UPCOMING: - Tuesday, December 14 BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 2/7:30pm Courthouse ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rural Nelson Minutes Wednesday, Dec. 1st, 2004 Rural Nelson Office Next Meeting: Wednesday, Feb. 2nd, 2005 Conny welcomed everyone when he opened the meeting at 7:30 p.m., and we all introduced ourselves. Conny then introduced a video, "Gateway Communities: Keys to Success" made by Ed McMahon, Vice-President of the Conservation Fund. His program features concepts and issues that influence gateway communities, including growth, tourism, transportation and how to use the community's assets to preserve local character and the environment. McMahon begins by pointing out that if you are for conservation you are not necessarily against growth. The issue is that there can be development that is good for business, good for conservation and good for tourism. The less the amount of pavement in a development the less pollution that results from it, and the safer it is for children. If all trees are cut down in developing a sub-division, values go down, summer heat is felt to a greater extent and utility bills go up. A community should be aware that its image is formed, for visitors, by what they see at the entrance to the town. Scenic views are an economic asset because they attract people, who bring dollars with them to spend. The keys to successful communities: First they must have a vision for the future, which includes good planning. Second, those visions begin when a community takes the time to inventory its assets, and then plan its future around those assets. The community needs to consider quality of life, aesthetics and economics. The process begins by seeking the opinions of citizens in order to form a consensus. McMahon used Chattanooga, TN as an example. It has turned itself into an international model for sustainable urban life by having a vision for its own future. Others are Jackson Hole, WY, Estes, CO and Lowell, MA, which renovated its riverside abandoned factories and has become a tourist destination for families and those interested in history. The third key to success is education, as well as finding economic incentives and private initiatives to help the process along. Education reduces the need for regulation and encourages the development of private initiatives and public/private partnerships. In Jackson Hole, the Park Service has worked along with private landowners to build conservation easements to protect the elk that winter in the valley from the encroachment of developments. Cherokee, NC is a gateway to the Great Smokies National Park. In the old days it got a reputation as a ticky-tacky town with teepees and totem poles used as advertising gimmicks. In fact, the Cherokee tribe did not use teepees. Today, the town has worked to emphasize the real life of Cherokee Indians, not the stereotype of the American Indian. In Ashville, NC historic preservation has been given an important place in establishing the town's character. It is not just the public buildings but also the support facilities, such as restaurants and motels that make up an attractive package for tourists. Some towns pass design guidelines for tourism support facilities. We are in danger of every town looking the same, with each franchise looking exactly like the one in the town before. McMahon showed examples of McDonald's hamburger franchises that are in old, historic buildings, such as the one in Freeport, ME. Sameness is not a plus in the built environment - uniqueness sells. It's not easy, but communities CAN insist on getting buildings that fit in with their architecture. Education is of paramount importance, because people won't preserve what they don't understand. Gettysburg, PA is the site of the famous battlefield park, but years ago the town found that tourists were spending no time in the town itself. They discovered that this was because the town was doing a lousy job of making it clear that the town had an historic role in the battle. Once the town did a better job of illustrating this, they found that tourism in Gettysburg increased enormously. Attention to aesthetics is also a moneymaker for a community. The Scenic Byways Program is very important in helping to make the journey as much fun as the destination. Figuring out carrying capacity is important - for example, how many cars, tourists, SUV's, etc. can a town deal with? All tourists are not created equal. Family tourism is the most desirable type. Families form the backbone of sustainable tourism (as opposed to mass marketing tourism) since they maximize the benefits and minimize the burden to the community. Respectfully submitted, Mary Buford Hitz, Secretary ------------------------------------------------------------------------- OF INTEREST: - Sunday, December 12 OPEN HOUSE AT OAKLAND 2:00-4:00pm sponsored by the Nelson County Historical Society and Oakland-The Nelson County Museum of History. Park at Nelson United Methodist Church and shuttle to Oakland. For more information, call Woody Greenberg at 263.5940 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kim T. Cash Field Officer Rural Nelson, Inc. P. O. Box 401 (622 Front Street) Lovingston, VA 22949 434.263.5000 Email: info@ruralnelson.org www.ruralnelson.org