Lewis County recognizes the need for a comprehensive and strategic approach to the complex issues faced in the 21st Century. This collection of small towns and villages needs to be able to effectively leverage its assets and overcome challenges in order to continuously improve the quality of life of its citizens. This County Comprehensive Plan is designed to play a foundational role in that effort over the next 10 to 15 years.

The Plan provides an overall framework for future public and private investment and decision making in the county. Investment can take many forms, such as, but not limited to, financial, civic, and creative resources. It is this collective investment by residents, businesses, institutions, churches, volunteer organizations, and county and local government that will shape the physical, social, and economic character of the community. The Plan articulates an overall vision for the county and the means to achieve the objectives set forth. This Plan will function at two levels. First, upon adoption it will become the primary policy document for Lewis County government that provides a path forward on a host of issues critical to the future of the region, the most significant being the utilization and deployment of resources. County level policies, which are outlined in detail in Chapter 3, are relatively broad statements that provide a framework for the future of Lewis County. This Comprehensive Plan provides a necessary level of continuity and consistency to assist county officials and staff in working towards common objectives on topics such as tourism, recreation, economic development, infrastructure and regional coordination, among others. At the county level, future decisions and investments shall be in accordance with this document, as it is the adopted policy of Lewis County. Furthermore, by state law, all plans for capital projects at the local, county, and state level shall take the contents of this Plan into consideration prior to action or implementation.

The second functional level of this Plan is the provision of guidance and recommendations on issues common to all communities. Plan policies provide recommendations on opportunities for county municipalities to work together in leveraging resources, learning from each other, and solving problems collectively. This Plan uncovers opportunities seldom discussed at the individual town or village level for intermunicipal cooperation or the leveraging of common resources.

This Plan is not a regulatory document at the local level; Lewis County does not have the authority to impose policies presented in this Plan upon county municipalities beyond the jurisdictional areas it currently enforces, such as County highways. County municipalities are not required to approve or adopt this Comprehensive Plan. However, significant effort was taken to provide a level of continuity across the county, especially within the County Character Area Plan (see Chapter 4). This portion of the document has the greatest impact on linking together  the County’s 26 municipalities under a common framework. The County Character Area Plan provides recommendations and guidance on land use issues to towns and villages; yet, it does not provide regulations that are enforceable at the county level. However, the towns and villages can utilize this Plan as a starting point in their own discussions regarding the future of their communities, as they work to make Lewis County the premier rural county in New York State.