Send those surveys back as soon as possible. We are on a fast track, said Williamson Valley Corridor Plan (WVCP) Steering Committee Chairman Walter Burcham.
The first surveys to property owners in the corridor plan area went in the mail March 16, two weeks earlier than the committee expected. The second survey went out about two weeks ago.
Burcham said the steering committee has received about 10 percent of the surveys back, which is not a bad return. However, he said the committee would like to receive 33 percent, equaling the number property owners returned during a 1995 survey.
The WVCP committee formed in January from two separate groups, the Williams Valley Concerned Citizens and the Williams Valley Residents for Responsible Growth. Burcham said he agreed to chair the committee because of his 17 years of experience in the Williamson Valley area, even though he no longer lives there.
I agreed because it is a challenge. Basically the board of supervisors said this was an impossible task, he said.
Most of the members did not know each other before agreeing to serve on the steering committee. But this is an incredible group. They have hit the ground running, Burcham said. The eight people on the committee have lived in the area from two years to five generations, giving us a broad prospective, he said.
The WVCP Steering Committee formed to develop a land use plan for the area. The need became apparent when the County Store went up on Outer Loop Road.
He said the steering committee tried to be as generic as possible in developing the survey, asking both pro and con questions, allowing space for comments. Burcham said they hired a third-party company to mail the surveys, and they purchased approximately 3,000 names and addresses from the county recorders office.
We are trying to be as impartial as possible, he said.
The corridor plan will focus on five areas, including land use, open space, transportation, water and community character. Burcham said the goal is to look at what exists now and what the surveys indicate the community wants in the future.
When the land use plan is complete, it will be an amendment to the countys general plan.
Burcham said a draft of the corridor plan should go to the countys development services department by the end of June. We want to work with the county so there are no surprises, he said.
Hopefully, by the end of August we will have a final plan. By the end of summer the plan will go before the supervisors and we will be finished, Burcham said. Typically, this process takes a community two years to complete. Since we were able to mail the surveys two weeks early, we gained time and have moved everything else forward two weeks, he said.
The county has not given the steering committee any money to complete the survey and corridor plan. The committee members have fronted the expenses for the surveys themselves.
Burcham said a donation sheet is included in the survey for anyone who wants to contribute $20 or $25. He said donations will go to pay survey expenses before the committee members recoup the $5,000 they put up to pay for the survey.
Williamson Valley is rallying behind the corridor plan, Burcham said.
Historically, land use in Williamson Valley was ranching. Today, it is mostly residential.
The corridor plan area stretches south to Prescott, north to Crossroads Ranch, east to roads that access Williamson Valley Road and west to the Prescott National Forest.
