The Small Community Visioning Improvement Act Is Introduced
The measure would help community planning and design across the country.

As Congress began to prepare for its August recess, it worked feverishly to complete consideration of a number of measures that would please the constituents back home, including the Energy Policy Act, a veterans’ health care bill, a lobbying disclosure bill, reauthorization of the Farm Bill, and a measure to reauthorize the Small Business Administration and its programs.

Like many of his House colleagues, newly elected Representative Zack Space (D-OH) voted in favor of these measures that would require the United States to reduce its carbon footprint on the planet, provide much-needed assistance to farmers, small business owners, and veterans, and require more transparency in federal lobbying efforts. However, Rep. Space took additional steps to show his constituents, who mainly reside in small and rural towns, that he cares about their future. Rep. Space worked diligently with ASLA and introduced H.R. 3374, the Small Community Visioning Improvement Act. By encouraging smart planning, the bill will help small communities address a number of important issues that are jeopardizing their long-term viability, including economic hardship, declining populations, eroding tax bases, and environmental concerns.

Specifically, the measure would allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make grants to community-based organizations and universities to assist small communities with their visioning efforts. Community visioning is a community planning process where planning and design assistance is given to communities to help them identify needs, set goals, envision solutions, and develop conceptual plans to implement their shared “vision.” Communities could receive a maximum of $25,000 for visioning assistance and would be required to make a matching contribution.

ASLA worked with several visioning process leaders, community organizations, and universities to craft this legislation. Crafting the Small Community Visioning Improvement Act was important to ASLA because many landscape architects dedicate their time and their talents to working with small communities and have witnessed firsthand how these communities have been redeveloped and revitalized in a manner that is consistent with needs and desires of the residents. Landscape architects and other design professionals are uniquely qualified to assist these communities by developing plans, maps, models, and other visual formats that will move the visioning process forward. Community visioning helps small towns to develop in ways that are economically beneficial, while still allowing them to maintain a small-town charm.

Rep. Space represents several small communities and towns along southern Ohio that, in the past, were economically sustained by manufacturing jobs. However, many of these well-paying jobs have dried up, leaving these communities in economic limbo. These towns, like many others across the nation, could certainly benefit from the planning assistance provided under H.R. 3374. In the past, small towns and communities have used the visioning process to rebuild their downtowns, to create recreational opportunities, and to create tourist attractions–all of which bring economic development to the towns.

Rep. Space attempted to offer the Small Community Visioning Improvement Act as an amendment to the House of Representatives’ version of the Farm Bill. However, committee leaders objected to the measure because of current fiscal constraints. Yet, according to Space’s staff, he still wanted to introduce the measure and work toward its implementation because he believes in the visioning process and its benefits to small towns and he appreciates the efforts of landscape architects and other design professionals in assisting small communities through visioning.