A draft economic development strategy calling for Seneca County to focus on faster project approvals, workforce housing, year-round tourism, agricultural processing and a smaller number of targeted investments will be among the biggest items before the Seneca County Local Development Corporation this week.
The SCLDC will meet at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3, at the Lyons National Bank Community Room, 2433 Route 414 in Waterloo. The board is scheduled to review the draft strategy prepared by RKG Associates, select an independent auditor and receive updates on the Finger Lakes Regional Airport, Ovid Local Development Corporation and Willard property.
The RKG draft is the most substantial item in the 78-page meeting packet. Rather than presenting a final set of recommendations, the document identifies potential economic development opportunities and lays out conditions that would need to be met before the county commits resources to them.
At the center of the strategy is a proposed goal for Seneca County to become more of a year-round economy by 2036 while reversing the decline in its prime working-age population, adding housing and growing the tax base and reducing the amount of time it takes projects to move from application to approval.
The draft argues that Seneca County effectively contains two different economies. Northern communities around Seneca Falls, Waterloo and the Thruway corridor are more closely tied to production, logistics and retail between the Rochester and Syracuse markets. Southern Seneca County is more closely tied to the lakes, wineries, recreation and Ithaca-area economy.
That distinction drives many of the proposals in the strategy.
RKG identifies 19 opportunities divided among five areas: building economic development capacity, making development faster and more predictable, expanding value-added production, growing year-round tourism and addressing workforce housing.
One of the most significant organizational recommendations would expand the role of the SCLDC itself. The draft envisions the corporation becoming a central coordinator for countywide economic development, with representation from the county, Industrial Development Agency and Chamber of Commerce or Discover Seneca.
The proposal would eventually establish a written agreement defining responsibilities, funding and performance measures. RKG notes that the idea would require the Board of Supervisors to support giving the organization meaningful coordination authority and sustained funding.
The strategy also calls for a “one front door” approach for businesses and developers. Under that concept, a dedicated point of contact would guide projects through site selection, zoning, permitting, financing programs and other requirements rather than leaving applicants to navigate several agencies and municipalities independently.
Another proposal would allow towns to pool resources for professional planning, zoning and code enforcement staff at the county level. RKG said stakeholder interviews repeatedly identified limited municipal staffing as an obstacle to moving projects through the development process.
Infrastructure and major sites also figure prominently in the draft.
RKG recommends identifying and preparing one shovel-ready industrial site rather than spreading resources among multiple locations. The Route 318 corridor is identified as a possible starting point because of its Thruway access and planned water and sewer investments, although the strategy says power availability and site control would need to be confirmed first.
The former Willard property is described as a potential “catalytic campus,” but the draft acknowledges major obstacles. RKG says large-scale redevelopment isn’t currently supported by market conditions and would require cooperation from New York state, sufficient electric service, a developer and a viable strategy for carrying substantial interim costs. Smaller recreational or other uses could begin activating the property while longer-term plans develop.
The landfill and Route 318 corridor are another major piece of the strategy. RKG proposes exploring whether energy generated from Seneca Meadows could support uses such as greenhouses, food processing or biofuel production while infrastructure investment is coordinated along the corridor. The draft identifies cooperation over host-community funding as one of the conditions necessary for that concept to advance.
Agriculture would also move beyond simply producing raw commodities under the proposed strategy.
One recommendation calls for exploring expanded meat processing, cold storage, commercial kitchen space, co-packing and produce handling. Another focuses on helping the county’s wine and craft beverage sector navigate generational ownership changes and potentially develop shared facilities or equipment.
Tourism proposals focus less on adding visitors during already busy summer months and more on extending the season.
Ideas include winter and shoulder-season events, expanded biking and water recreation, agritourism tied more closely to village centers and additional lodging. The draft specifically identifies potential hotel opportunities in Seneca Falls and says additional rooms could help keep more visitor spending in the county overnight.
Housing is treated as economic infrastructure rather than a separate social issue. The draft says employers have identified workforce housing as a constraint on recruitment and notes that family-sized rentals are particularly limited. Recommendations include implementing portions of the county’s existing housing strategy and developing tools to put vacant upper floors and underused village properties back into productive use.
The SCLDC isn’t scheduled to adopt a final economic development strategy Thursday. The document is labeled a draft opportunity assessment and says specific recommendations, responsible parties, performance measures and an implementation schedule will come in a later phase.
The board also has more immediate administrative business on its agenda.
Members are scheduled to discuss and select an independent auditor after delaying a decision last month while seeking additional proposals. The meeting packet includes a proposal from The Bonadio Group covering audits through 2030. Its proposed fee for 2026 is between $5,000 and $10,000, with similar ranges listed for subsequent years depending on the corporation’s level of activity.
The SCLDC reported an ending balance of $194,800.45 as of Aug. 31 after paying $4,815 in expenses during August, including two invoices from RKG Associates and a final $315 invoice from MRB Group.
The board is also scheduled to discuss its next steps toward meeting organizational goals and receive an update from Leland Earp, Seneca County’s director of code enforcement. Tracy Verrier of Red Clover is also expected to return after the board selected the firm in August to provide administrative and compliance services.
An executive session is listed near the end of Thursday’s agenda, though the packet does not specify the subject of that discussion.
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