CHATHAM–The village Comprehensive Plan Committee will hold a community workshop next month to discuss changes to the plan, which was originally completed in 1995. Before that November 9 workshop there will be two meetings for different stakeholder groups in the village.
On October 29, a group of “art stakeholders” gathered to discuss issues for arts groups in the village. Organizer Melissa Sarris said the group discussed “how things are working for arts organizations in the community; what may have to improve and promote community interest and access to the arts.”
On Friday, November 1, Norman Mintz will lead a discussion with businesspeople and civic groups focusing on the local economy and ways it might be reenergized. That meeting is from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Cady Hall, 13 Main Street. Mr. Mintz is an internationally recognized downtown revitalization expert and a part-time Columbia County resident, according to committee Chair Lael Locke.
November 9, a Saturday, is a Community Workshop at the Mary E. Dardess Elementary School at the Chatham school campus off Woodbridge Avenue. Registration for the workshop starts at 9 a.m. From 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. there will be full- and small-group discussions of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the village.
The purpose of these activities, especially the November 9 sessions, is to get thoughts from the community on ways to update the 1995 plan, Ms. Locke wrote in an email to The Columbia Paper. She said that have been many changes over the years: green technology, more focus on aging in place–either at home or somewhere in the community “and how zoning codes can help or hurt that.”
She also said that once the committee updates the current plan, the village will need to address the zoning codes so that the codes match what people would like to see.
Information about the committee and the plan is on the new village website, http://villageofchatham.com.
