Drawing on Local Heritage - Fluvanna County
Fluvanna County Virginia sits amidst rolling farmland and forests along the Rivanna River near fast-growing Charlottesville. During the 1990s county population increased by almost fifty percent. In 1999, Fluvanna citizens gathered together to participate in a visioning forum to identify their county's most treasured assets and decide what role those resources should play in the future.
Goals
The Fluvanna Heritage Forum was a grass-roots community effort to protect the county's heritage during a period of unprecedented growth and change. The purpose of the Forum was to bring people together to see what they valued about the county and to establish an ongoing citizen-based heritage effort where community groups would work in partnership with local government to preserve, protect, or promote valued resources.
Process
An organizing committee began planning for the Heritage Forum more than six months in advance. The committee identified the many organizations and interested citizens to involve, and structured Forum work sessions to ensure focus and productivity. On the day-long Forum in March 1999, approximately 180 people participated with a large range of county interests represented. The Forum used a "visioning" process for engaging participants in identifying shared goals. Participants were asked three questions: (1) to identify the county's most valued historic, cultural, and natural resources, (2) to brainstorm or envision creative ways that these assets might be preserved, protected or promoted through the future, and (3) to identify practical 'next steps' that might be taken in the immediate future to begin to implement these ideas. Each work session was facilitated and all ideas discussed and recorded, and ultimately organized into meaningful goals, strategies and priorities.
Outcome
The overwhelming consensus of the Forum was that Fluvanna's 'rural character' lies at the core of what county citizens value most. The Forum outlined a vision of "an active community that works proactively to preserve, protect, restore and promote Fluvanna's rich heritage in the context of change." This vision was later incorporated into the preface for the County Comprehensive Plan and adopted by the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors in 2001. To accomplish the vision, Forum participants recommended that the preservation of Fluvanna's heritage and character must shape the county's growth and development. In addition, participants recommended the heritage effort grow and evolve, and community networks be built and communication strengthened. Since this first Forum, two additional Forums have been held to implement this vision. The second focused on tools that could be used in the County Comprehensive Plan to preserve rural character. The third focused on creating an open space plan to obtain citizen perspectives and recommendations for the county's future open space needs and specific tools that could be considered for protecting open space.
More Information
Fluvanna - The Third Heritage Forum: Our Heritage, Our Future, Our Decision on Open Space, Fluvanna Heritage Forum, Palmyra VA, September 2002, 32 pp. - pdf (___mb)
Marvin F. Moss, Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors, 14054 James Madison Hwy, Palmyra, VA 22963 (434) 589-4839