• What’s this all about?
• What will be in this “Tool Box”?
• Who are these tools for?
• Who’s behind this?
• Who’s paying for it?
• Do citizens get a say?
• What’s a “charrette”?
• Why do we need outside experts?
• Does the “Tool Box” mean new regulations?
• Is this an effort to stop growth?
• Is this an effort to favor growth over the environment?
• How do you keep this from being just another fancy plan that goes nowhere?

Q: What’s this all about?

A: The Mountain Landscapes Initiative “Tool Box” pilot is a three-phase project in the seven westernmost counties of North Carolina to create guidelines for responsible growth. An outreach phase, begun in the fall of 2007, researched key citizen concerns about growth and development. Those concerns shape the agenda for the phase-two workshop, May 13-20, at Western Carolina University. And out of that workshop will come a published “Tool Box,” available in phase three. For a slightly more detailed explanation, go here. For a context-setting explanation of the broader project, go here.

Q: What will be in this “Tool Box”?

A: The “Tool Box” will research and publish best practices for responsible planning and development in the mountain region of North Carolina. Among the likely topics: Development on steep slopes and in flood plains; road design; site preparation; protecting water quality; green building approaches; planning for community affordability; and mountain-appropriate regulatory alternatives.

Q: Who are these tools for?

A: The “Tool Box” will be designed for a broad range of users, from individual parcel owners looking for guidance for single-home construction to large-tract developers and jurisdictions anxious to get a handle on growth management. Because different communities and individuals are at different stages of planning readiness, the “Tool Box” will offer multiple points of entry. Users can turn to sections that apply to them when they’re prepared to take next steps.

Q: Who’s behind this?

A: The Mountain Landscapes Initiative (MLI) is the umbrella title for a long-range regional planning effort created by The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. The “Tool Box” effort, undertaken in partnership with the Southwestern Commission, is the pilot program in the MLI project.

Q: Who’s paying for it?

A: The “Tool Box” project received $100,000 in seed funding from The Community Foundation. The remainder of the anticipated $400,000 budget will come from a broad range of partners. Among those contributing cash and in-kind support: County and town governments, utilities, banks, developers, land trusts, watershed associations, state and federal agencies, and foundations.

Q: Do citizens get a say?

A: This is a citizen-driven process. The Community Foundation researched regional needs for more than two years before drafting the proposal for the Mountain Landscapes Initiative. The Southwestern Commission held a public Growth Management Workshop in June of 2007 to gauge demand for growth guidelines. Beginning in the fall of 2007, the first phase of the “Tool Box” effort began with interviews with citizens across the region. Those interviews have been edited into a documentary that will be the focus of eight community meetings in the seven far western counties and the Qualla Boundary. Input from citizens at those community meetings will shape the agenda for a public workshop May 13-20 at Western Carolina University. At that workshop – called a “charrette” – a consulting team of experts will draft “Tool Box” contents based on what they learn from all the research and citizen input that’s come before and during the charrette.

Q: What’s a “charrette”?

A: For a more detailed explanation, go here. But here’s the quick once-over: A charrette is a way to harness the collective power of a community or region by gathering everyone with an interest in a set of issues in the same place in a concentrated time period. The people who can advance decisions (elected officials, government staffers, property owners, etc.) have to be there. And people with doubts and concerns have to attend, as well. Over the course of several days (May 13-20, in this case) everyone hashes out their concerns, facilitated by a team of consulting experts in design, engineering, environmental science, legal issues, and other specialties. Ideas are sorted. Alternative solutions are tested. And paths to implementation are charted. So in the course of a few days, a consensus-based plan emerges. A well-planned charrette takes months, even years, off the time required to go from ideas to action, rewarding citizens and their leaders for participating. The “Tool Box” charrette itself will demonstrate one of the tools leaders have requested. It’s a way to effectively engage citizens in planning for a community’s future. The Community Foundation is among the partners helping to bring a charrette training program to Asheville, April 16-18

Q: Why do we need outside experts?

A: If we do this right, an ambitious undertaking like this is something a region takes on only once in a generation. No matter how practiced they are in their day-to-day responsibilities, local experts can’t be expected to acquire the skills and experience they need if they’re only asked to apply them once in a generation. So for big projects like this, outside of the business-as-usual realm, it’s better to recruit specialists who work all over the country – even the world – to help communities and regions stage charrettes and produce plans on this scale. There’s also something to be said for using experts who come from the outside with fresh eyes, who have no deep ties with family and business associates in the region – and therefore have no preconceptions about the most effective strategies to accomplish goals. It’s also important to note that the expertise these specialists bring to the job is not expertise in the region. Regional expertise lies with those who live and work in these mountains. The consulting team is hired to apply state-of-the-art design, engineering, and other skills to an agenda set by the locals. The growth management answers in the “Tool Box” will only be as good as the questions citizens and their leaders ask.

Q: Does this “Tool Box” mean new regulations?

A: The “Tool Box” will not have the force of law. It will be a set of best practices honed through research and experience – including the experience of expert developers, road builders, and other professionals working everyday in the North Carolina mountains. And it will offer guidelines for planning on broader scales, including town and county-wide scales. Elected leaders in some jurisdictions have asked that model regulating plans be among the “Tool Box” deliverables. So they’ll be included. But for any new ordinances to be enacted, they’ll have to go through the same processes towns and counties use for any proposed laws, including requirements for public review.

Q: Is this an effort to stop growth in the mountains?

A: Just the opposite. This is an effort to assure that growth continues to take place. But since our growth is driven to such a significant degree by the vitality of our natural assets, the best way to assure healthy growth is to guide it in ways that protect and enhance those assets. Economic development concerns will be part of every “Tool Box” conversation. And business leaders, including real estate development professionals, are taking leading roles in the discussion. This is not unusual. The nation’s largest associations of builders and Realtors endorse Smart Growth in harmony with community values and traditions.

Q: Is this an effort to favor growth over the environment?

A: Healthy growth in the North Carolina mountains is forever tied to environmental protection. Just look at the cover of any real estate magazine. What we sell in this region is a connection between humans and ancient mountains and river valleys. We’re all about the outdoors and about the small towns and farmlands that compliment this natural landscape. Degradation of rivers and streams, erosion on mountain slopes, a proliferation of Anywhere-USA sprawl in our commercial corridors undermine not only quality of life for all citizens but also the foundations of our regional economy. Planning for environmentally responsible growth is an economic development strategy. The “Tool Box” is a major step in that planning process.

Q: How do you keep this from being just another fancy plan that went nowhere?

A: By the time the “Tool Box” is published in print and on-line in the summer of 2008, planning for the Mountain Landscapes Initiative and the “Tool Box” pilot will have been going on for more than a year. From the beginning, The Community Foundation and the Southwestern Commission realized that for this project to succeed it needed the broadest possible support from the people and the institutions most likely to carry ideas forward. So MLI and “Tool Box” planning was organized to get buy-in up-front, as opposed to waiting to market a product after the fact. Everybody got a seat at the planning table: Representatives from regional universities, foundations, federal and state agencies, environmental groups, elected officials, and developers and Realtors. And at every opportunity, citizen concerns were researched and recorded. As a result, we’re likely to take into our May charrette a powerful coalition of champions for the process and come out with a “sales force” for implementation. One clue that the early buy-in strategy is working is the reception for the MLI and the “Tool Box” pilot in regional media. Go here to read the reports and editorial endorsements.