Series of Guidebooks for Cattaraugus County

Cattaraugus County has published a series of guidebooks called the Smart Development for Quality Communities Series. This series is designed especially for Cattaraugus County and its 47 municipalities. These guidebooks are advisory only, and show us how to create a new and better future in a developer-friendly and environmentally safe manner.

• Elements of a Countywide Vision - A Guidebook Published for Cattaraugus County's Smart Development for Quality Communities Series - Volume 1
• A Design Guidebook for Towns and Villages in Cattaraugus County - A Guidebook Published for Cattaraugus County's Smart Development for Quality Communities Series - Volume 2 
• Saving Our Villages - A Guidebook Published for Cattaraugus County's Smart Development for Quality Communities Series - Volume 3 
• A New Vision for Outdoor Recreation Trails In Cattaraugus County, New York - A Guidebook Published for Cattaraugus County's Smart Development for Quality Communities Series - Volume 4 
• Summary & Analysis of Similar Initiatives for Park-Community Economic Development - A Guidebook Published for Cattaraugus County's Smart Development for Quality Communities Series - Volume 5 
• Economic & Market Analysis for Communities in the Perimeter of Allegany State Park - A Guidebook Published for Cattaraugus County's Smart Development for Quality Communities Series - Volume 6  
• Economic Development Strategy - Linkages Between Allegany State Park & Nearby Communities - A Guidebook Published for Cattaraugus County's Smart Development for Quality Communities Series - Volume 7 
• Growing the Equestrian Economy in Cattaraugus County, New York - A Guidebook Published for Cattaraugus County's Smart Development for Quality Communities Series - Volume 8 

Each guidebook in this series offers new pathways into the future, presenting new knowledge for stakeholders in Cattaraugus County, by promoting our villages, cities and other areas that already have infrastructure, and by protecting our greenways and rural open spaces. These guidebooks are growth-inducing, community friendly, and environmentally safe.

How To Use These Guidebooks

These guidebooks can be used for:

• Preparing an updated, countywide Comprehensive Plan for the 21st Century, which includes economic development and recreation trails (the grassroots should have a central role in this ongoing planning process).
• Supporting our villages and city downtowns, by curtailing urban sprawl, preventing strip development, and by protecting farmland, community character, and rural atmosphere.
• Reviewing proposals for new economic development in Cattaraugus County, thereby creating new hope for a better future among young people.
• Promoting Cattaraugus County in the region's economy, by supporting quality growth related to the proposed north-south Route 219 Freeway (Springville to Salamanca), and to the existing east-west Interstate 86 (I-86).
• Preserving open space by clustering new housing near villages, by designing conservation housing subdivisions as an alternative to scattered site housing sprawl, and by developing recreation trails that link housing to village downtowns and other attractions.
• Providing technical assistance to municipal and private sector decision-makers, in keeping with the county's proposed policy for creating "a balance" between growth and protecting our watersheds and ecosystems.
• Educating newcomers and investors who are interested in Cattaraugus County.
• Obtaining state and federal grants and other funding sources, for public-private, county and municipal projects, such as trails as just one example.

Community Revitalization Fund

Municipalities in Cattaraugus County can apply for up to $5,000 in grant funds to help improve the beauty of your community's center with the Community Revitalization Fund.

Questions

For more information, please contact the Cattaraugus County Planning Department.