The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Department is a joint City/County Planning Department that advises the City Council and Board of County Commissioners on land use, design plans, zoning, land development, transportation/ transit, economic development, public facilities, and other general planning matters. Through public processes over the years, the Department had amassed dozens of adopted small area plans and hundreds of plan recommendations by 2005, but lacked funding and a comprehensive means to achieve implementation on the ground. Planning Director Debra Campbell asked the philosophical question; “Why is an Area Plan done, if we cannot implement it?

Quinn, Lori

Suttle, Bryman

Carolina Digital Repository

55Reinforcing Our Relevancy in a Local ContextArea Plan Implementation Program:  From Paper to ProgressLori Quinn and Bryman SuttleThe Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Department is a joint City/County Planning Department that advises the City Council and Board of County Commissioners on land use, design plans, zoning, land development, transportation/transit, economic development, public facilities, and other general planning matters.  Through public processes over the years, the Department had amassed dozens of adopted small area plans and hundreds of plan recommendations by 2005, but lacked funding and a comprehensive means to achieve implementation on the ground.  Planning Director Debra Campbell asked the philosophical question; “Why is an Area Plan done, if we cannot implement it?”  In response to this need for tracking and follow-through on the community’s collective planning vision, the Planning Department created the Area Plan Implementation Program in order to inventory, analyze, track, fund, and implement capital projects and other recommendations originating from Council adopted small area plans.  Since the summer of 2006, the Planning Department has implemented several infrastructure projects that were recommended in area 56Carolina Planning    Volume 37Case Studies from NCAPA ContributorsDatabase example. Planners use the database to quickly identify projects geospatially and by project type.  Although a short project description is included, this table provides the ID and page number giving the specific location for where that particular recom-mendation can be found in the plan. The planner can now retrieve additional context if necessary as well as identify any overlap of other City projects.plans, and has tracked the implementation of an array of recommendations from various departments.  FundingWithout specific funds for the implementation of some of the area plans, the documents struggled to remain relevant. Therefore, one of the program’s first objectives was to demonstrate a financial need to attract financial commitment from Council. The Plan Implementation Team began work with the 2006 Transportation Bond on the horizon.  The Planning Department presented a set of the comprehensive matrices along with supporting maps to the Budget Department for consideration for upcoming bonds.  The program was accepted for Bond participation and voters eventually approved the bonds in 2006, 2008 and 2010; providing $2.5 million per year for area plan implementation projects.  The Planning Department thereby positioned itself as a recipient of neighborhood bond funding, which would go towards directly implementing capital projects envisioned during the area plan process. Using these funds, the Planning Department now manages its own capital investment program to construct and initiate capital improvement projects.  Historically, the City’s Engineering department  managed the funds appropriated for implementation projects.  Often, monies earmarked for implementing recommendations were insignificant and not enough to focus on the needs identified in the adopted plans. Projects implemented were a small fraction of those included in the area plan. The program resulted in a more seamless flow from Paper to Progress, and more direct visibility of results in the eyes of the community, than previously existed.  To date, several ambitious capital improvement projects have been constructed or initiated in fulfillment of Area Plan recommendations. Starting this project with no legacy database or process allowed the team to be open to many technological options but it also required the creation of clear and attainable goals. ProcessIn setting up the program, the Plan Implementation Team defined a scope and work flow to gather the details needed to support the effort.  Below are the general steps, in order, to getting our projects into a geospatial database. :1. Interpret and document area plan recommendations2. Design a database structured to provide answers toquestions posed by citizens and elected officials3. Design symbology and standard mapping practicesfor simple interpretation of data4. Establish how queries and analysis would be reported.The Plan Implementation Team created an Exceldatabase documenting thirty Area Plans from which hundreds of recommendations were extracted.  These included hard recommendations, such as sidewalks, corrective rezonings, and pedestrian scale lighting, as well as soft ones like community safety, increased home ownership, and creation of neighborhood organizations.  The recommendations were organized and presented in a matrix format and then mapped in GIS.  The geodatabase included specific attributes to allow staff to IdAdopted Date/PageProgram CategoryProject Type Project Name Project Description (IAI)eastb001 06-02 / 32 Infrastructure Planning Analysis/StudyConduct an engineering study to explore poten-tial roadway and pedestrian improvements to East Boulevard, such as PED refuges, bulb outs, signalized crossings, planted medians and bicycle accommodationseastb002 06-02 / 32 Infrastructure Vehicular StreetAbandon the right-turn channel lane at Dilworth Road West and East Boulevard and convert to an area for public and pedestrian use only.eastb003 06-02 / 33 Infrastructure Safety Bulb OutInstall bulb outs at intersections in the PED area where on-street parking exists and where there is adequate roadway width to provide this extension of the curb area.eastb004 06-02 / 34 Infrastructure Safety PED RefugeBetween Euclid Avenue and Dilworth Road West, explore the construction of a true median or PED refuge.57Reinforcing Our Relevancy in a Local Contextquery and categorize the vast array of recommendations. The attributes included in the database were based on common requests for data and reports staff received from both public officials and citizens such as funding source, lead agency and leverage opportunities to name a few. To aid with tabular analysis, all projects were placed into predefined project categories, types, and names.  For example, the broad category might be “Infrastructure,” the project type might be “Vehicular,” and the project name might further describe the project to be a particular “Street Name.”  All project recommendations were also assigned specific symbology to allow users to visually comprehend the nature of any particular plan recommendation.The end products now reside within the Implementation chapters of adopted area plans, utilizing the established matrix format and geodatabase created during this initiative.  Examples of the completed projects include a sidewalk connecting a local elementary school to a neighborhood and a greenway connection to the local residences.  Two streetscape projects have been recently implemented; they incorporate a road diet, consequently improving traffic flow and, reducing the number of through traffic lanes allowing for bike lanes, turn lanes with landscaped medians, and enhanced pedestrian crossings.    Lessons from the Development of the Database Development:1. Innovation: The Plan Implementation Program teamtook advantage of technology to create a centralizedcataloging of area plan recommendations, designedfor accurate analysis, project selection, and costestimation.  This cataloging system allowed staff toidentify projects for capital funding in less time andwith more specificity than could be accomplishedpreviously.2. Collaboration: The database supports collaborationefforts between City and/or County departmentsby identifying geographically similar projects andinitiatives that other departments may be considering.Staff are able to access and utilize this data whenpresented with proposals from the private developmentcommunity—by leveraging funds from privatedevelopment, or other capital and neighborhoodprograms, it extends the City’s resources allowingfor more projects to be implemented than originallyprojected.3. Data consistency: The data needs to be consistentacross plans.  Having too many caveats or exceptionshinder analysis.  Indexing plan recommendations anddigitizing individual items allows the departmentto conduct cost estimation, which helps determinecapital project funding.  Without data standards, youranalysis will be limited.4. Funding:  As a result of the Plan ImplementationProgram, the Planning Department is able to trackfunding to determine where monies are beingdirected.  In utilizing GIS, staff can locate anddetermine needs based on attributes and geography.Tracking of past expenditures, while understandingfuture project needs, has been useful as well indetermining budgetary requirements of proposedprojects.  Staff is also able to provide up–to-date dataof funded projects to citizens as well as City Counciland County Commission concerning the level ofexpenditure in any geography.ConclusionIn documenting all the previous implementation items from plans, the Planning Department recognized the need to create more defined projects in  future area plans; one that empowers planners to work with the community to develop a realistic opportunity for implementation. Now, with a better understanding of the costs association with area plan recommendations future area plans now organize the recommendations according to importance to the community’s vision. This program further encourages collaboration between Planning and other City business functions for a more comprehensive implementation plan.The trust built by planners during the extensive public input process is enhanced by taking the plan Dilworth Land Use Plan.  Image courtesy of Lori Quinn.58Carolina Planning    Volume 37Case Studies from NCAPA Contributors2012 NCAPA Conference“Re-Imagine Planning:  Regional Thinking, Local Placemaking”September 26 - 28, 2012Wilmington Convention CenterWilmington, NCExplore the issues discussed here – and more – at the annual gathering of the state APA chapter.  Visit the Carolina Planning exhibit table, attend our panel discussion on this issue, and choose from numerous other panels, gatherings, and mobile sessions.Save the date!For more information, visit http://www.nc-apa.org.through to implementation rather than solely depending on other city and/or county departments to fill this role.  The Department also has a seat at the table for collaboration with other departments and government agencies to align capital resources on joint projects.  The Plan Implementation Program has improved the Planning Department’s credibility, raised community expectations and involvement, enhanced citizen participation in the area plan process, and provided a great sense of accomplishment for our area planners in seeing a community’s vision implemented.  The authors would like to acknowledge the following members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Department for their contributions to this piece:• Alberto Gonzalez, Principal Planner• Martha “Gay” Grayson, Principal Planner• Garet Johnson, Assistant Director• Kent Main, Planning CoordinatorDilworth Streetscape Plan. Image courtesy of Lori Quinn.Lori Quinn works as a Planning Coordinator for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Department. She earned her Master of Arts in Geography from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and has experience applying GIS in land development analysis, environmental analysis and database design.Bryman Suttle works for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg PlanningDepartment. He has over 10 years of experience as a communityplanner.

Area Plan Implementation Program: From Paper to Progress

http://cdr.lib.unc.edu/downloads/sq87bw05h

Area Plan Implementation Program: From Paper to Progress

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Carolina Digital Repository