1. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process Counties and Towns of Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock Bruce Dotson Tanya Denckla Institute for Environmental Negotiation University of Virginia

2. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process What is a vision? The result of citizens putting their ideas together Identifying their communities’… –Strengths and resources –Issues and challenges –Possible actions and initiatives Resulting in a written statement of values, aspirations and intentions

3. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process Why a “regional” vision? Issues affecting one jurisdiction may affect others A neighboring jurisdiction may have good ideas Working together, problems can sometimes be addressed more effectively Grant funds available to the region can be spent to benefit the overall area

4. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process How is a vision used? A means to link people of similar interests in different localities A guide for making decisions of regional importance Basis for communicating with people outside the region Way to measure progress

5. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process What has led up to today’s meeting? In February meetings were held in each of the five counties (Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock) Over 180 participated and expressed their views Summaries of discussions about the strengths, issues and future possibilities from each county meeting have been prepared and distributed

6. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process What is the agenda today ? Share what was learned from the five county meetings Identify and discuss the top items, for example –Planning/zoning –Schools, youth, recreation –Economy/jobs/tourism –Natural resources/environment –And others … Develop ideas for action

7. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process What happens after today? A final meeting will be held on May 19 at this same location (Culpeper Middle School) –Review a draft regional vision statement –Set priorities for follow-up action

8. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process Who participated in the February meetings? Over 180 citizens and officials attended, participated in discussions and completed questionnaires By location, attendance was… Culpeper 27Fauquier 53Madison 14 Orange 45Rappahannock 42Total 181 Participants included long term as well as recent residents More than 20 years 52% 11-20 years 13% 10 or fewer 35%

9. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process What was learned from the meetings and questionnaires? Participants were asked.. –What they value most in the region –What is important in determining quality of life –How they rate quality of life in the region –How quality of life has changed during the past 10 years

10. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process Things most valued about the Rappahannock-Rapidan region? The most frequently mentioned features are… –Rural character –Scenic beauty –Community spirit/friendliness –Historic resources –Open space –Location –Environmental quality More than a dozen other factors were also mentioned

11. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process What most determines a community’s quality of life? This question provides another way of looking at what is important to participants Sense of community Schools/youth services Rural character Natural resources/environmental quality Scenic and natural beauty Open space Employment opportunities Safety

12. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process How is the quality of life in the Rappahannock-Rapidan region today? On a 1 to 10 scale ( 10 is tops)… »1010% »924% »839% »718% »6 and below 9% Quality of life today is generally quite good (8 most frequent) but… –There is also room to improve (more 9 or 10 ratings, fewer 7 or less ratings)

13. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process How has quality of life in the Rappahannock-Rapidan region changed? Opinion is somewhat divided –Gotten better29% –Stayed the same49% –Gotten worse23% –For those who see it as “declining”, do they believe something needs to be done to improve quality of life? –For those who see it as “the same”, do they feel the need to do something to get the ball rolling? –For those seeing improvement, are they satisfied in every regard?

14. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process What else was learned from the February meetings? Participants were also asked about… –Their greatest concerns about the region –Their priorities for attention by leaders in the region –The issues that counties and towns making up the region should work on together

15. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process What are the greatest concerns for this region? One issue stood out among all others in all five counties –Growth, land use and development Other frequently mentioned issues include… Tax base/costs and revenues Schools and youth services Transportation Natural resources and environmental quality Employment opportunities Traffic Impact of neighboring counties Affordable housing and eighteen other items

16. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process What should be the priorities for leaders in the region? The list is almost identical to the list of concerns Growth, land use and development Schools and youth services Tax base/costs and revenues Transportation Economic development Historic preservation Open space Natural resources and environmental quality Viability of agriculture and forestry Infrastructure and utilities and a dozen other items

17. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process What issues should the counties and towns work on together? The list is again similar Growth, land use and development Transportation Tourism Natural resources and environmental quality Economic development Water resources Schools and youth services State control over counties/towns Infrastructure and utilities and sixteen other items

18. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process Do the counties vary on many of these questions? Growth is the big issue no matter what the county’s actual amount of gain over the past decade –Culpeper and Fauquier counties each added over 6,000 new residents –Orange County added over 4,000 –Madison and Rappahannock counties added fewer than 600 new residents each Each county seems to be looking for better balance, more control and maintenance/improvement of quality of life

19. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process How do we use this information today? Divide into groups to work on these key themes Planning/zoning Schools, youth services, recreation Transportation Economy/jobs/tourism Housing Natural resources/environment Infrastructure/utilities Preservation (open space, historic) Agriculture/forestry Regional voice in Richmond/DC

20. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process What is the schedule today? Go to assigned rooms with facilitators Discuss the topic/issue you have chosen Return to main area by 10:45am Hear report back of one or two highlights

21. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process What happens at the next regional meeting? A final meeting will be held on May 19 at this same location (Culpeper Middle School) –Review a draft regional vision statement reflecting today’s discussions and conclusions –Set priorities for follow-up action

22. Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Visioning Process Thank You! Thank You for attending today, we hope to see you back on May 19 for the final decisions Thanks to our facilitators –Piedmont Dispute Resolution Center (PDRC) –The Mediation Center at FOCUS (Charlottesville) –UVA graduate students in Prof. Frank Duke’s class