10 research outputs found
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Financial Performance Guarantees: The State of Practice
Financial performance guarantees are tools for ensuring that funds needed to pay for improvements called for by development permits and approvals are available in the event a developer defaults on permit requirements. Once limited to surety bonds and cash escrows, new types of guarantees have been developed and are coming into common use. Standby letters of credit, in particular, are being used more widely and have a number of advantages. To use guarantees successfully, municipal governments must make careful decisions about a number of administrative matters. Evidence from 309 municipalities reported in this article can help local planners make the right choices
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Small Opportunity Cities, Transforming Small Post-Industrial Cities into Resilient Communities
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A city wants to permanently protect most of a large tract of land as permanent open space while serving other city goals with smaller portions of the land. Various approaches have been suggested, from regulatory changes, city financial investments, and city partnerships with developers, affordable housing developers, land trusts, and neighborhood groups. What\u27s the best option?One possibility is conservation limited development, or simply limited development. This development model preserves a large portion of a tract of land for conservation while allowing limited development on some portion of that land. The land with the most important conservation values is preserved, and development typically covers a smaller area than allowed by regulations.The March-April 2019 issue of PAS Memo introduces the conservation limited development concept and examines the roles local governments can play in encouraging or leading these projects to meet community goals
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Building Sustainability and Resilience into Local Planning Agencies
Does your jurisdiction plan for sustainability or resiliency? Many communities are jumping on the sustainability/resiliency bandwagon, but planners might not be the ones leading these efforts. This PAS Memo explores the growing interest of local governments in sustainability and resilience and discusses the skill sets planners need to take leadership roles in this area
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Local Planning Agency Management
Planning agency managers have a lot of roles to juggle. Keeping their team on track is only the start. They have to serve the public, work with other departments, stay abreast of local events, keep up with national trends, and occasionally play politics. Drop one ball, and the rest can come down hard and fast.But help is at hand. This report from APA\u27s Planning Advisory Service gives managers the essential tools and insights they need to make their offices efficient and effective.The chapters cover today\u27s vital topics in planning management. What is the best way to organize an office? How should planning staff engage the public? How can the permit counter provide great customer service? What data will help drive the desired results? How do emerging technologies change the game? And what\u27s the secret of leadership that inspires and empowers?Local Planning Agency Management is an essential resource for planners who want answers, assurance, and advice from those who have stood in their shoes — and stood up to the challenge
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Planning Issues for On-site and Decentralized Wastewater Treatment
DownloadAs much as a third of new development in the United States relies on decentralized wastewater treatment. Such systems pose a threat to shorelines and drinking water. They can also allow development to occur in places and at densities that are in conflict with a community\u27s vision for its growth.This report explains how planners can address wastewater treatment to help their communities meet goals for growth and protect drinking water and other natural resources. The authors, a planning director who has helped design more than 2,000 wastewater systems and a professor of plant and soil sciences, present a balanced, insightful, and technically rigorous explanation of how these systems need to be sited, designed, and managed
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Performance Guarantees for Government Permit Granting Authorities
This report describes financial and nonfinancial performance guarantees available to communities and explains the advantages and disadvantages of both.Learn about state enabling legislation and get a summary of a survey of communities regarding sources of authority for use; structure and time limits for guarantees; and cost and collection issues, including releasing the permitee from the guarantee.The report includes a glossary of performance guarantee terms as they relate to local government
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Assessing Sustainability: A Guide for Local Governments
Do a web search for sustainable development and you get millions of hits. Everyone wants sustainability; green is the new black.The word is so overused it means everything and nothing. In 1987 the United Nations said sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. But in recent years, greenwashing has made the term ubiquitous — and suspect.Assessing Sustainability tackles two of the biggest questions facing planners today: What is sustainable development, and how do we know when it\u27s working? Does it benefit the environment? Build community equity? Boost the economy? This report strips away the rhetoric to show how local communities can benchmark sustainability and make it a measurable goal
Recommended from our members
Financial Performance Guarantees: The State of Practice
Financial performance guarantees are tools for ensuring that funds needed to pay for improvements called for by development permits and approvals are available in the event a developer defaults on permit requirements. Once limited to surety bonds and cash escrows, new types of guarantees have been developed and are coming into common use. Standby letters of credit, in particular, are being used more widely and have a number of advantages. To use guarantees successfully, municipal governments must make careful decisions about a number of administrative matters. Evidence from 309 municipalities reported in this article can help local planners make the right choices