Help me teach people how to be commission members.

September 14, 2007 10:29 AM

Good Citizenship Filter: How to be a good planning commissioner.

I have to do a presentation on "The job of a planning commissioner". This can be a very dry presentation. I want to talk about how to be a GOOD planning commissioner. How planning is beneficial to everyone, all that good jazz. Anyone have any insights?

Someone else well be talking about Robert's Rules, Law, etc. so I don't have to worry about that part.

These people are generally older, moneyed, and quite conservative, so any economic benefits would be great too.

Any specific education theory insights would rock my world too. I am in charge of making sure ALL of our planning workshops are educationally sound. Right now we rely very heavily on the lecture format, which people just don't retain.

posted by stormygrey to law & government (9 comments total)

Look to the tenets of New Urbanism, and talk about the historic roles that major urban planners have held (Central Park?).
posted by klangklangston at 10:58 AM on September 14, 2007

See the publication The Commissioner, which is published by the American Planning Association. Actually, there's lots of good info on their website. Also, new urbanism is not the only thing out there. And as a planner myself, I'm sick of it.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 11:03 AM on September 14, 2007

Might help to say a bit more about your audience. Are they there voluntarily? Is it a presentation to convince them to take planning courses, or to hire trained planners, or what?
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:04 AM on September 14, 2007

Also, the blog for the Planning Commissioners Journal looks interesting. One of the best websites for all-around planning and development info is Planetizen. You might dig around in there.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 11:17 AM on September 14, 2007

Guess I wasn't done, quite. Looks like you're in Georgia. The Georgia Planning Association puts out a newsletter for planning officials. Check that.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 11:23 AM on September 14, 2007

Lobster Mitten and others: The audience is new commissioner members from south Georgia, we always get a smattering of elected officials and staff as well. They are not required to go, but as a state agency we make it very easy for them to attend.

The first part is: your job, what is planning, history of planning, etc. I am only doing your job and a what is planning. An overview of the two days is below

Community Vision and Planning
An overview of the importance of a community vision in planning for the future. What is the role of the planning commission in helping define that vision? How can you work with your community’s citizens and governing body to make that vision a reality?

Getting the Most out of Your Local Plan
A discussion of plan implementation methods. A variety of tools can be used to implement your community’s plan, but not all of these tools are regulatory. Learn how and when to apply each type of tool, and where you can go for more help.

The Good, the Bad and the Legal
Learn the latest on legal issues in planning and zoning, including takings, due process and vested rights. This session covers the importance of the comprehensive plan as a legal basis for decision-making. Instructors will guide participants through Georgia’s current laws governing the exercise of zoning powers and conflicts of interest, the latest changes enacted by the General Assembly and relevant Georgia case law.

Doing the Right Thing in Planning and Zoning
Participate in interactive exercises that provide participants hands-on experience in meeting the challenges of making the right decisions, based on sound planning and ethical principles. The popular Quinn County exercise demonstrates how it feels to face an agenda full of challenging development and zoning issues. But making sound planning decisions may mean more than following the plan-you may find yourself in a situation that calls for a decision based on ethical considerations.
posted by stormygrey at 11:24 AM on September 14, 2007

Do not trust drawings provided by developers, nor the potential impacts as described by residents opposed to projects. Go to the site yourself and look around and imagine how the proposal will affect the block, the neighborhood, the community and the region.

Understand that developers can provide a professional market study that will appear to support ANY proposed development, so do some of your own market analysis when possible/practical. If your know your community well, trust your own instincts at least as much as you trust the information provided by those for and against any project.

Take advantage of any 'Citizen Planner' type courses available through your statewide municipal organizations. But, understand that planning principals should not always trump community realities.

Have the courage to judge each proposal on its own merits. Don't assume that because you 'set a precedent' by allowing a certain development to proceed that you automatically have to make the same decision for every similar proposal.

Finally, please understand that property owners have rights, so don't vote against a project just because you don't like it -- try to be objective.
posted by OilPull at 11:48 AM on September 14, 2007

Also have them take a look at Cyburbia. There is a "citizen planners" subforum that caters to planning commissioners, board of adjustment members, and the like.
posted by elmwood at 12:20 PM on September 26, 2007

Yep. Cyburbia is a good choice, too. Okay, I'm stopping with this now.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 2:16 PM on September 26, 2007