Visioning

The Upper Delaware River Corridor

‘Extra Sensory Planning’

By JENNIFER CANFIELD

To embrace a vision for the future of the Upper Delaware, a region of four counties stretching from Hancock to Port Jervis, one really needs to answer some tough questions. Questions like: Whose vision would it be? What are the priorities? Can one person or entity have more than one vision? Would all four counties necessarily have to share the same vision? Can any one vision encompass everyone’s cause and concern? Who stands to lose the most? Who stands to gain? And how do you facilitate a vision?

The concept of municipal planning began in Europe hundreds of years ago. Arriving settlers, who formed new villages and towns, brought it with them. Areas were chosen for a singular purpose. Many people were farmers, loggers, and industrial entrepreneurs. They followed the resources. It was a simple formula to organize the development of a municipality. The village was the hub of activity. Its vitality depended upon the success of whatever occupations existed in the surrounding countryside.

Life is much more sophisticated and complicated today. Transportation has evolved from horse and buggy to mass transit on the ground and in the air. Education has gone from one-room schools to consolidated behemoths, to on-line degrees and beyond. The difficult decisions we now face are caused by technology, as well as a new diversity of purpose. Sophisticated methods of communication and travel afford more people the ability to turn to this region for new habitat, recreation, retirement, and, if roads and transportation will allow, for income by way of development. Uh, oh! What do we do about resources? How do we protect them from over development?

To look at where we’re going, we have to stop and think about where we’ve been. Local communities supported a society that included grange halls, one-room schools, church suppers, penny socials, 4-H, barn raisings and barn dances. They provided emergency services as volunteers, a tradition which continues today.

The seasons directed the cycles of life. Agriculture, timbering and quarrying thrived. Resources were not compromised by pollution. Demands on roads were minimal to moderate. And, those who chose to move here from elsewhere became contributing members of the community. 

But things are different now. The winds of change bring many who want the conveniences they had in places they left. They bring some who want to be here but don’t want others to be here too. They bring those who speak out against local enterprise but bring in major change by promoting development. They bring people here because our resources include fresh water, open space, lower taxes, lower crime rates, natural beauty and opportunity.

Extra Sensory Planning or ESP, instinct plus capability, is what it will take to create a vision that preserves the resources.

For this to happen, we need informed leaders in local government. Those same leaders must appoint planning commission members from all walks of life, who are acquainted with the processes necessary to address concerns knowledgeably and with equanimity. The bad news is: this takes time. The good news is: we have the tools necessary to implement this. The hardest task for these officials will be to make tough decisions. That includes identifying the ways of life we want to keep, the resources we find most precious, while still being fair to as many as possible. One more question: is this extra sensory planning or perception? If you care about the answers, get involved.

[Jennifer Canfield is a Damascus Township Realtor and member of the Damascus Planning Commission.

This bi-weekly feature is part of a visioning initiate to develop and encourage smart growth in the Upper Delaware River corridor. If you are interested in contributing to this column, email editor@riverreporter.com or call 845/252-7414.]