Check out some of teofilo's recent threads featuring hundreds of photos of small cities and towns in New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona. Okay, Colorado Springs really isn't a small town, but the rest of them ...

Aztec, New Mexico
Boulder, Colorado
Chimayo, New Mexico
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Cortez, Colorado
Flagstaff, Arizona
Golden, Colorado
Manitou Springs, Colorado
Pie Town, New Mexico
Springerville, Arizona
Trinidad, Colorado
Winslow, Arizona

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I am preparing an article for the Planning Commissioners Journal focusing on the situation described below. I would welcome feedback on ways of improving on the following all-too-common scenario: contentious, non-productive public hearings.

Many planning commissioners, at least occasionally, have had the experience of arriving at a public hearing to find a large crowd of citizens angry about a proposed development in their neighborhood. Often the hearing begins with a lengthy presentation by the applicant's architects, engineers, planners, and (sometimes) lawyers explaining the merits of their project and why it must be approved -- followed by a line of residents coming to the microphone to highlight a lengthy list of problems with the project. And often, the temperature in the meeting room feels like it's rising.

Planning commissioners often feel thrust into the middle of controversial projects. Yes, it is their job to decide (or recommend) on the application, but they may ask themselves why many issues between the developer and neighborhood haven't been resolved in advance. At some public hearings, planning commissioners may wish they could call a time out and get the two sides to sit down and work out some of the issues.

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I have been asked to evaluate whether tattoo/piercing studios should be allowed as a by-right or conditional use in our Central Business District; they are currently prohibited. This is a small city of 50,000+ with a university having 30,000 enrolled. The university is adjacent, and practically a part of downtown.

There are currently two tattoo studios in downtown, which are legal non-conforming uses from years ago.

I'm a bit indifferent about the whole thing, but I've never been in a place with a mega-high concentration of tattoo studios either to see the effects. Any thoughts on what I should consider as I evaluate how to treat these things?

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Do such things exist beyond the general city wide ordinances? I'm working with a CDC centered in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood on the south side of Chicago and we are hoping to improve the aesthetics of the commercial corridor. One thing we noticed is that many of the signs are hand painted or otherwise unattractive and thus wondered if there was any way to regulate this. Obviously there are plenty of sign regulations out there, but they tend to be for historic districts and affluent suburbs.

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As a rural planner I am frequently frustrated by developer requests for master plan amendments and zone changes to allow for high density development in undeveloped areas of the county. These requests are typically approved without consideration to the long-term costs of development activities or with much consideration to the additional value that the higher density provides to the developer.

There seems to be a mindset that everyone has a 'right to develop' without consideration of the externalities of development that are expected to be paid for later by the public. This strikes me as similar to the practice of not considering the cost of pollution that has led to the cap and trade of pollution credits being proposed by some in government.

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I want to develop a list (say 5 to 10) of large (100 to 1,000 acre) “destination retail” developments that employ the best current design practices, preferably developed in the last 5 years. Best current design practices to include such items as creative placemaking, good traffic and pedestrian management with focus on good walkability. The traffic management component is important due to the large number of people involved, so good circulation of vehicles in and out of the development is important. Transit oriented design is not a primary criteria, although provisions for future addition would be a nice side feature.

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A small bedroom community of 10,000 population does not currently have a true downtown. There is no street level retail, though the town is not completely sprawled out. There is some light density as retail is about 30' off the road, houses are about 20' from the street. The city is in the process of defining a formal downtown centered around public buildings and some of the most active retail. Does anyone here know of any other towns that have done something similar? Does anyone have any experience or tips for a community trying to do this?

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Got this via Law of the Land Blog. Wonder if they will include any planners?

Under the leadership of Edward J. Sullivan, immediate past chair of the ABA State and Local Government Law Section, and a member of the Portland, Oregon, firm of Garvey Schubert Barer, the State and Local Government Law Section and the Administrative Law Section created a joint task force to focus on developing fair procedures for the enactment and administration of land use regulations. This multi-year effort, with input from Association members and others in the field, has resulted in a proposed model act that will be the subject of discussion in August 2008 as the matter is reviewed by the ABA House of Delegates.

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I have been doing research on policies and regulations to protect areas that are designated as Industrial on our Future Development Map from non-industrial (residential) incursion. This has the impact of inceasing land values due to speculation and placing future residents and future/existing businesses in a potentially adversarial relationship.

I have noticed San Francisco, Seattle, and Chicago have looked at this issue and have developed policies and programs to remediate the situation. Does anyone else done any research, policies, or programs that address this problem who would not mind sharing? Thanks!

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Did you know that a group of frogs is called an army or a colony? Me neither. Here is a link that give more names for groupings of critters than should be allowed. Anyway, what is a group of planners? An obfuscation? A stonewall? Others?

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