Canal initiative at critical juncture, planners say

The Planning Commission created by the State of New York to develop a management plan for the Western Erie Canal Heritage Corridor will hold its next public meeting in Buffalo. The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 10, in the Harbor Room of HSBC Arena from 2 to 4 p.m.

The Planning Commission is charged with developing a regional management plan for the historic Eric Canal corridor in Western New York. The New York State Legislature gave the Commission a July 2003 deadline to complete the plan, which must be approved by county legislatures and the state.

However, this deadline and the plan itself may be in jeopardy because of challenges that have been attributed to the past year's delays with the state budget, according to commission members.

The New York State Legislature created the Planning Commission, with 18 locally appointed commissioners, in 1999 to develop a plan to boost tourism, recreation, education and economic development in Erie, Monroe, Niagara, Wayne and Orleans Counties centered along the historic Erie Canal. The commission held its first meeting on January 4, 2001 in Niagara Falls, and has spent the last fourteen months gaining community views to ensure a management plan that is both meaningful and realistic. "Our commissioners are adamant that this plan should not end up collecting dust," stated Brian Grassia of Erie County, chair of the Planning Commission." The communities in the canal corridor need action and new investment now to spur their vision of a revitalized canal," he added.

"Here is an opportunity to stimulate the regional economy of Western New York in 2002 much as the Erie Canal did in the 19th century," stated commission Vice Chair Michael Heftka of the Small Business Development Center at Buffalo State College. "We have held very successful roundtables involving state and federal agencies, historians and educators, and business interests to determine how we can best benefit the 130 communities in the Heritage Corridor, but without funding, all of this is now on hold."

In fact the April 10 commission meeting was originally scheduled for March 14, but was postponed in the hopes that the funding issue would be resolved.

"There has been tremendous support for the work of the Planning Commission by communities and by state legislators we have spoken with over the past several months," said William Condo, coordinator for the Planning Commission based in Rochester. "This has, and will continue to be, an inclusive, grassroots effort based on reality, but, like everything else, dollars are an issue now. Having relocated here from the Washington, DC area, I feel strongly that the Erie Canal, which helped build a nation in the early 1800s, has the potential to help rebuild Western New York today and preserve our unique and historic character," he added.

During the April 10 meeting, the Planning Commission will also comment on the Management Plan Outline derived from these community meetings, and review several development projects planned for the Heritage Corridor in Lockport, Rochester, Lyons and Buffalo.

Joyce Lobene of Spencerport is a member of the group as are C. William Lattin, representing the Cobblestone Museum in Childs, and Nathan M. Lyman, Esq., of Orleans County.