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Alliance
Guiding Principles Blueprint Process Blueprint Points: 1. Aquatic and Terrestrial Invasive Species 2. Acid Rain 3. Global Climate Change 4. Main Street Revitalization 5. Water, Sewer and Storm-water Infrastructure 6. Marketing and Entrepreneurial Development 7. High-Speed Telecommunications 8. Workforce/Community Housing 9. Transportation Infrastructure 10. Energy 11. Effective Governance and Policy Framework 12. Land Use Change 13. Property Taxes 14. Primary Healthcare Crisis Appendix Procedures and Schedule Founding Sponsors Alliance Core Team July 2007 Forum Participant List |
BLUEPRINT FOR THE BLUE LINETHE
COMMON GROUND ALLIANCE
FEBRUARY 2008 INTRODUCTION ALLIANCE GUIDING PRINCIPLES The Common Ground Alliance is a forum for public-private collaboration. State and local governments, nonprofit organizations, stakeholders, and residents of the Park participate as equals. We work to recognize the common good of the communities, residents, and resources of the Adirondack Park, not to further specific organizational, institutional, or individual agendas. The six-million acre Adirondack Park is comprised of both public and private lands and contains the largest protected area in the continental United States. The park is ecologically significant in that it constitutes one of the least fragmented temperate forest landscapes remaining anywhere in the world. It also contains historic resources, charming hamlets and villages, a rich cultural history, and access to recreational resources, small businesses and various commercial enterprises. The Park is home for more than 130,000 full-time residents and is visited annually by 8 million people. The people of New York State value the Adirondacks as a cherished resource. There are Constitutional protections of the public lands of the Forest Preserve, and the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) regulates land use planning for private lands. While local communities are the stewards of this unique Park, the Alliance believes that they must also prosper in order to continue to provide the environmental benefits that are shared by all New Yorkers. Community leaders believe there must be a solid commitment by New York’s leaders to address the complex challenges of sustaining economic development and the quality of life in the Adirondack Park. The Adirondack Park has 103 towns and villages that differ in size, geography, character and demographics. Some Park communities are recognized internationally, while others are struggling for economic survival. Many communities lack the financial resources and technical expertise to respond to the loss of their Main Streets, the out-migration of their youth, the lack of business development and markets, and their inadequate and aging infrastructure, inclusive of water, sewer, telecommunications and roadways. Rising property values, coupled with increasingly high property taxation and a proliferation of second home development, have made it increasingly hard for local residents to live in the region resulting in a crisis in affordable housing. A lack of local land use plans and zoning in some communities can significantly contribute to their being unprepared for potential development. The region faces a number of environmental problems including loss of critical habitat due to factors such as climate change, land use change, and invasive species. Other threats include the degradation of water and air quality due to acid rain and mercury pollution that threatens human and ecological health. A number of initiatives by the scientific community and environmental groups exist to understand and respond to these threats. Increasingly, community members and municipal leaders agree that these environmental threats can undermine the natural resources and infrastructure that contribute both to community quality of life and economic sustainability. page 2 |
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