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What is the Tompkins County
Vital Communities Initiative?
· A forum to help the residents of Tompkins County articulate their
vision for the future of the County.
· An effort to fully involve the community in discussions about how, where, and what kind of development should occur in the future.
· A coordinated approach to planning beyond municipal boundaries.
What are Vital Communities?
Vital Communities are attractive, affordable, and vibrant places where
people want to live. The details will be determined through the Vital
Communities Initiative's participatory process.
Why was the Vital Communities
Initiative Started?
· Concerns about current development patterns formally expressed
by local boards and groups, including, among others:
· Tompkins County Environmental Management Council
· Tompkins County Area Development
· Citizens Planning Alliance
· Public comments made at various Tompkins County planning forums regarding a desire to protect the rural character of the County.
· Awareness across the country of impacts of current land use practices and the creation of innovative techniques to address them.
Why Plan?
"If development doesn't go somewhere, it goes everywhere. And
if it goes everywhere, you look like anywhere."
-Keith Charters, Traverse City, Michigan
Tompkins County is filled with hundreds of natural and human made features that make it a beautiful and unique place to live. If development continues without a vision of the future, the awe inspiring beauty of the area could be threatened by disjointed, unplanned and unattractive development.
What if We Don't Plan?
Unplanned growth can:
· Increase costs of providing public services (water, sewer, police,
fire, road construction and maintenance, education, etc.).
· Slowly chip away at the rural character of an area by construction of structures along rural road frontages.
· Undermine traditional community centers by drawing away residents and consumers.
· Degrade natural habitats, open space, and agricultural lands.
· Increase air pollution by increasing traffic congestion.
· Increase the amount of time people spend in their cars.
· Negatively impact the quality and quantity of drinking water supplies, streams, and lakes.
Goals for the Vital Communities Initiative for 2003:
1) Create an interactive website to assist interested municipal governments, businesses, non-profit groups, and local citizens in finding planning tools to help them achieve the goals set forth in the Vital Communities Development and Preservation Principles.
2) Review the County Planning Department's work program for consistency with the Vital Communities Development and Preservation Principles, and make recommendations to the County Board of Representatives when needed changes are identified. Once that review is done, evaluate the programs of one or two other County departments.
3) Through extensive outreach to the public, prepare a draft County Comprehensive Plan that builds on the Vital Communities Development and Preservation Principles.
4) Using funds provided by
a grant obtained from the Federal Highway Administration's Transportation
and Community and System Preservation Pilot Program, partner with several
local municipalities, developers, or community groups to develop and implement
innovative pilot projects to further the Vital Communities Development
and Preservation Principles.
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