TARBORO – The planned future of Edgecombe County is a paradox of sorts: In order to grow, the county must stay small.
That's roughly what County Planning Director Ola Pittman as well as a class of students from N.C. State University told the Edgecombe County Board of Commissioners on Monday.
Pittman was there to present the final draft of a comprehensive land development plan, which has been in the works for more than 20 months. The students, guided by Professor Carol Kline, were there to present a plan to enhance and promote local tourism.
The culmination of the two plans presented back-to-back Monday was a collective call to highlight Edgecombe County's small-town, historic and rural appeal in order to draw new visitors and, in turn, new residents.
In conjunction with a tourism development course, more than a dozen N.C. State students spent the last three months studying county history, interviewing residents and local officials, touring Tarboro along with other surrounding towns and, ultimately, developing strategies to market Edgecombe County to out-of-state tourists.
"Edgecombe County has the assets for tourism right now," Kline said, "but as far as we could tell, there really wasn't one quality source to go to get all the information a visitor would want."
The students' final plan, which serves as their final exam, will be published in June. The tourism students offered a slew of suggestions, including plans to promote historic sites, increased group tour opportunities, enhanced outdoor recreation and improved signage along highways.
North Carolina is the sixth most visited state in the country, Kline told the board, and Edgecombe County is primed to tap into that market. It's just a matter of organizing resources and making them available to potential visitors, she said.
The plan is not to turn Edgecombe County into Las Vegas, though.
"Of course, you don't want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg," Kline said. "People would be coming to Edgecombe County because of the atmosphere, the small-town charm and because of the natural resources."
Pittman, outlining the near 100-page land development plan, shared the sentiment. The purpose of the plan is to unite the county under a single development strategy that will be used in grant applications over the next 10 years.
The document lists county weaknesses and strengths, and it presents a number of goals and suggestions for stimulating growth.
The plan identifies several guidelines intended to maintain the county's rural and agricultural strengths while working to correct its weaknesses – few housing options, high taxes, a lack of recreational opportunities and limited Internet access.
The plan is exceptionally important, Pittman said, when Edgecombe County's lack of growth during the last 20 years is taken into consideration.
And although the hope is to see the population trends reverse during the next decade, Pittman echoed Kline and said that it is vital to maintain the county's rural identity and agricultural heritage.
The board of commissioners agreed.
"Now it's important to put these things to work," Commissioner Wayne Hines said. "I've heard a lot of plans over the years but haven't seen a lot of results. We need to take initiative with this."
The Nash County Board of Commissioners also met Monday, briefly discussing plans to initiate a new transportation plan and increased maintenance of county water towers. The board took no action in those matters.
