Cortland County’s Tioughnioga Waterfront Development project has been picked as a case study by the New York State Department of State, Division of Coastal Resources.

"We have selected your community’s waterfront efforts as a case study, providing examples, inspiration and contacts for other communities engaged in various aspects of waterfront revitalization," said George Stafford, Director of the NYS DOS Division of Coastal Resources. Cortland County recently received a $50,000 NYS DOS Coastal Resources grant to development a Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan (LWRP). The project will involve 11 municipalities along the Tioughnioga River who will be selected to work with the BDC and County Planning to develop local community plans.

As part of the case study, the NYS DOS has procured the services of Light & Power Communications and River Street Planning & Development to prepare multimedia instructional packages on the planning and implementation of Cortland’s LWRP and the redevelopment of abandoned buildings and sites. When completed, the case study will include a guidebook, video, computer presentation and website. Local success stories will be highlighted regarding all aspects of the preparation and implementation of the LWRP, including habitat restoration, public access and water quality and redevelopment of abandoned buildings and sites.

To highlight Cortland’s waterfront revitalization successes, the DOS will showcase:

• Key waterfront issues that led to the preparation of the LWRP and waterfront revitalization efforts in each local community;
• Key projects implemented as part of waterfront revitalization including reuse of abandoned buildings and sites, habitat restoration, public access and recreation, water quality improvements, and better linkages to downtowns;
• Key partners such as organizations, public agencies, schools or other groups;
• How projects were financed, leveraging grants with other sources of funding;
• How the community remained motivated through volunteers and local leadership; and
• Challenges faced and how local communities overcame obstacles

The Tioughnioga River was recently designated a major inland waterway through legislation signed into law by New York State. Last year, the Tioughnioga River project was also showcased at the NYS DOS annual conference on waterfront development. To date, the project has successfully secured $1 million in federal and state funding through HUD, DOT and NYS DOS.

"This is another acknowledgment that Cortland’s Tioughnioga project is a model for other communities," said BDC Chairman Paul Slowey. "That is because of the wide community support it has achieved here through the efforts of the Waterfront Development Commission co-chaired by Cortland Line CEO Brian Ward and Congressman James Walsh."