"Tool Box" for Planning and Development in the Works
Community Forum Set for April 19

Commissioner Harry Jarrett

The Mountain Landscapes Initiative is coming to Clay County on April 19, when citizens are invited to drop by the County Courthouse for conversations on growth and development and to see a brief documentary of interviews with folks in Clay County and the other six far western counties of North Carolina.

"What we need," says Clay County Commissioner Harry Jarrett, "is a way to talk about growth that's healthy for our economy and that still preserves our resources and our traditions. I personally don't think that's an impossible task. And I hear from lots of others that they don't think it's impossible either. All we need are the right tools."

Commissioner Jarrett has been involved with plans to create just such a "Tool Box" for responsible development and planning since the summer of 2007. That's when he asked the Southwestern Commission, the Council of Governments organization serving the seven westernmost counties, to convene a Growth Management Workshop to discuss challenges and opportunities before fast-growing mountain counties. Out of that meeting grew a partnership between the Southwestern Commission and The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina to develop a process that could put a "Tool Box" in the hands of property owners, developers, and community officials as quickly as possible.

The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, which facilitates funding for non-profit organizations in 18 mountain counties, had already begun plans for a Mountain Landscapes Initiative (MLI) to help citizens, organizations, and governments find ways to deal effectively with land use planning. Joining with the Southwestern Commission enabled The Community Foundation to launch the MLI first in the westernmost counties and the Qualla Boundary.

The "Tool Box" project involves a three-stage, sixmonth long process. These Community Forums are part of the first stage, getting citizens' hopes and concerns about growth challenges and opportunities on the table.

Throughout most of the day on April 19, Clay County citizens can drop by the Courthouse and see a short documentary, composed of interviews with folks from throughout the seven counties and the Qualla Boundary. They can add their thoughts to the discussion and stipulate issues they would particularly like addressed. At the end of the day, the documentary will be shown in a group setting, and citizens will prioritize their desires for next steps.

Community Forums will be held in eight locations in the region, and results from those sessions will shape the agenda for the second stage of the "Tool Box" pilot -- a regionwide, seven-day workshop at Western Carolina University, May 13-20. From that intensive public workshop will come the first draft of the "Tool Box," which will be edited, published, and distributed in stage three. "Tool Box" publications should be available both on-line and in printed form by the end of this summer.

The entire project is designed as a bottom-up process, with citizens engaged at every stage. "I hope people in Clay County will take advantage of this opportunity to express themselves on this issue," says Jarrett. "The more ideas we have, the better."

Here's the schedule for the Forum on Saturday, April 19: Drop-in hours are 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Courthouse. The meeting is at 3 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

Learn more about the background for the Mountain Landscapes Initiative and the "Tool Box" pilot here: www. mountainlandscapesnc.org.

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