Wed 24 Feb, 2010
Are You Interested in Wetland Science, Policy and Stewardship?
Mon 1 Feb, 2010
Welcome, all of our new Building Place Notebook readers!
We at Building Place are celebrating a pair of milestones this week, thanks to our readers: Our Building Place Notebook online newsletter received its…
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Sat 30 Jan, 2010
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.
Tue 26 Jan, 2010
The following was adapted from an update prepared by Kurt Schindler at MSU-Extension; reprinted with permission from the author:
The Michigan Commission on Agriculture adopted a Generally Accepted Agricultural Management Practice (GAAMP) for farm markets (effective January 2010).
Wed 13 Jan, 2010
By Josh Mitchell of Dow Jones Newswires (excerpted)
The Obama administration said Wednesday it would begin steering more funds toward…
Tue 29 Dec, 2009
Paul Zucker, FAICP of Zucker Systems, Inc. just sent out an excellent “Management Doctor” message (excerpt below):
Dear Management Doctor,
I attended your 2-day seminar for Planning Directors a couple of years ago and found it to be quite informative. Some of the staff I now directly or indirectly supervise are not planners but are trained building inspectors or maintenance staff. I imagine that many Community Development Directors find themselves now having supervisory responsibilities over … engineers, inspectors, operations/maintenance, information technologies or administrative support to name a few.
Their respective skill-sets can be widely varying and can pose interesting supervisory challenges, particularly if the Director is not an expert in “their field.” I believe there would be a significant amount of interest in future sessions on specifically supervising or directing non-planner municipal staffs.
- “Non-Planner Challenged”
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About Zucker Systems, Inc.
“Zucker Systems takes its lead from the Japanese word ‘kaizen‘ (’a constant search for a better way’). We continually search for a more effective and efficient way to do things. These better ways produce greater service to our clients, as well as helping to create better communities. … We see ourselves as agents of change.
“To our knowledge, Zucker Systems is the only consulting firm in the United States that specializes in the analysis of planning, building and community development functions and related departments. Organization, management and process consultation is primarily completed for city and county government and non-profit clients.”
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Dear Non-Planner Challenged,
Mon 9 Nov, 2009
The following was adapted from a notice prepared by Kurt Schindler at MSU-Extension; reprinted with permission from the author:
Note: For our readers outside of the Great Lakes State, “snowbirds” are Michigan residents who “migrate” from the state to live part of the year in warmer climates like Florida, the Caribbean, and similar places (Costa Rica and Belize are up and coming places for some wealthier snowbirds).
Michigan has more snowbirds than many other states, with an average of 2.1 percent of Michigan’s residents identified as part-year residents. Most of Michigan’s part-year residents have their permanent homes in Michigan and spend the smaller part of the year in another state, which means they need to be counted in Michigan.
Michigan residents who spend a smaller portion of the year at a residence in another state should be sure to fill out the Census form for Michigan, and in your community. Local governments should take steps now to help people understand the importance of telling the Census they are a resident of Michigan — rather than the state where they spend winter.
Mon 2 Nov, 2009
“What do Planners do?”
The Zoning Guru has been asked variations of this same question many times.
Urban Designer… Developer… Zoning Officer… Master Planner… Planning Commissioner… Elected Official… Grant Administrator… Advocate the public interest… Department Manager… Consultant… Teacher… Coordinator… Downtown Redevelopment Specialist… etc., etc.
Planners wear many hats, and specialize in many areas of community building. Here is The Zoning Guru’s first attempt at…
Mon 26 Oct, 2009
Unfortunately, the art and creativity side of community planning tends to 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.
The author of the following piece, Rodney C. Nanney, AICP, is pleased to make better use of the right side of his brain by publishing another in our “planning fiction” series:
What you need to know: It’s 2027. Automobiles have been gradually outlawed, except for emergency use, after an Islamist/neo-fascist terrorist group detonated a 100-megaton nuclear device in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia five years earlier. The bomb caused a series of chain reaction explosions and firestorms within the country’s oil producing infrastructure, culminating in an unanticipated but titanic detonation of the country’s underground reserves which obliterated most of the Arabian peninsula and destroyed or contaminated 90% of the world’s remaining oil reserves.
Mon 19 Oct, 2009
In his book What Your Planning Professor Forgot to Tell You, Paul Zucker, FAICP offers practical advice for new professional planners. Reading it inspired me to reflect on the experiences that have helped me to be successful in this field, both before and after receiving my degree.
I’d like to offer some “words of wisdom” to new urban and regional planning students, which are based upon my experience and the collective wisdom of the many professional planners and others I’ve come into contact with since I started down this career path:
Mon 12 Oct, 2009
We’ve updated the Building Place Notebook’s right hand sidebar with several new features:
Now it’s easier than ever to find exactly what you’re looking for in the Building Place Notebook! We’ve added a “tag cloud” of the most popular tags on our articles. Scroll down the sidebar to click on any topic “tag” to see all of our articles covering that topic.
The Zoning Guru follows numerous community planning-related blogs and news websites, big and small. We’re big fans of…
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Fri 9 Oct, 2009
The Michigan Association of Planning (MAP) has several excellent educational opportunities coming up:
November 4, 2009 (8:30 a.m. - 5:45 p.m.)
Lansing, MI - Radisson Hotel
6.5 or 8 AICP CM credits (pending approval)
MAP is bringing together state and national experts to showcase how successful communities link health, land use, and innovative transportation solutions, such as:
Mon 28 Sep, 2009
Welcome to our new Building Place Notebook readers from Planetizen.com!
We at Building Place are celebrating a couple of milestones that made us smile this week, thanks to our readers: Our Building Place Notebook online newsletter received its…
(more…)
Thu 24 Sep, 2009
A Friday Funny! cartoon courtesy of Paul Zucker, FAICP of Zucker Systems, an excellent public sector management consulting organization based in California:
Tue 15 Sep, 2009
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:
Tue 8 Sep, 2009
Earlier this year President Obama’s federal “stimulus program” swept across the country offering federal funding to jump start “shovel-ready” capital improvement projects. 
This highlighted the ongoing need for local governments to be more nimble and able to respond without delay to new economic development and community building opportunities. For long-term success, local governments must do more than simply respond and react.
An up-to-date capital improvements program (CIP) is a tool local governments can use to plan for major expenditures, to ensure that public funds are used wisely and as efficiently as possible, and most importantly - to be prepared with “shovel-ready” projects when unexpected sources of funding appear!
Wed 2 Sep, 2009
From the Planning and Zoning Center at Michigan State University:
Registration for the Fall 2009 Michigan Zoning Administrator Certificate Program offered by the Planning and Zoning Center at MSU is now open. There are eight modules included in each training program leading to a certificate of completion for those that pass an exam associated with each module. Each module is about three hours of instruction (24 hours total).
Dates and locations:
Mon 31 Aug, 2009
Apparently we should designate August as the “Planners in Literature Month” here at the Building Place Notebook.
It is true that the dog days of summer are a great time to enjoy a quiet evening with a little light reading. We have a great “light” book to recommend today as part of the Building Place “planning fiction” series of short stories or vignettes.
Today’s posting is an excerpt from the Tom Bodett book, The End of the Road - a collection of light-hearted short stories about the people of the town of “End of the Road, Alaska.” This book is a rarety in that it includes a couple of stories involving a professional land use planner (Mr. Emmitt Frank) as a major character.
It’s a small Alaska town where people leave their pretensions back where they came from, and urban planners push more snow than pencils. Where New Age missionaries make appearances at the bowling alley, and the police chief weeps over the plight of Bambi. And where the Mayor stays in office mostly because folks don’t want the bother of trainin’ up a new one….
Thu 27 Aug, 2009
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!!”
Fri 21 Aug, 2009
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…