Here’s a big “Thank You!” from our Zoning Guru, Rodney Nanney, to Shelley Tucker and the Michigan Townships Association for hosting such a great series of “Summer Evening” planning/zoning workshops across the state!

All four sessions were well attended, and all four venues were top notch. It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to present our “Nine Golden Rules for Defensible Decision-making” workshop, and to have a few extra minutes to talk about what Planning Commissions should be doing right now during this period of very tight budgets and little development activity.

If you would like to invite Building Place Consultants and Rodney Nanney out to make a presentation to your community group, check out our Speaking Opportunities page or click here to contact Rodney directly.

Solar panels OK for home, legal battle over for Canton couple

The push for alternative and renewable energy production in Michigan received a small but important boost recently when a Canton, Michigan homeowners’ association (HOA) backed down from its initial decision to deny the installation of solar cells on the roof of a home.  Here is an excerpt from the Detroit Free Press article: (more…)

Michigan Wetlands Meeting

Friday, March 12, 2010 at 9:00 a.m.

Hosted by the Michigan Wetlands Association, Agriculture and Natural Resources Week

Kellogg Center, Michigan State University

Are You Interested in Wetland Science, Policy and Stewardship?

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2010 Michigan Townships Association Educational Conference Session

Thank you to everyone who attended our recent session on regulating small wind turbines at the recent Michigan Townships Association conference in Grand Rapids. Click here to view our PowerPoint presentation, and to download the handout materials. Click here to contact Mr. Nanney directly with any additional questions.

BREAKING NEWS!

New US Rules To Favor Streetcars, Other ‘Livability’ Projects

By Josh Mitchell of Dow Jones Newswires  (excerpted)

The Obama administration said Wednesday it would begin steering more funds toward…

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The following case summary was adapted from one prepared by Kurt Schindler at MSU-Extension; excerpts reprinted with permission from the author. The Zoning Guru chose this case because it answers the $Million question elected officials face when confronted with a development-related lawsuit:

“Do we defend our master plan?“

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Community planning tends to be an odd mix of science and technical know-how with art and creativity. Unfortunately, the art and creativity side can too often be lost under a sea of legalities, zoning administration, and other more mundane, day-to-day tasks. This is especially evident in the area of planning literature, where the vast majority of articles deal primarily with the technical side of planning.

We at Building Place are pleased to make better use of the right side of our brains by publishing another in our “planning fiction” series of short stories or vignettes…

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News courtesy of Kurt Schindler at MSU-Extension:

A new manual describing Low Impact Development (LID) techniques that uses basic principles modeled after nature to protect the environment and manage storm water runoff for land development in Michigan is now available.

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For many living in Michigan, Thursday, August 14, 2003 was the day we truly experienced the “inky blackness” of a night without artificial outdoor lighting - as the Great Northeast Power Blackout of 2003 left parts of the northeastern United States in the dark for a day or more.

The Zoning Guru was one of those people who learned that week how much we rely on artificial light at night.  We also got a brief glimpse of many stars that we no longer see in the night sky due to light pollution from parking lot lighting and other exterior light sources.

Exterior lighting serves a wide variety of purposes, including:

• attracting attention (advertising),
• entertainment,
• aesthetics (such as landscape or architectural lighting),
• safety and security,
• warnings of danger, and
• illuminating our paths.

When overused or poorly shielded, however, such lighting dominates the night sky, blotting out the starts and leaving the characteristically orange glow of light pollution over urban areas.

Can we do anything about light pollution? …absolutely.  Do we need to cut the power again? No, but we do need to make smarter and more efficient decisions with regards to our exterior lighting choices if we want to restore the night sky in our urban and suburban neighborhoods… (more on this and an upcoming free lighting presentation on March 10th below)

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How to revitalize a neighborhood?  By listening to its residents.

Community planners and planning consultants (like many “experts”) can easily fall into the trap of listening too little and talking too much.  Planning is not like medicine, and planners should beware not to find themselves in the position of saying, “I know what’s best for you, now take this medicine and you’ll be all better soon.”

The following tale is adapted and summarized from “Polishing Up the Diamond,” an excellent article from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business - Center for Social Innovation.  What it offers for professional planners is a reminder to avoid the ‘expert trap’ - often the most successful ideas for making a place better come from those that live and work there…

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A key objective of community planning is the building of healthy, vibrant, and distinctive neighborhoods.

Proximity, association, and accessibility between home, work, and leisure activities are essential factors in building places with a strong sense of community.  In the book A Pattern Language, author Christopher Alexander advocates for a comprehensive change in the nature of zoning.  He envisions a work - home relationship where…

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