Chautauqua County Planning & Development outlines 2025 benchmarks: housing, brownfields, broadband, trails and lake work

Chautauqua County Deputy County Executive for Economic Development Mark Geiss and staff presented the Department of Planning and Development's 2024 accomplishments and top benchmarks for 2025 at the committee meeting on Feb. 19.

Geiss outlined the department's roles—planning, zoning assistance, administering agricultural-district processes, managing the 2% and 3% occupancy-tax programs and watershed work—and said recent staff stability has strengthened the county's capacity to pursue grants and implement projects. He turned the presentation over to division leads for planning, economic development and watershed programs.

Planning division coordinator Rebecca Wurster described eight separate local waterfront revitalization plans (Northern Chautauqua LWRP) in process after a 2021 change in state guidance required municipal-level plans rather than a single regional plan. Wurster listed planning benchmarks for 2025 including draft LWRPs, a countywide resiliency plan (pending grant contract), a streets strategy for Vineyard/Drive/Fillmore, and advancing the Barcelona-to-Chautauqua-Institution trail update. She also described ongoing housing work: the countywide housing market and development plan with more than 80 recommendations, a housing site inventory broken into three size categories, marketing materials for developers and at least three grant applications planned to implement priority projects.

Wurster and Geiss named several ongoing or proposed housing projects at different stages: Silver Creek School (reported as 54 units by Wurster), Gateway Lofts (110 units, Wurster), and a reuse of the Welch's building in Westfield (the presentation contained differing unit counts: Geiss referenced 24 units while Wurster referenced 45 units). The presenters said the department will host or support a Jamestown developer forum and proposes a countywide developer showcase to attract investment.

On brownfields and site readiness, Economic Development Coordinator Nate Aldrich summarized recent awards and proposals: a Department of State planning grant of about $80,000 for additional brownfield inventory and evaluation; a November application to EPA for $500,000 to fund Phase I/II site assessments and asbestos surveys (award decision expected in April); and launch of a brownfield revolving loan fund administered by the IDA, which the presenters said made its first loan to support the Gateway Lofts project in Jamestown. Aldrich also described a $225,000 pre-development Brownfield Opportunity Area project for the Chautauqua (Chautauqua/Chautauqua River) corridor in Downtown Jamestown.

Trail and recreation work described by the planning team includes an updated countywide trails map (chqtrails.org), work on the Barcelona-to-Chautauqua trail update, and the Friends of the Chautauqua County Greenway partnership. The department highlighted trail funding brought in by the partnership and a trails coordinator; Rebecca Wurster said the partnership and coordinator have attracted more than $800,000 for Overland Trails improvements and that the friends group has helped raise over $1 million for multiple trail projects.

On broadband, staff said consultants completed mapping of unserved and underserved locations and divided the county into quadrants for proposals to internet service providers; one provider (DFT) was selected for a zone covering 385 locations. Presenters said ConnectALL, New York State's broadband office, has deployment grant rounds and that providers have applied to serve roughly 2,500 locations in the county; the county will reassess remaining unserved locations after those awards. Presenters also noted the county returned $1.5 million of an earlier $2.5 million ARPA allocation after contracting consultant work.

Watershed and lake items were highlighted by Dave McCoy and Geiss. Geiss described an Army Corps of Engineers Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration study for Chautauqua Lake, characterizing it as a large federal program that could lead to substantial remediation projects; he said the county's initial draw on the Corps project was about $600,000 from occupancy-tax resources and that the county expects additional near-term draws (he mentioned a possible additional $500,000 from the lake fund). Geiss also discussed work on Cassadaga Lake flooding issues, stating local stakeholders and consultants have engaged the DEC and that state and foundation funding may be needed for mitigation work. Presenters described the Lawson Boating & Heritage Center emergency funding supported by the committee and said ARPA-funded lake-maintenance equipment has enabled collaborative work on invasive species and other lake projects.

Public art and placemaking featured a planned program to install four large-scale murals countywide in partnership funding (not county general fund), an open artist call, and an apprenticeship component to train muralists.

Why it matters: The department's 2025 benchmarks tie planning, grant-writing and project delivery to housing production, site readiness for economic development, broadband deployment, trail and lake infrastructure, and brownfield remediation—all areas county leaders cited as priorities for reversing population and job declines and improving quality of life.

Next steps: The department will return to the committee and the public with more detailed IDA/Partnership presentations in March, pursue the SEQRA and grant steps for lake and sewer projects, and continue outreach including municipal tours and developer forums.