What does it take to prepare a new or refreshed plan that is compelling and effective? What features of award-winning processes and plans are transferable to other communities as best practices? What steps should planners take before and after a plan effort to make it exceptional versus routine?
A veteran Texas planner – with 60+ comprehensive plans completed, including 15 award-winning plans in 5 states – will lead an interactive panel and audience discussion on the latest trends and best practices in comprehensive planning. Represented on the panel will be representatives of four jurisdictions that won the 2022 round of APA comprehensive plan awards nationally and in Texas:
- Greensboro, North Carolina, winner of APA’s Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan.
- Pflugerville, Texas, winner of an APATX Planning Excellence Award for a Comprehensive Plan.
- College Station, Texas, winner of an APATX Planning Excellence Award for a Comprehensive Plan.
- Caldwell, Texas, whose Envision Caldwell Comprehensive Plan merited an APATX Student Project Award for the Texas Target Communities Program at Texas A&M University.
Audience members will be asked to contribute to the discussion with their own insights and lessons learned, along with tips and examples from the panelists for ensuring both effective plan processes and resulting plans. Likely focus areas will include, among others from the panel and audience:
- Highlighting a short list of “Big Ideas” within plans.
- Broadening the scope of plans beyond just physical planning, especially to address equity and inclusion objectives.
- Document design, formats and means of making plans more accessible and navigable, especially online.
- Streamlining plan length and depth of content, especially to make plans more “friendly” for elected and appointed officials.
- Incorporating more systematic implementation tracking mechanisms into plans, using metrics and other tools.
- Building a near-term strategic agenda into comprehensive plans along with the traditional long-term outlook.
- Embracing special area planning as a key component of comprehensive planning processes and resulting plans.
- Professional and ethical guidance for designing and carrying out a comprehensive plan process (e.g., APA Sustaining Places: Best Practices for Comprehensive Plans, AICP Code of Ethics, etc.).
- Pandemic-era adjustments and take-aways that will endure in comprehensive planning.
Gary Mitchell
Invited Speaker
Gary has worked as a professional community planner for 34 years, since 1989. He earned his Master of Urban Planning degree from Texas A&M University in 1988 after completing a B.A. in Economics, with Highest Honors, at the University of Texas at Austin in 1986. Gary’s first job was in …
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Gary has worked as a professional community planner for 34 years, since 1989. He earned his Master of Urban Planning degree from Texas A&M University in 1988 after completing a B.A. in Economics, with Highest Honors, at the University of Texas at Austin in 1986. Gary’s first job was in county planning in New York's Hudson River Valley. He returned to Houston to work throughout the 1990s at the Houston-Galveston Area Council, eventually serving as Chief Regional Planner for a 13-county region with 4.5 million residents and 150 local governments at the time. Gary transitioned into consulting in 1999 in the Houston office of Wilbur Smith Associates where he eventually served as national Director of Urban Planning Services. He joined Kendig Keast Collaborative in 2006 and has been President of KKC since 2016. Over his career, Gary has had the opportunity to complete plans, development regulations and special studies encompassing many aspects of community-wide, downtown, corridor, neighborhood and other special area planning and implementation. He has led or contributed to 60+ comprehensive plans – in communities ranging from 2,000 to 200,000 people. His consulting work has taken him to 18 states besides Texas (Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming). During Gary's time in consulting, 14 communities he has assisted have received APA awards as outstanding examples of urban planning. He has served in leadership positions with both the Texas Chapter and Houston Section of APA. He also currently chairs, and has been a member of the Planning Professional Advisory Council at Texas A&M since the early 2000s. In 2020, Gary added FAICP after his name upon induction into the 600-member AICP College of Fellows. He is also a proud member of Phi Beta Kappa since his induction at UT-Austin.
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Camden White
Invited Speaker
"Camden White is the City Administrator for the City of Caldwell. He knows nothing about planning. In his current role, Camden is responsible for overseeing the daily operations across all departments within the City of Caldwell. Since joining the city in 2019, Caldwell, in partnership with Texas Target Communities, created …
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"Camden White is the City Administrator for the City of Caldwell. He knows nothing about planning. In his current role, Camden is responsible for overseeing the daily operations across all departments within the City of Caldwell. Since joining the city in 2019, Caldwell, in partnership with Texas Target Communities, created the first ever comprehensive plan for the City of Caldwell. After more than four years in his current role, Camden’s to do list continues to grow.
Prior to his current role, Camden served in various capacities with the City of College Station, ERCOT and the Lower Colorado River Authority focusing primarily on utilities operations.
Camden and his wife, Martha, have four active children that keep them running nonstop. "
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Emily Barron
Invited Speaker
Assistant City Manager, City of PflugervilleWith a background in planning that spans over 20 years, Pflugerville Assistant City Manager Emily Barron has played a key role in several transformative projects for the city, fostering a healthy and vibrant quality of life through responsible land use planning and development regulations. During …
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Assistant City Manager, City of PflugervilleWith a background in planning that spans over 20 years, Pflugerville Assistant City Manager Emily Barron has played a key role in several transformative projects for the city, fostering a healthy and vibrant quality of life through responsible land use planning and development regulations. During her tenure with the City of Pflugerville, she has overseen projects including Pflugerville’s comprehensive plan titled Aspire Pflugerville 2040, the City’s Downtown Action Plan, Transportation Master Plan, Community Development Block Grant Program and the historic Colored Addition Infrastructure and Future Land Use project. Emily holds a Bachelor of Science in Geography from Texas State University, is an American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) member, and has been recognized for her leadership and contributions to planning, including receiving the American Planning Association Central Texas Chapter Groundbreaking Planning award.
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Michael Ostrowski
Invited Speaker
Director of Planning and Development Services, City of College Station
"Michael Ostrowski is the Director of Planning and Development Services for the City of College Station, where he oversees areas relating to planning, development review, building plan review and inspections, engineering and infrastructure inspection, development coordination, and GIS. Since joining …
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Director of Planning and Development Services, City of College Station
"Michael Ostrowski is the Director of Planning and Development Services for the City of College Station, where he oversees areas relating to planning, development review, building plan review and inspections, engineering and infrastructure inspection, development coordination, and GIS. Since joining College Station, the department has created an award winning comprehensive plan, undertaken several small area planning efforts, increased public engagement efforts, and has made significant efforts to enhance the development process.
Prior to serving in his current role, Michael served as the Assistant Director of Planning and Development Services for the City of San Marcos, and the Community Development Director for the City of Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
Michael is both a certified planner (AICP) and certified economic developer (CEcD). He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics, political science and public administration from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and a dual Master of Public Administration and Master of Urban Planning degree from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee."
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Sue Schwartz
Invited Speaker
Sue Schwartz, FAICP, is the Planning Director Greensboro, NC. She is recognized for her creative approaches of community engagement and implementation of plans. Sue was the Project Manager for Southside, a redevelopment area in a corner of downtown Greensboro, and it is recognized as one of the first applications of …
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Sue Schwartz, FAICP, is the Planning Director Greensboro, NC. She is recognized for her creative approaches of community engagement and implementation of plans. Sue was the Project Manager for Southside, a redevelopment area in a corner of downtown Greensboro, and it is recognized as one of the first applications of Traditional Neighborhood Development concepts for an infill area. It received national awards from US EPA, the American Planning Association and the Sierra Club. Sue served as President of the American Institute of Certified Planners and is a member of the AICP College of Fellows.
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