A Friday Funny! cartoon courtesy of Paul Zucker, FAICP of Zucker Systems, an excellent public sector management consulting organization based in California:

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A local Building Official/Zoning Inspector enjoying a well-earned vacation trip up in northern Michigan sent The Zoning Guru a copy of a Stafford’s restaurant menu page for “Dessert Wines & Drinks,” along with the following comment:

“I presume the restaurant owner either had an enjoyable encounter with the (local zoning) jurisdiction, or is a Planning Commission member and needs one of these after the meetings!!”

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Planners by nature tend to love what they do (more often than not anyway), but sometimes things can get tough:

• A controversial proposal can bring a roomful of upset residents to a public hearing;
• A looming project deadline can require very long days that extend into the wee hours; or
• A bad day at the office brings five new variance petitions, ten irate ‘customers’ to the service counter, and two angry phone calls from your boss.

Now those are just some hypothetical examples of events that could upset a planner’s day.  Here is the story of a real-life circumstance of one Charlotte, NC area planner “ripped from the headlines“…

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In the past, the conventional wisdom among too many “urban” planners was that agricultural zoning was little more than a “holding zone” for vacant land, waiting for development at some future time.

Today, there is a growing understanding that communities wishing to preserve the agricultural economy and unique character of our rural places must do more than simply respond and react to development pressures.  Planning for the future of rural Michigan communities is part of the mission of Building Place.  Planning for agriculture should be part of local community planning, whether your community is urban or rural in character.

As part of that mission, we are pleased to promote the upcoming 2009 Planning for Agriculture conference hosted by the Michigan Farm Bureau on January 29, 2009…

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