 Communities can’t take credit for the stunning mountain scenery that surrounds western North Carolina. But communities can take credit for responsibly managing development to preserve the inspiring landscapes and cherished lifestyles that help define our region.
A new vehicle for smart growth is the Mountain Landscapes Initiative (MLI), a project of The Community Foundation that assists localities with land use planning. MLI was launched after Foundation research, conducted by the UNC School of Government, revealed that a top need among local communities is guidance with planning development.
The Foundation and the Southwestern Commission, a Council of Governments organization for North Carolina’s seven westernmost counties, partnered to start the MLI Toolbox project. The Toolbox, offers best practices and guidelines to create community-determined standards for sustainable growth with the aim of vibrant, economically viable communities. The Lawrence Group coordinated the charrette process and developed the Toolbox.
 An important part of the process is the Next Steps Fund, a Foundation grant program that awards grants up to $10,000 to nonprofits and governments in the seven-county region to projects that reflect MLI goals.
MLI and the Toolbox are helping communities build dreams of sound growth. Next Steps Fund grantees have varied plans to achieve their goals of creating more sustainable communities through responsible development including the following recent grantees:
- The town of Waynesville used its grant to support the work of a consultant and a citizen’s committee in revising the ordinance that guides development in town. The modified ordinance will affect environmental, landscaping and related issues.
- The Western North Carolina Alliance implemented a project to train citizens in the seven-county region to advocate for managed growth by working with a land use planner. One goal was to devise a strategy for each county to move toward progressive land use planning with the help of the Toolbox. Another goal was to develop training materials to encourage advocacy of managed growth.
- In Macon County, the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee worked with county officials and others to foster responsible growth along the Little Tennessee River and in an historic district in northern Macon. The project has blended historic preservation, promotion of local agriculture and affordable housing as part of a comprehensive plan for economic development and land use.
- In Jackson County, the Cashiers Village Council hired a planner to manage completion of a pedestrian pathway system in town. The pathway network is designed to connect the town’s commercial hub and other centers of activity in Cashiers.
It’s not just communities that have recognized the Toolbox’s usefulness. The Toolbox was selected for the 2009 Marvin Collins Planning Award in the regional comprehensive plan category by the American Planning Association’s North Carolina chapter.
Toolbox Advisory Committee
As communities take credit for sustainable land-use planning, they give credit to the leaders who spearheaded the MLI and efforts to preserve western North Carolina’s important cultural and natural assets. The members of the Toolbox Advisory Committee were:
- Fred Alexander, Macon County, Duke Energy
- Joe Cline, Jackson County, Tuckaseigee Water & Sewer Authority
- Gene Farley, Graham County, insurance industry
- Bill Forsyth, Cherokee County, North Carolina Economic Development Board
- Harry Jarrett, Clay County Commissioner
- Rose Johnson, Haywood County, president of Haywood Community College
- Adelaide Key, The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina
- Mike McKinney, Haywood County, banking industry
- Calvin Murphy, Qualla Boundary, environmental consultant
- Lewis Penland, Macon County Planning Board and developer
- William Shelton, Jackson County Commissioner and farmer
- Bob Wagner, The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina
- Kate Welch, Swain County, Bryson City Town Board
Top Ten Questions
After five months of interviews and Community Forums, the most frequently mentioned hopes and concerns of citizens in the seven westernmost counties of North Carolina fall under ten questions.
These questions shaped the meeting topics for the 2008 charrette and are directly addressed in the contents of “Toolbox” guidelines for responsible planning and development in the mountains.
- How can mountainside and ridgetop development be done responsibly, safely, and in a visually sensitive way?
- How can new development respect the character of local landscapes?
- How can water quality be protected?
- How can the region’s natural beauty and open space be protected?
- How can quality jobs be created and sustained?
- How can quality, affordable housing be created?
- How can the region’s infrastructure keep up with the rate of growth?
- How can farmland and local markets for food be protected and enhanced?
- How can natural resources be protected?
- How can growing communities remain respectful of local cultural heritage?
Meet our Funders
To realize the $400,000-plus budget for the Mountain Landscapes Initiative “Toolbox” pilot, organizers counted on funding support across a broad spectrum. In the government category, six of the seven counties in Region A, the western part of the state served by the Southwestern Commission, contributed. And there was generous support from the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center and the Appalachian Regional Commission, quasi-governmental entities that focus on regional economic development concerns.
Banks, real estate developers, utilities, and other businesses operating in the Region A counties stepped forward with help. And prominent non-profit foundations at the local, regional, and state level were major participants and supporters. In this latter category, three foundations provided more than half the total budget, signaling their confidence that the “Toolbox” effort fit with their overall goals of supporting innovative projects that enjoy widespread public involvement and promise significant benefits to citizens in the region. Those foundations are:
- The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina
It adopted the Mountain Landscapes Initiative as a long-range program in 2007 and partnered with the Southwestern Commission council of governments in Region A to launch the “Toolbox” pilot. The Community Foundation provided $100,000 in seed money to get the “Toolbox” project underway.
- The Cherokee Preservation Foundation
Founded in 2000 to improve the quality of life of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and to strengthen the Western North Carolina region, it has invested more than $30 million in grants to organizations and programs in the region. The Cherokee Preservation Foundation provided $75,000 to the "Toolbox" effort an additional $50,000 to establish the Next Steps Fund.
- The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation
A resource for ambitious community efforts around North Carolina since its founding in 1936, Z. Smith Reynolds supports projects committed to achieving results through broad and diverse citizen engagement. It contributed $50,000 to help launch the Next Steps Fund.
A listing of our funders:
Appalachian Regional Commission
Mr. John Bell and Ms. Judy Whisnant
Blue Ridge Electric EMC
Blue Ridge National Heritage Area
Blue Ridge Estates
Cashiers Historical Society
Cashiers Village, LLC
Cherokee County
Cherokee Preservation Foundation
Clay County
The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina
Cowee Community Development Center
Duke Energy
Harris Development Group, LLC
Haywood County
Ms. Sara P. Hill
Jackson County
Landmark Realty Group, LLC
Land Trust for the Little Tennessee
Macon County
McGill Associates
Murphy Power Board
North Carolina Rural Center
Mr. and Mrs. Peter A. Paul
Phillips and Jordan
Southwestern Commission
Swain County
United Community Bank
Mr. Ted Van Dyne
The Village Conservancy, Inc.
Z. Smith Reynolds
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What’s this all about?
A: The Mountain Landscapes Initiative “Toolbox” pilot is a three-phase project in the seven westernmost counties of North Carolina to create guidelines for responsible growth.
Q: What will be in this “Tool Box”?
A: The “Toolbox” includes best practices for responsible planning and development in the mountain region of North Carolina. Topics include: 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 “Toolbox” was 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 “Toolbox” 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 came 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 to gauge demand for growth guidelines. The first phase of the “Toolbox” effort began with citizen interviews that were edited into a documentary that was the focus of community meetings in the seven far western counties and the Qualla Boundary. Input from citizens at those community meetings shaped the agenda for a public workshop at Western Carolina University. At that workshop – called a “charrette” – a consulting team of experts drafted “Toolbox” contents based on what they learned from all the research and citizen input.
Q: What’s a “charrette”?
A: 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 everyone hashes out their concerns, facilitated by a team of 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. It’s a way to effectively engage citizens in planning for a community’s future.
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 “Toolbox” can only be as good as the questions citizens and their leaders ask.
Q: Does this “Toolbox” mean new regulations?
A: The “Toolbox” does not have the force of law. It is 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 offers 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 “Toolbox” 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 “Toolbox” is a major step in that planning process.
Q: How do you keep this from being just another fancy plan that went nowhere?
A: 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 “Toolbox” 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 took into our charrette a powerful coalition of champions for the process and come out with a “sales force” for implementation.
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