Planning
Urban
At its core, urban planning is how we shape cities, towns, and communities to provide a better future where people can thrive.
Whether improving an existing community or creating a new one, urban planning deals with the structuring and appropriation of urban space. It considers numerous elements — demographics, cultural drivers, the natural environment, and the aspirations of the community’s shared vision — to point out what measures should be taken to improve the quality of life of the inhabitants, including matters such as natural, built, social, cultural, transit, and business environments.
As part of the urban planning process problems arising from urbanization are considered, including pollution, traffic congestion, urban voids, and ecological impacts, making it essential that much is discussed about the future of cities and the aspirations of sustainability and mobility as a way of fighting climate change. Urban planning is a multidisciplinary activity that requires input from local governments, utilities, private companies, community organizations, and others that provides clients with a platform to inform policy planning and decision-making.
Urban Planning Capabilities
Comprehensive Planning
Our comprehensive urban planning efforts are vital to maintaining thoughtful development for communities and municipalities experiencing significant growth. Our team brings expertise, experience, and proximity to successfully create and execute a plan that preserves the character of the community while maximizing development potential. Whether creating a new comprehensive master plan / development plan or updating an existing one, we have the in-house resources to complete these for a range of project sizes, from large municipalities to defined development areas.
On Call Contracts
Engaging our team in an on-call urban planning contract allows us to operate as an extension of your staff – your go to resource for all things city planning. Our talented team can serve as your city planner, reviewing monthly development applications, rezoning requests, and performing subdivision reviews as well as handle administrative tasks such as writing agendas and running the planning department meetings.
Design Regulations and Review
Design regulations set a minimum standard for new buildings in a community. With our experience, we help craft building design guidelines to fit the vision and goals of your town or city – and these can be established for different areas depending on vision. This includes architectural requirements, exterior materials to be used, window/glazing percentages, and other items to ensure a consistent basis for new construction and limiting the application of metal and block in areas of high investment. We approach this in multiple ways, including general requirements, overlays, and planned development standards.
Zoning and Subdivision Regulations
Sometimes a parcel of land will require changes to the land use or zoning designation due to potential development, changes in the area over time, or other reasons. We can assist in modernizing zoning ordinances and subdivision regulations, whether by the section or issuing an amendment to the entire zoning ordinance/subdivision regulation document.
GIS Mapping
Cities and counties struggle with paper maps, having to highlight parcels with a marker, and not having critical information available to the public. We provide GIS mapping for zoning, land use, sidewalk, industrial parks, and even utility mapping, updating the data annually or bi-annually. With the exception of the utility data, this can be converted into webmapping, and shared publicly. This enables the smallest cities and counties to have high-tech information on their website that can be useful to all of their residents and for potential economic development opportunities.
