Opening Presentation
at WCU, 6pm

CULLOWHEE, NC, May 13, 2008 – Mark tonight on your calendars. Starting at 6 p.m. in the University Theater on the campus of Western Carolina University, one of the most ambitious regional planning efforts in North Carolina history begins.

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For the next week, WCU’s University Center will host a team of national experts in planning and design, plus citizens and officials from throughout the seven-county region. Together, they’ll collaborate on the first draft of a “Tool Box” of guidelines for responsible planning and development in North Carolina’s mountains.

If you’re coming to these pages for the first time, you can get the quick overview about the umbrella Mountain Landscapes Initiative and this “Tool Box” pilot project here. Questions beyond that will likely be answered here and in the blog reports located under the OVERVIEW link at the top right of this page.

The week-long process that begins tonight is called a charrette. The idea is to get everyone with a keen interest or a professional responsibility in planning and building in the far western counties at the same table at the same time. Together, we’ll tackle questions citizens have put on a planning priority list over the last five months of interviews and meetings. At each step of the way, the Mountain Landscapes Initiative has invited a conversation with citizens about their hopes and concerns, then customized the “Tool Box” process to address them. To get a feel for the Community Forums, choose from the respective county tabs in our OVERVIEW section. And for a report on that outreach effort, go here.

During the week-long charrette, participants will move quickly from idea-sorting to idea testing, then to drafting an actual plan of action. By the final presentation on May 20, the collaboration should produce what amounts to a first draft of the “Tool Box.”

Everything is open to everyone all the time. In fact, the more involvement the better. For a complete schedule of the week, go here.

While the main charrette is taking place at Western, two satellite charrettes will be underway in the Cowee Valley in North Macon County and in Cashiers in Jackson County. You’ll find schedules for the satellite charrettes here.

Those sessions will drill down even more deeply into key issues, applying tools from the “Tool Box” to specific projects and geographic areas. In Cashiers, citizens and members of the consulting team will test ideas for the design of a Cashiers Village. In Cowee, another team will work with residents on strategies for retaining the distinctive rural character of a river valley as it grows into the future.

The Cashiers and Cowee model projects are among four chosen for ways in which they represent challenges throughout the region. The other two, addressing farmland preservation and financial planning in Cherokee County and responsible slope development in Haywood County, will be folded into work by teams at the main charrette studio at WCU.

Beginning today and continuing through a report on the day after the May 20th final presentation, we’ll be posting updates on this website daily. Charrettes thrive on a lively exchange of ideas. So we want to see you in person in Cullowhee and at the satellite charrettes in Cashiers and Cowee. But by all means, follow the action here. And give us your feedback. We want to know how we’re doing and how we can make this process and what comes out of it more accessible to everyone.