Whether you are a resident or a visitor of the town of North Elba and the village of Lake Placid, you have a unique opportunity to help this community with its next Joint Comprehensive Plan, which is being updated this year.

To get the planning process started, town and village officials have launched the North Elba-Lake Placid Pathways project and are asking people to take a Visioning Survey, which is available online at placidpathways.org. It takes about 10 minutes to complete.

The survey asks people what they most value about their experience in Lake Placid; what they think are the greatest challenges in the community; what they think are the greatest threats to Lake Placid’s success; what their primary concerns are regarding housing; what their greatest concerns are regarding climate change; how they feel about the economy in the town and village; and what their vision is for the North Elba Athletic Fields and North Elba Show Grounds.

We encourage you to take some time and fill out the survey and become involved with the Joint Comprehensive Plan process. The survey is designed to assess community priorities and concerns, and the project team will prepare a “Values and Stressors” report for the 2024 plan based on the results.

The survey will also be helpful for the ongoing LEED for Communities Recertification for the New York Olympic Region and a new North Elba Show Grounds and Athletic Fields master plan project.

In the spring, the project team will enter the “Community & Stakeholder Engagement” phase of the comprehensive planning process, hosting an open house for the public. The team will also hold a series of focus groups for stakeholders and community organizations.

In the summer, there will be two “Scenario Planning” workshops — one for town and village officials and one for the general public — and will submit a report on the workshop findings.

In the fall, the team will create a draft plan for town and village officials to adopt.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan was created in 1996 and last updated in 2014. It can be read online at the Lake Placid/North Elba Community Development Commission’s website: www.futurelakeplacid.com. Chapters in the plan include: Government Structure and Function, Economy and Tourism, Community Facilities and Services, Mobility, Environment, Housing and Land Use and Design.

The 10-person Community Development Commission has seven volunteer members, plus liaisons from the town and village and Community Development Director Haley Breen. Sub-committees include the Housing Committee, Appearance Committee and Arts Alliance.

In the wake of the 1980 Olympic Winter Games, members of this community began asking, “What’s next?” Financial troubles with the Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Committee led to the formation of the state Olympic Regional Development Authority, which operates the Olympic venues. More visitors arrived, and more people began moving here, creating a development boom.

Now, with a housing crisis, climate change and stressors from special events, people are asking, “Where do we go from here?” You can help answer that question by taking the Visioning Survey.