Micromanaging hinders village planning
Bee Editorial
Planning for the future? A great idea. Trying to control the future? Not so great.

The Williamsville Community Plan Committee, after a summer-long hiatus, recently reconvened to discuss the draft of a 20-year community plan so that it may be presented to the public and eventually implemented.

Months worth of committee meetings, public input and hard work by the committee's consultants, Behan Planning Associates, have yielded a document of more than 100 pages that chronicles the committee's vision for the future, including short- and long-term goals for achieving it.

So what's the problem?

What started as a guideline for future boards and committees has turned into a room full of people arguing over minute details that are years away from being addressed in any "real" context.

Despite the consultant's never-ending pleas to think in terms of a big picture, committee members continue to nitpick through a conceptual document, arguing over specific words, in order to control what future Williamsville leaders will or will not do.

Not to say that the subjects being brought up in these meetings are meaningless. Issues such as limiting the numbers of cul-de-sacs in the village to ensure continued connectivity, solving a heinous parking problem for businesses and customers on Main Street, and increasing the village's walkability are all real and important points that need to be dealt with.

But is it the place of a committee to allow only one interpretation of this plan so that there is only one plan?

For example, the plan focuses heavily on the Williamsville Water Mill as a hub for potential commercial growth, as well as a historical site. The issue was raised that the mill has significance in the plan because it is currently the focus of several boards and committees in village government. But should the mill fail for whatever reason, be it man-made or natural causes, there would be a large hole in the plan for future boards to fill.

Planning for the future with fervor and passion is a feather in the cap for Williamsville. It's not every community that has such large numbers of concerned citizens willing to give up hours upon hours of their lives to civic service.

But rather than thinking of the village as it is now, perhaps it would be better to consider the changes that most likely will occur in the future. Egos, personal agendas and tastes have no place on a committee like this. It is better to think of the good of the community rather than of the individual.