We provide a full range of planning and project services, legal and litigation support services, issues research and management services, and computer applications. We take pride in our ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams in evaluating and solving complex planning problems.

In addition, we have recently developed the DO-IT-YOURSELF GENERAL PLAN®, a comprehensive training program that helps cities and counties update their general plan in-house. Please click the link below to review this new program to see if it fits your needs and budget.

Our planning and project support services include:

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General Plans

We have helped more than 50 California cities and counties prepare comprehensive General Plan Updates. We have a thorough knowledge of General Plan law. We work with large and small, urban and rural, cities and counties to carry out General Plan update programs tailored to their specific needs. We work closely with our clients throughout the update programs to assure relevance, quality, and responsiveness of the General Plan. We are also actively involved in determining how General Plans should best respond to new State laws, such as AB 32, SB 375, and AB 170. Our unequalled experience and broad expertise result in uniformly excellent work products and satisfied clients. We offer the following services:

  • General plan adequacy evaluation
  • Work program, budget, and schedule preparation
  • Consultant team screening and selection
  • Overall project management
  • Project initiation
  • Stakeholder interviews
  • Website creation and maintenance
  • Community outreach
  • GIS mapping and database development
  • Existing conditions analysis
  • Alternatives analysis
  • Visioning
  • Goals, policies, and implementation program development
  • EIR coordination and evaluation
  • Public hearings and adoption
  • Final document preparation
  • Implementation studies and projects
  • Annual reports
  • Five-year reviews

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Housing Elements and Programs

State requirements regarding housing element implementation have become more stringent in the last several years. Local governments must now annually document their progress on the implementation of their housing element. This has created a burden for local governments, especially for those with limited staff resources, who often must implement 60 or more programs over a five-year planning period. Failure to carry out many of the housing element’s implementation programs may make it more difficult for local governments to obtain a certified element in the next housing element update cycle. We have extensive experience not only preparing housing elements, but also with assisting cities and counties with the following implementation efforts:

  • General plan amendments
  • Zoning code updates and amendments to address changes in State law, reasonable accommodation, density bonus, inclusionary housing, universal design, foreclosure, tenant protection, blight elimination
  • Infill/downtown housing strategies
  • Public education workshops on affordable and high-density housing
  • Redevelopment implementation plans
  • Consolidated plans
  • Special housing studies, including inclusionary housing, impediments to fair housing, commercial linkage fee, housing trust fund, parking demand

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Specific Plans

We have helped over 10 cities and private developer groups prepare Specific Plans and Master Plans.  We have a thorough knowledge of Specific Plan law and implementation requirements.  We have been successful in preparing plans in some of the most regulatory-complex environments in California, including the Coastal Zone, San Francisco Bay shoreline, and the Lake Tahoe Basin. We work closely with our clients throughout the plan preparation process to assure sound and comprehensive plans that meet local, State, and Federal requirements. Our unequalled experience and broad expertise, particularly with large or complex projects, result in uniformly excellent plans and satisfied clients. We offer the following services:

  • Work program, budget, and schedule preparation
  • Consultant team screening and selection
  • Overall project management
  • Project initiation
  • Stakeholder interviews
  • Website creation and maintenance
  • Community outreach
  • Land use planning and urban design
  • GIS analysis
  • Existing conditions analysis
  • Alternatives analysis
  • Visioning
  • Policy development
  • EIR coordination and evaluation
  • Meeting facilitation
  • Public hearings and adoption
  • Final document preparation

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Project Management

We provide project management services for a broad range of projects and programs. We help our clients prepare project work programs, budgets, and schedules tailored to their specific needs and objectives. We make sure our clients have the right team of specialists to get the job done right and then closely manage the work to assure the project is completed on time and within budget. We are particularly skilled at managing large, interdisciplinary teams to carry out complex planning projects.  Project management services include:

  • Project descriptions
  • Detailed work programs by phase, task, and sub-task
  • Deliverables by phase
  • Budgets by phase, task, and person
  • Detailed project schedules
  • Contract preparation
  • Selection and management of technical specialists
  • Project oversight, coordination, and management
  • Detailed monthly status reports
  • Problem-solving and troubleshooting

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Legal Support

We provide a variety of legal support services to public agencies, law firms, and private clients, including:

  • Expert witness testimony in land use litigation
  • General plan legal adequacy evaluation
  • Drafting and reviewing land use initiatives and referenda
  • CEQA document peer review
  • Evaluating zoning, subdivision, and other project approvals for consistency with the general plan

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Legislative Research and Policy Development

We help state associations and lobbyists develop background information and policy on issues pending before the legislature or administration. Based on our extensive experience in managing comprehensive planning projects and conducting focused research on a broad range of specific topics, we can provide research and policy advice in the following areas:

Land Use

  • Residential Development
  • Commercial Development
  • Industrial Development
  • Open Space
  • Timberland
  • Agriculture
  • Recreation
  • Coastal Land Use
  • Public Buildings and Grounds

Housing

  • Housing Needs
  • Housing Stock
  • Availability of Land and Services for Residential Development
  • Constraints on the Production of Housing

Transportation

  • Street and Road Systems
  • Parking
  • Transit Service
  • Rail Service
  • Air Transportation
  • Bikeways and Pedestrian Trails

Public Facilities and Services

  • Water Services
  • Wastewater Collection, Treatment, and Disposal
  • Storm Drainage and Flood Protection
  • Schools
  • Fire Protection
  • Law Enforcement
  • Solid Waste Disposal
  • Pipelines and Transmission Lines

Recreational and Cultural Resources

  • Parks and Recreation
  • Historically- and Architecturally-Significant Buildings and Sites
  • Scenic Highways

Natural Resources

  • Agricultural Resources
  • Forestry Resources
  • Mineral Resources

Health and Safety

  • Seismic and Geologic Hazards
  • Flooding Hazards
  • Fire Hazards
  • Tsunami Preparedness
  • Emergency Response

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Community Outreach and Involvement

We are a leader in crafting innovative, effective community outreach efforts that both inform the public and gather valuable input about community issues, needs, and expectations. Effective communication with community residents and businesses is an essential element for successful projects and programs. Outreach techniques include:

  • Townhall forums
  • Facilitated community workshops
  • Planning and design charrettes
  • Informational open houses
  • Focus groups
  • Policy and technical advisory committees
  • Community connectors
  • Coordination of translation services and outreach to non-English speakers
  • Project website design and maintenance
  • Email blasts
  • Newsletters and e-newsletters
  • Community event information booths
  • PowerPoint presentations

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Focused Research and Analysis

We undertake a wide range of special studies related to planning, environment, and development. We have broad research and analytical skills that can be applied to a wide range of challenging, difficult topics. We help our clients clearly define their needs and objectives, prepare a scope of work to fully address those needs and objectives, conduct research, analyze the data, and prepare clear conclusions and recommendations. Our research results are presented in a clear and concise report that maximizes the use of graphics and illustrations. Examples of past research projects include:

  • Designing for Tsunamis
  • City of Woodland Urban Limit Line Study
  • Northridge Earthquake Land Use Implications Analysis

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Climate Change and Sustainability

California has experienced a major shift in environmental policy as a result of AB 32, SB 97, and SB 375. We now have to plan and develop our communities in a more sustainable way. Many of our clients have found themselves at the center of climate change-related issues, legal threats, and increased environmental scrutiny. In recognition of the continuing changes in this area, we have developed creative and effective approaches to dealing with global warming and climate change while planning for more sustainable futures. Our expertise places our clients at the forefront of climate change-readiness, including: mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and climate change impacts, identifying and exploiting carbon sequestration resources, preparing legally-defensible plans and environmental documents, and creating climate action plans and strategies. We are uniquely qualified to address your climate change needs with capabilities that include:

  • Advising clients on voluntary programs and registry participation (e.g., ICLIE) and writing grants for climate change-related programs and activities (e.g., Energy and Efficiency Conservation Block Grants)
  • Educating clients, decision-makers, and stakeholders on the importance of global warming and associated legislation, greenhouse gas emissions and reduction measures, global and regional climate change impacts, carbon sequestration opportunities, and how to implement climate change legislation
  • Developing and conducting custom public outreach programs on global warming, climate change, and sustainability
  • Developing and employing methodologies to quantify baseline greenhouse gas emissions inventories and establishing reduction targets for communities
  • Preparing realistic goals, policies, implementation programs, and actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to regional climate change impacts, and exploit local carbon sequestration resources
  • Analyzing the costs and benefits of greenhouse gas reduction and sustainability measures
  • Updating General Plans to be climate change-ready, preparing Climate Actions Plans (CAPs) and Strategies, and developing regional plans (e.g., Sustainable Communities Plans or Alternative Communities Strategies) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
  • Developing and operating programs to monitor the effectiveness of policies and programs in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preparing for climate change impacts
  • Preparing legally-defensible plans and environmental documents (CEQA/NEPA)
  • Representation in regional planning efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (i.e., implementation of SB 375)

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AB 170 Implementation

AB 170, signed into law in 2003, requires the 58 cities and eight counties in the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) to revise their general plans to include goals, policies, and implementation programs for improving air quality. Fresno and Kern Counties, and the cities in those counties, must comply with AB 170 by August 2009. The other cities and counties must comply by August 2010. We have helped numerous cities and counties address air quality in their general plans and can assist San Joaquin Valley cities and counties comply with AB 170 in several ways:

  • Identify gaps in adopted general plan air quality-related goals, policies, and implementation programs
  • Prepare matrix demonstrating compliance or showing compliance gaps
  • Prepare work scope and budget for required general plan amendments
  • Provide model air quality goals, policies, and implementation programs
  • Draft goals, policies, and implementation programs to fill gaps in adopted general plans
  • Team with air emissions technical specialists to update emissions inventory data
  • Prepare submittal to the SJVAPCD in compliance with State law

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Consensus Building and Conflict Resolution

Planning for the future of a community is often marked with contentious debate and conflict over seemingly irresolvable differences of opinion. With 25 years of experience, we have helped resolve a wide range of contentious and charged issues in communities. We work with local governments, community stakeholders, interest groups, and elected official to resolve conflicts through collaboration. We can help a community move through difficult issues with a variety of tools and techniques including:

  • Consensus building workshops
  • Mediated forums
  • Interest-based negotiation. 

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Municipal Services Reviews

We offer various services to special districts, cities, counties, and LAFCOs to make changes in the structure of public agencies through MSRs, SOI updates, studies, programs, and actions. We have a thorough knowledge of LAFCO law. We offer the following services:

  • Preparing MSRs that project future growth, examine the present and planned capacity for public infrastructure and services, evaluate the financial ability to provide services, assess local accountability and operational efficiencies, review contractual service agreements, and identify possibilities for shared infrastructure and services.
  • Developing plans for determining and updating SOIs and other LAFCO adopted boundaries (e.g., Areas of Interest) consistent with MSRs, local plans, and orderly sustainable growth patterns.
  • Preparing and executing annexation and detachment applications of territory to or from cities and special districts.
  • Conducting studies to evaluate proposals for the formation or dissolution of special districts; incorporation or disincorporation of cities; consolidation or reorganization of cities or special districts; provision of new, latent, or different services; and extension of services.
  • Facilitating communication, collaboration, and conflict resolution between public agencies.

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Report Preparation and Printing Services

We have designed, formatted, and produced literally hundreds of documents ranging from simple newsletters to 1,000 page reports. We also produce high-quality, large format prints and aerial photos.  Typically, these services are provided as part of one of our planning consulting projects; however, our report preparation and printing expertise can be applied to any subject. We offer the following services:

  • Text editing
  • Publication design layout and formatting
  • Graphic design
  • Printing
  • Binding

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GIS and Graphic Design

We provide various Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and graphic design services, including:

  • Logo, layout, and digital design (Adobe Creative Suite, Google Earth Pro, Google SketchUp)
  • Newsletters and mailers
  • Website and FTP site development, maintenance, and hosting
  • Video production and webhosting
  • GIS development (ArcGIS, Spatial Analyst, 3D Analyst)

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Writing and Editing

We have always been committed to good writing. We believe that we are among the best writers in our field, and take great pains to ensure that every document we produce is not only technically correct, but also is well written, concise, and formatted attractively. Whether text originates with our own staff or with one of our outside contributors, we subject it to a rigorous editorial process. On several occasions we have been asked by clients to reformat and edit documents produced by others to ready them for public review.

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