A new path
forward
What is the Comprehensive Plan?
The Town of Chautauqua and Village of Mayville are working together on a Comprehensive Plan — our action plan for the next decade! We want this plan to reflect what is important to you, your family, and our community. Our Comprehensive Plan will inform decisions on community facilities, housing and business development, infrastructure, and much more!
About the Plan
A Comprehensive Plan is a community's officially adopted playbook for prosperity, drawing upon engagement with residents and stakeholders to establish a collective vision, priorities and action steps for the long range. This process allows a community to discover and articulate shared core values. It will explore questions such as:
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What kind of places are the Town of Chautauqua and Village of Mayville now? What kind of places should they be?
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What makes our community a special place to live, visit and do business?
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What is important about our local history, natural assets and culture?
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What are the most important problems we can work together to solve?
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What's the best-case scenario for our future, and how can we make it a reality?
This project has two main phases that will play out over 18 months. We are currently in Phase I, Listening to the Community. The project Steering Committee and consultant team are working to collect input in a variety of ways, including the Community Questionnaire, interviews, pop-up activities, public events and other methods. This will inform the key issues around which the plan is built: This plan will address what people tell us matters most.
In Phase II, Drilling Down for Solutions, we'll research and develop detailed deep-dive strategies that address each key issue. The goal is to create a process and capacity for sustained progress. We will also create a plan workbook that will guide future decision-making by the Town and Village.
Committee Members
Scott Cummings and Tom Carlson - Town Board Members
Rick Syper and Dan Roush - Village Board Members
Jessica Emhardt - Town Office
Sorena Gilkinson - Chamber of Commerce
Mary Schiller – Village/Chairperson Village Zoning Board of Appeals
Mark Smith – Village/Chairperson Village Planning Board
Julie Lescynski – Town Resident
Russell Boehner – Town/Chautauqua Institution Property Owner Association
Sharon Smead – Village Resident
Tim Hull – Town Resident/Town Justice
Zach Stahlsmith – Chautauqua Lake Central School Board
Pat Appelbe - Town Resident
Project Timeline
Summer 2024
Phase 1 of the Implementable Comprehensive Plan is all about starting conversations and hearing what matters most. The project team promoted the plan at pop-up events, sat down for stakeholder interviews, and launched a quick survey to build on the insights from 2022. With more than two dozen engagement events in the books, we've gathered fresh ideas and began to uncover what the Key Issues might cover.
Fall 2024
The Steering Committee and consultant team are reviewing the public and stakeholder input to craft the plan's Key Issues. These Key Issues are a select group of focus areas where the plan will dig deeper to understand the context and develop practical, actionable strategies. Once the Key Issues and visions started to take shape, the project team hosted a public event to check in and make sure we're on the right track.
Spring and Summer 2025
Phase 2 is where the plan really comes together, focusing on developing recommendations and building the momentum needed for implementation. The Steering Committee has broken into sub-committees to explore each Key Issue, evaluating opportunities, barriers, and feasibility. The plan will detail each Key Issue, grounded in the insights from Phase 1’s public engagement. The public will have an opportunity to review the recommendations at a final event and provide feedback on the draft plan at a public hearing, after which Borough Council may proceed with adoption.
