Below you'll find a collection of regional media stories, editorials and letters to the editor about the initiative's efforts.
About 80 people attend the Cherokee County community meeting, reports the Cherokee Scout, which quoted Outreach Coordinator Gabe Cumming as saying, "
We want to design a toolbox guided by local values, concerns and visions. We want to hear from you how you'd like growth and development to happen."
The Mountain Xpress reports on upcoming community meetings, quoting Ben Brown, communications consultant for the initiative, who said
the far-western counties have few rules regarding growth and development, little enforcement and are being “overwhelmed” by developers. “They don't have a planning infrastructure to deal with this. Their question is, ‘Where do we start?'”
The Smoky Mountain Times reports on April 10 that the Swain County community meeting will offer residents a chance to have input into the Mountain Landscapes Initiative.
The Franklin Press reports in April about the first of eight community meetings to be held across Western North Carolina in preparation for the May charrette, writing that nearly 75 people participated during the day's drop-in session and evening gathering to discuss regional growth issues.
The Asheville Citizen-Times reports, in a story on April 3 that is also about the series of community meetings leading to the charrette, that "The effort marks the first time people in a rural, multicounty area in WNC have agreed to talk seriously about managing growth."
A Cherokee Scout article on March 4 quotes Cherokee County Commission Chairman David Sumpter, who said of the Mountain Landscapes Initiative toolbox, "I find this to be a potentially great asset to all the counties."
The Franklin Press writes that upcoming dates for preliminary community meetings have been set.
Asheville Citizen-Times reporter Jon Ostendorff talks with WCQS about his report on the Mountain Landscapes Initiative. Listen here.
The Cashiers Chronicle, in a Feb. 20 story, quotes Southwestern Commission Assistant Director and Mountain Landscapes Project Manager Vicki Greene, who says, "There's been some good development and bad development. We're focusing on future development."
The Smoky Mountain News, in a Feb. 20 story, quotes communications consultant Ben Brown, who says, "We're trying to create a community conversation where people feel like it's possible to realize a future for the place that they live."
The Asheville Citizen-Times endorses the Mountain Landscapes Initiative in a Feb. 12 editorial, writing, "We comment the Community Foundation for taking a proactive role in addressing the most critical and perhaps the most contentious problem local governments in WNC currently face. Here's hoping the charette is a tremendous success."
The Asheville Citizen-Times quotes, in a Sunday, front-page story on Feb. 10, Franklin resident Lewis Penland who says, "We need to first of all sit down and agree that we need to do something. We can't say we are going to totally shut growth off and not do anything or say we are going to let it run free like we are doing now."
The Macon County News & Shopping Guide writes, in a Jan. 24 story, quotes Bill Gibson, executive director of the Southwestern Commission, who says, "There could not be a better time for this initiative."
The Franklin Press writes, in a Jan. 23 editorial, "The MLI puts us on a fast track to coming to grip with some of the most emotional, complicated and important issues of our time."
In a recent Crossroads Chronicle letter to the editor, Foundation board member Dave Dimling writes, "The Cashiers Community Fund is planning to be active in the process."
The Franklin Press writes, in a Jan. 18 story, quotes Foundation President Pat Smith, who says, "Our citizens and our policy makers need help in accommodating growth that enhances economic vitality and provides a secure future for our citizens, while also protecting our environment and the natural beauty that is our hallmark and so essential to our prosperity and quality of life."
