APA OPC Planning Workshop Case Study: Small Communities Planning Initiative

1. APA OPC Planning WorkshopCase Study: Small Communities Planning Initiative November 18, 2011

3. Comprehensive Planning: the Key to Balance • Sets development and conservation goals in an organized fashion • Plans for long-term financial stability • Resolves tradeoffs up-front • Provides for future logical, consistent decision making • Legal stability: logical justification of decisions • Sets a framework for implementation

4. Purpose of Comprehensive Planning • To protect the public health, safety and welfare • To ensure quality of life for future generations • To continue biological diversity and processes • To balance private needs with public good

5. Small Communities Planning Initiative • Make comprehensive planning accessible and affordable • Create sustainable communities that balance conservation and development • Improve the capacity for making better planning decisions

6. Components Necessary for Planning • CONSENSUS • COMMITMENT • CAPACITY • CASH

7. Citizens Role in Plan

8. Who is Likely to Use This Program? • Has limited available funding • Has very active citizen groups • Has very active BZA / Planning Commission • Is started on existing plan process, may be stalled, may need to “raise the bar” • If a township, has support of County Planning Commission

9. Main Components of the Initiative 1) Small Communities Planning Tool Kit 2) Training Workshops 3) Professional Technical Assistance

10. Organization Chart Township Trustees Steering Committee Professional Assistance Citizens Advisory Committee Core Working Group Land Use, Population, Economics & Housing Agriculture, and Natural Resources Infrastructure & Transportation Hist., Cultural, & Scenic Resources & Community Facilities

11. Importance of Professional Assistance • Community Facilitation • Identification of Data Resources • Assistance with Analysis • Tools for Implementation

12. Township’s Plan Responsibilities • Form Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) and Core Working Group (CWG) • Gather data from local agencies and/or field survey, input data on base map, questionnaires & surveys • Identify vision statement, goals, objectives, and action strategies • Compile all Plan documentation and Write Plan

13. CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE • Representative mix of the community • The primary “sounding board” for the Core Working Group • Assists in prioritizing goals, objectives, and action strategies

14. CORE WORKING GROUP • 8-10 people • Responsible for doing the bulk of the data collection and analysis including map verification • Proposes goals, objectives, and strategies for the Plan • Prepares the Plan document

15. CSU’s Plan Responsibilities • Conduct Training Workshop • Mentor in data collection & analysis • Facilitate Meetings • Review hand maps accuracy • GIS mapping • Identify Tools for Implementation

16. Success Factors • Trustee involvement throughout • Strong champion in core working group • Pair computer-users with those who aren’t • One person to pull document together • Good community use of web site • Allow plenty of time

17. Questions? Kirby Date, AICP Center for Community Planning and Development 216-687-5477 k.date@csuohio.edu