SUPPORTIVE LOCAL POLICIES
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The Village of Sherman has actively engaged in implementing practices outlined in the policies as adopted to-date in pursuit of improving the resiliency and sustainability for the livability and quality of life in Sherman. The Village Board of Trustees first adopted the Village of Sherman Comprehensive Plan in 2021, with a Climate Smart Communities Grant. As local priorities evolve, the Comprehensive Plan was amended in 2023 related to historic preservation, hazard mitigation, stormwater management, and Complete Streets policies.
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Zoning Updates
The goals in updating the 2009 Village Zoning Code with the Smart Growth Program include: preserving the character of neighborhoods, creating a downtown ‘business district’, establishing design guidelines, updating language, addressing new legislation (i.e., cannabis), transitioning to green and alternative energy systems, and adopting stormwater management regulations to secure existing assets and new development. In the interim, the Village Board has adopted a series of timely amendments addressing safety and quality of life needs, including the local law 2021 Regulation of Solar Energy Systems.
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Pro-Housing
The Village of Sherman has taken a strong Pro-Housing position which is essential to the future stability and sustainability of the small Sherman community, starting with its adoption of the 2017 Fair Housing Policy. The May 2024 adopted Pro-Housing Pledge and became a certified Pro-Housing Community with NYS Homes & Community Renewal in October 2024. Even before this important NY State initiative, the Village adopted local laws in efforts to enforce property maintenance, remediate blight, and manage issues arising from vacant properties, including the effective 2019 Vacant, Abandoned, Boarded, Foreclosed Law serving as a deterrent and proactive measure preserving the existing housing stock by encouraging property owners to act by selling or remediating, while ensuring oversight of the property for safety and nuisance prevention. This has resulted in the rehabilitation of several single-family dwellings. Chautauqua Home Rehabilitation & Improvement Corp (CHRIC) administers the Village of Sherman’s twice awarded Community Development Block Grants (2020, 2023) for the Rehabilitation of Single-Family Dwellings and the 2023 Mobile & Manufactured Home Replacement grant award. This activity, the increasing market value of single-family dwellings in Sherman, and the clear need for rental units has brought interest from investors to build new developments within the village.
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Climate Initiatives, Agriculture, Green Resiliency
The Village of Sherman was the first in Chautauqua County to adopt the Climate Smart Community Pledge in 2018 and received the Designated CEC Status of a Clean Energy Community by NYSERDA. The Village has since taken on large scale progressive projects beginning with the $2.2M Drinking Water Improvement project replacing pumps and installing variable frequency drives, the $7M upgrade to the Wastewater Treatment Plant resulting in energy efficiency and improving the quality of effluent with UV disinfection. The Village installed two electric vehicle fast charging stations with the NYS DEC Municipal Zero-emission Vehicle (ZEV) Infrastructure Rebate Program and National Grid NY EV Make-Ready Program.
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The Village pursued the development of two 5-Megawatt Community Solar Arrays on 32 acres of Village owned property. In July 2024, the first became operational and the second array’s interconnection is expected in February 2025. The Village ensured the land use incorporated agrivoltaic practices with sheep grazing. This innovative approach is fulfilling the Village’s Comprehensive Plan goals in efforts to prevent farmland loss from repurposed solar fields and in keeping with Sherman’s rural character. With these recently completed actions the Village will be applying to update its certification status within the Climate Smart Community and to become an Advanced Community among the Clean Energy Community.
Complete Streets Initiative
The Complete Streets Initiative was kicked off with public members and stakeholders identifying priorities, including traffic calming measures at entrances into the Village, the development of trails, and safety for senior citizens in the walkable community, resulting in preliminary designs in coordination with GOBike. The Village’s Complete Streets Policy, adopted May 2024, considers all pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit (including equestrians), with special conditions for children, senior citizens, and those with disabilities, with the clear intent of understanding and accommodating all users and modes. This will be applied to all streets projects and phases organizing an integrated network of streets, sidewalks, and trails for transportation and recreation connecting neighborhoods, businesses, placemaking, and parks. It incorporates multi-jurisdictional cooperation in support of development and design within the character of the community and the vision established within the Village of Sherman’s Comprehensive Plan; bringing safety, encouraging activity, and promoting overall health and well being of the community and visitors. Beginning with the 2023 Community Development Block Grant of $1.25M for the co-funded infrastructure improvements to the Main Street stormwater system, the Village is putting the Complete Streets Policy into action, installing new sidewalks, improving the trailhead, preparing for crosswalks and bump-outs for traffic calming.
