabrielle Barone, vice president for economic development in Orleans County, reached out to Vince DeJoy and EJ Hayes in Dunkirk's planning department and they planned the tour together.
"I think what I saw today is that you can take an area that is undeveloped and over time, you can layer on -- whether it's more retail, more fishing and boating opportunities," she said. "One of the things we said is, 'we don't know what we don't know.' We want to be inspired. This is kind of inspiration for all of us. We've been talking since we saw this, and we've all got a myriad of ideas."
She added, "Planning is at the root of everything. We've got to appreciate that and we don't always emphasize it enough."
DeJoy said the tour started at the Boardwalk Market with "the story behind the development of that area and how it spurred additional development here. Basically, how we have taken what was just a parking lot that was the pier, and turned it into a platform for events and other recreational opportunities. … We've shown them that this is where it starts here, and it goes in all directions."
He also emphasized to the visitors that collaboration with county and state agencies is important for development.
The tour also included the Marina, Wright Park and Lakefront Boulevard.
Fitzak noted that the city of Dunkirk has 2.5 miles of municipal lakefront property, but Orleans County does not have such large stretches of public shoreline. "Anything we do would be on a much smaller scale. … With that being said, it could still have a big impact for our community," he said.