Residents and visitors alike treasure the outstanding scenic resources found in Tompkins County. Local plans frequently highlight a desire to preserve the rural character of the community. Tourism and economic development agencies tout the area’s beauty. Although natural, historic, and cultural resources have been extensively inventoried and studied in Tompkins County, there has never been a methodical inventory of the County’s scenic resources. The Tompkins County Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 2004, identifies this deficiency and the need for additional information. It is the intent of the Tompkins County Scenic Resources Inventory to lay the foundation for local planning to manage scenic resources in the County.

What’s been completed so far?

1.  Digitally mapped, inventoried and photographed approximately 600 scenic resources

• Drove public all-season roads
• Hiked well-used trails
• Navigated Cayuga Lake
• Solicitated nominations from the public

2. Held the first public meeting on June 8, 2006 to introduce the public to the Scenic Resources Inventory project and evaluate photographs of a variety of views to identify what makes each view scenic. Input gathered at the public meeting helped shape how inventoried views are rated and selected as important scenic resources.

3. Based on the public nomination process which closed July 31, inventoried, photographed and mapped 42 additional views.

4. The 600 views were evaluated to identify 110 candidate views to bring to the public for community voting and identification during the month of September, 2006. For a desciption of how the candidate views were selected, please review Selecting the Candidate Views.

What’s happening now?

Now that all the inventorying work is done, it’s time for the community to tell us which views are most valued and treasured. Through October 2, community members can vote for favorite views in two ways: 1) by attending an open house and viewing photos and maps of view locations, or 2) by using on-line resources to view the photos and map. Results of the voting will provide critical input on which views are the most highly valued by the community.

The Open House will be held at the Women’s Community Building, 100 West Seneca Street, Ithaca on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 from 3:00 – 7:00 PM. At the Open House, the public will have the opportunity to learn about the project in a leisurely and unhurried setting. Ballots and voting instructions will be available at the open house, or you can view them in advance by following the links below.

The On-line Map is a bit cumbersome, but allows you to click on photos and descriptions of views from points on a map showing the location of the views. The on-line map is best used after reading the On-line Map Use Instructions. Another way to view the photos on-line is to click on the photo links below and the photo and description of the location will appear. If using this method, it is strongly recommended that users view and search the On-line Map to geographically identify the locations of the viewpoints.

Using either on-line method, voters are asked to complete the Scenic Resources Ballot (pdf)  to print and fax or mail back, or Scenic Resources Ballot (MicroSoft Word format) to mark and attach to an email, which should be used in conjunction with the Guide to Voting. The Ballot can be submitted via mail to the Tompkins County Planning Department, 121 E. Court St, Ithaca, NY 14850, via fax to 274-5578, emailing it as an attachment, or typing the view numbers you consider to be Distinctive and Noteworthy directly into an email and sending it to the planning department.

The results of the voting will be presented at a public meeting later this fall.

Photo Links by Municipal Locations

Town of Ulysses (Views 1-11)

Town of Enfield (Views 12-19)

Town of Newfield (Views 20-26)

Town of Danby (Views 27-33)

Town of Caroline (Views 34-40)

Town of Dryden (Views 41-55)

Town of Groton (Views 56-62)

Town of Lansing (Views 63-72)

Town of Ithaca (Views 73-92)

City of Ithaca (Views 93-110)