After more than three years of hard work, the Comprehensive Plan for the village of Mayville and town of Chautauqua is complete.

Officials note a comprehensive plan is one of a municipality’s most important documents.

Chautauqua Town Councilman Scott Cummings was one of the co-chairs of the Comprehensive Planning Committee and discussed its purpose.

“The role is it’s a guide, a vision of the residents of the village and town of what direction they would like to see the town and village go and things we would like to protect,” Cummings said. “It’s about lifestyle, you’re trying to balance tourism, livability, and those kind of things, protecting our natural resources.”

The last time the town and village had updated their Comprehensive Plan was in the 1970s.

Cummings noted the comprehensive plan is not a law or regulations. “It’s just a vision of the people within the community, and how they would like things to look in the future,” he said.

The plan ended up being 127 pages and covers a variety of topics including economic viability, land use and development, community livability and housing, mobility and access, and community health and wellness.

Cummings said one of the items that residents highlighted the most was the preservation of the landscape of the town and village. “Protecting agricultural resources, protecting natural resources, protecting Chautauqua Lake – that was huge for the community,” he said.

Residents also wanted to see assistance provided for small businesses. “We’re such a seasonal tourist area that it makes it very difficult for business so the community really wanted to promote businesses starting up within the town and village,” Cummings said.

The town and village boards met recently where they formally adopted the Comprehensive Plan.

Cummings said now the town and village will be able to implement parts of the plan. “Next for us and the village of Mayville, is to update our code and zoning laws and regulations,” he said.

Because the town and village have separate zoning laws, Cummings said each municipality will upgrade their codes separately.

Mark Smith, who is the Mayville Planning Board Chairman, served as co-chair of the Steering Committee on behalf of the village.

Smith said he was impressed with the community’s involvement throughout the process. “The passion that people have about so many different things,” he said.

To help the process, the town and village had a consultant, Pashek + MTR of Pittsburgh, Pa., to help them put the Comprehensive Plan together. “Their model is the implementable Comprehensive Plan and they helped us to get all this feedback and input from people,” he said.

He noted that the new Comprehensive Plan will help both the town and village apply for grants, once they have a plan for a specific project.

He believes the updated zoning code will help the zoning and planning boards when development is proposed to ensure the community is property protected while flourishing at the same time.

The full list of the Steering Committee is as follows:

Scott Cummings, Town Board Member; Tom Carlson, Town Board Member; Rick Syper, Village Board Member; Dan Roush, Village Board Member; Jessica Emhardt, Town Office; Sorena Gilkinson, Chamber of Commerce; Mary Schiller, Village/Chairperson Village Zoning Board of Appeals; Mark Smith, Village/Chairperson Village Planning Board; Julie Lescynski, Town Resident; Russell Boehner, Town/Chautauqua Institution Property Owner Association; Sharon Smead, Village Resident; Tim Hull, Town Resident/Town Justice; Zach Stahlsmith, Chautauqua Lake Central School Board; Pat Appelbe, Town Resident; Jennifer Obert, Village Treasurer; Brian Pender, Chamber of Commerce President.

Cummings said although the Comprehensive Plan is completed, some members of the Steering Committee have expressed an interest to help implement the plan. “That committee is going to keep meeting over time and help the different governing bodies figure out how to implement things,” he said.

Cummings added that he hopes the town and village will review the Comprehensive Plan every three to five years and make changes as necessary.