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Earlier this year, the OBSERVER published an article on the Chautauqua-Mayville Plan. The plan really resonated with me as north county communities navigate through conflict and change.
The Plan states that “the state of New York encourages municipalities to update their comprehensive plans every 10 years, intentionally setting plans in place for areas such as land use, community facilities and services, infrastructure, demographic trends, and other topics relevant to the future of the community.”
Furthermore, this Plan was developed using ” the implementable Comprehensive Plan Model,” which is recognized as a planning best practice. Unlike a traditional comprehensive plan, this approach focuses on a few select key issues, shaped through robust public engagement and community input”.
The Chautauqua-Mayville Plan is a useful example of how it pays to strategize.
It actually includes insights from community members, who were invited to participate.
It would be a marvelous and sensible idea to incorporate community values on big topics like vineyards, nature, tourism, small business and water resources, data centers, battery farms and a potential nuclear reactor.
The Chautauqua-Mayville Plan is a valuable first step. It incorporates the shared values of the community, to help guide current and future decisions. This guide has far greater value than a simple list of the moment’s prioritized tasks.
The Chautauqua-Mayville plan was not created exclusively by elected or appointed officials, who may or may not have a larger vision. In any job, it is easy to concentrate solely on putting out immediate fires -- in this case, sometimes at the expense of community values. This can be the result of an honest sense of urgency-often financially driven; a lack of critical thought-perhaps someone landed at the wrong desk; or even falling prey to special interests.
I think we should support our officials by creating a Plan in partnership with them. They deserve our support, and not just our dissatisfaction with their decisions after they have run ahead without us. There is always more than one way to move forward! Our different perspectives can inform each other.
North County needs a sound guide right now. Wouldn’t it be great to have an agreed-upon foundation for our decision-making?
This doesn’t mean that things happen magically -- as my friend Ruth likes to say, “That’s why they call it ‘work.’ “.
Nevertheless, I think it would be an excellent benefit to our officials and to North County communities. Let’s “bend it like Mayville.”
Pamela Ruis is a Fredonia resident.