Holmes County ‘Shaping its Future’
Historic Downtown Millersburg was one of many local government and business entities involved in formulating the “Shaping Our Future” guidelines that included expanding and improving downtown areas throughout the county, economic growth, tourism, housing and much more.
Even as successful as Holmes County has been over the past years from an economic standpoint, the Holmes County commissioners aren’t about to rest on their laurels.
The commissioners and a committee continue to invest in the exploration of a comprehensive plan titled “Shaping Our Future” that is designed to provide insight into every aspect of what could drive the county forward in positive directions over the coming years.
Lauren Falcon of Poggemeyer Design Group met with the Holmes County commissioners recently to discuss a comprehensive plan for the county that is being led by Arnie Oliver, Holmes County planning commissioner. The comprehensive plan was completed with the guidance of numerous Holmes County department leaders, the Village of Millersburg, a resident-appointed steering committee and Poggemeyer Design Group.
The group met on numerous occasions to flesh out the vision for the county and the hurdles it may have to overcome as it continues to grow and prosper. Focal points of the comprehensive plan included a growing Amish community, the county’s roads and transportation issues, greenspace, Historic Downtown Millersburg, waterways, industrial and commercial business growth, housing, tourism, infrastructure, agriculture, natural resources and further development of the county’s identity.
“We had public workshops that covered each of those planning elements,” Falcon said. “We invited a lot of people to come to the meetings. We tried to reach as many people as possible to get them engaged with this process.”
Falcon said one of the key components of figuring out the landscape of the future was keeping in mind that Holmes County is home to more than 20,000 Amish community members, half of the county’s population. She said discussion surrounding many of the issues must include how each will affect the Amish community as well as the English population.
“It’s different here,” she said. “You have vehicles, buggies, e-bikes and pedestrians, so making sure you have safe road sharing is imperative.”
She added that Historic Downtown Millersburg serves as the hub of the county and developing it goes together with the county’s growth.
Falcon said over an 18-month period the study took a four-phase approach that entailed discovery, collaborative visioning, plan development and a final review and adoption phase. The survey to the community received 342 responses, and Falcon said it was interesting to receive a lot of feedback that provided keen insight into what Holmes Countians believe the plusses and minuses of the county are and where they feel the county should head in the future.
Falcon said several key thoughts came out of community discussion, including available and affordable housing and adequate infrastructure are keeping people from moving into the county. In addition, the survey focused on creating ideas for future land use that could expand villages throughout the county, with specific details spelled out on expansion possibilities.
While the information is in-depth and valuable, Falcon said the key now is for the county to take immediate action and not sit on the information and allow it to collect dust.
“You need to bring these documents out every year,” Falcon said. “You should bring this out as part of a steering committee, go through it and say, ‘OK, we’re doing our capital improvement planning. What topics should we tackle this year, and what funding resources can we utilize.’ It’s helpful when looking at grant applications because you can take the information from this document and put it into the actual (grant) application. I think it really increased your chances of getting funded.”
Falcon went on to say that while nothing is set in stone and the county has a multitude of options to pursue in shaping its future, utilizing the resources available within its borders, developing and maintaining land for growth and connecting and discussing possibilities not just within various departments and communities but expanding to connect between departments and villages will help the county paint a brighter picture together.
“Obviously, you have a number of nice downtown areas in the county, but how about taking each model and putting it with other communities,” Falcon said. “Maybe some of the other downtowns can learn from what downtown communities like Millersburg and Berlin are doing to promote growth in the tourism area.”
Falcon said the new Appalachian Community Grant project that is underway is one way the county can utilize grant funding to further the effort to adhere to many of the ideas that arose from a discussion in the planning stages and survey in Holmes County.
Commissioner Dave Hall said this is a terrific road map for the future of Holmes County, one that can help promote growth and a better quality of life for everyone, including both residents and visitors.
“It’s not Washington or Columbus,” he said. “It’s Holmes County shaping its own future.”
“Holmes County is a patchwork of communities with a unique identity stitched together as one county, offering an excellent quality of life for residents and experience to visitors,” Falcon added.