Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 10, 1994 TAG: 9404120006
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By WAYNE STRICKLAND
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Recently, regionalism has become confused with the prospect of consolidation. Regionalism is not consolidation. Regionalism is a process wherein local governments are willing to cooperate - to look beyond their boundaries for the benefit of their citizens. Regionalism calls on local-government leaders and citizens to examine carefully how resources can be protected, how public funds can be saved and how their community's quality of life can be enhanced by working with neighbors in surrounding counties, cities and towns. A few examples in our own back yard:
Preservation of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Preservation of this national treasure should be viewed in the context of a larger, regional agenda. If visitors to the parkway have a negative experience in one community, will not that affect the tourism potential of a larger portion of the parkway, possibly discouraging visitors and thus reducing tourism revenues?
This and similar concerns have brought together 12 regional planning agencies, the Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia Tech, North Carolina State University, tourism agencies and various other organizations to investigate alternative mechanisms for conserving the integrity of the parkway.
Stormwater management.
Water flowing through rivers and their tributaries knows no jurisdictional boundaries. If we fail to realize that development upstream has a definite impact on flooding downstream, and we do not work cooperatively to mitigate such impacts, are we not accepting the fact that a flood greater than the flood of 1985 is on the horizon?
Communities that work together on a long-range stormwater-management program can save money for the taxpayers in the region, as well as the nation, since the federal government often must assist communities devastated by flooding. Communities in the Roanoke Valley have recently agreed to consider a comprehensive, regional stormwater-management program.
Economic development.
Formation of new businesses and expansion of existing businesses benefit a region as well as a single locality. A plant may be 50 miles from the nearest urban center, yet economic interaction will occur simply because the urban center can offer a larger number of specialty goods of interest to the business and its employees.
One component of a comprehensive economic-development program, tourism, certainly has regional implications. Tourists are looking for more than just theme parks. They often look for true historical experiences to be found in communities that possess, or can develop, their historic resources.
Unfortunately, visitors may not be willing to travel an extra 60 or 70 miles to a small community to see a single historic site. They may, however, be willing to visit a rural or more remote region of the state where local communities offer a number of sites or events clustered under a central theme.
Communities that work cooperatively can pool their limited marketing resources to advertise their attractions, and offer visitors a number of sites and events to visit while in the area. Clustering historic attractions is the focus of the Appalachian Railroad Heritage Partnership, a consortium of tourism agencies, historic preservationists, local governments, chambers of commerce and other interested groups for marketing the important railway heritage of Western Virginia and southern West Virginia.
Regional emergency-services planning.
Each county and city in Virginia is required to have a local emergency-services plan. However, disasters such as major floods, tornadoes and hurricanes respect no jurisdiction's boundaries.
A regional emergency-services plan would benefit both the region affected by a disaster and the commonwealth. It would encourage coordination of local emergency-service operations and enhance cooperation during a time of disaster. Additionally, this regional approach could support the Federal Emergency Management Administration's need to obtain timely data on both the total population affected by the disaster and special populations (the elderly, the disabled, etc.) who may require special assistance.
The need for regional emergency-services planning was cited in a recent subcommitteee report for the General Assembly: "As was demonstrated in Hurricane Andrew, there is a significant need to broaden the scope of local planning efforts to include and address regional and interregional considerations in disaster planning. Catastrophic disasters, more than any other level of disaster, demand regional and interregional approaches to response and recovery."
Clearly, regionalism isn't just another word for consolidation. Regionalism means cooperation, coordination and communication on issues that transcend jurisdictional boundaries.
Groups such as the National League of Cities have noted that regionalism will be "the way of doing business" in the 21st century. This will require a willingness to change, to accept the notion that our traditional way of doing business may not be working effectively. By working cooperatively, communities in Western Virginia have the opportunity to keep our cities from declining, to address infrastructure and service-delivery problems in our burgeoning suburban communities, and to support economic growth in our rural areas.
An impressive number of organizations in this region are devoted to a "regional approach." With all the regional initiatives underway, why aren't there more regional programs being pursued?
It is too easy to blame it simply on the lack of leadership on the part of local governments or businesses. We must all seek ways of working cooperatively on projects that encourage the sharing of limited resources. We must also look at this region as possessing a community of interest very much as we perceive a community of interest within our on individual localities. Citizens of the region must become active regional advocates for addressing common concerns.
Regionalism is not going to just happen; it must be nurtured by everyone in the region.
Wayne Strickland of Roanoke is executive director of the Fifth Planning District Commission.
by CNB