WCU Studio
Multiple topic
meetings

Cashiers
Multiple topic
meetings

Cowee
Kickoff and Potluck
Dinner, 6pm

Click here for
complete schedules

CULLOWHEE, NC, May 15, 2008 – The first full day of the Mountain Landscapes Initiative “Tool Box” workshop attracted more than 100 participants to Western Carolina University’s University Center and nearly half that number to a satellite session in Cashiers.

[ STORY CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO > ]

The Thursday meetings were part of a week-long charrette to create guidelines for growth in the North Carolina mountains. There are actually three charrettes going on simultaneously. Opening presentations at the satellite gathering in Cashiers were Wednesday night. And another charrette kicks off in North Macon County today.

Discussions at the main charrette at Western centered on environmental issues. Among the hot topics: Water quality, soil erosion, slope and ridge top development, and infrastructure needs.

Many of the participants were professionals in environmental science and engineering. Others were citizens concerned about what they consider dangerous trends in development in sensitive mountain areas. And at least two county commissioners from far western counties, the charrette’s study area, attended as well.

It was a listening day for the Lawrence Group. Team members engaged with local participants, looking for common themes in citizen concerns. Almost immediately, team planners and designers will begin reacting to what they’re hearing with illustrations and proposals they’ll test in daily “pin-up” sessions. All events are open to the public at all times. For the complete schedule, go here.

Lawrence Group principal Craig Lewis repeatedly urged charrette attendees on Thursday not to outrun community support systems as they welcome so many new ideas. “Every community is different,” said Lewis, “each is at a different stage of readiness -- intellectually, physically, financially.“ But there are baby steps each can take.

What did the consultants hear on Thursday? Mostly variations on the 10 questions citizens told MLI outreach leaders they wanted addressed. So the five meetings on Wednesday provided confirmations of discussions over the last five months with residents and their leaders across seven western counties and the Qualla Boundary.

As the charrette moves towards final presentation night on May 20, consulting team members will encourage a transition from idea sharing to idea testing, then to idea choosing. Work in progress will be literally “pinned-up” at 5:30 each day at all three charrette locations.

The Cashiers and Cowee Valley mini-charrettes will wrap over the weekend. Proposals for those communities will be integrated into the overview of the main event at Western Carolina University, May 20.