THE WEST MICHIGAN REGIONAL URBAN DESIGN CHARRETTES 07

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THE WEST MICHIGAN REGIONAL URBAN DESIGN
CHARRETTES 07 An AIA150 Blueprints for America
Initiative in celebration of the 150th
anniversary of the American Institute of
Architects April, 2007
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WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
The Blueprint for America is primarily about a
vision of whats possible for communities. Its
about helping communities see what is possible
when architects, civic leaders, and fellow
citizens work together to tackle such issues as
brownfields, accessibility for the disabled,
affordable housing, sprawl, and environmental
sustainability National AIA President 2006,
Kate Schwennsen, FAIA More than ever, West
Michigan faces interdependent challenges in land
use, energy consumption, transportation and
infrastructure development. The actions required
to address sustainability of the region are
outside the decision scope and resource
capabilities of individual organizations or
sectors. West Michigan Strategic Alliance
president, Greg Northrup Cities and townships
that want to see their revenue sharing increase
this year will need to show us they are sharing
services or consolidating with other units of
government to save taxpayers money. It's simple.
When they show us they're consolidating or
sharing, we'll "show them the money" . Governor
Granholm, State of the State Address, February 6,
2007
SIMPLY PUT..CREATE A REGIONAL MINDSET
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WHO IS AIAGV?
The Grand Valley Chapter of the American
Institute of Architects (AIAGV). We are 250 AIA
architects representing over 100 firms, committed
to community design leadership and service. The
chapter encompasses the counties of Allegan,
Ottawa, Muskegon, Mason, Kent, Newaygo, Montcalm
and Ionia. AIAGV is a component of AIA Michigan.
Find us at www.aiagv.net Since 1857, the AIA has
represented the professional interests of
America's architects. As AIA members, over 80,000
licensed architects, emerging professionals, and
allied partners express their commitment to
excellence in design and livability in our
nation's buildings and communities. Members
adhere to a code of ethics and professional
conduct that assures the client, the public, and
colleagues of an AIA-member architect's
dedication to the highest standards in
professional practice. www.aia.org
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WHO IS WMSA?

• The West Michigan Strategic Alliance was launched
  in 2000 to be a catalyst for encouraging
  collaboration among business, institutions and
  government in the tri-plex of Grand Rapids,
  Holland Muskegon and the 7 counties of the
  metropolitan combined statistical area.
• Establishing Priorities for Regional
  Collaboration by
• Creating a Regional Mindset
• Fostering a Prosperous Economy
• Strengthening Community through Diversity
• Ensuring a Sustainable Environment
• Revitalizing our Urban Centers
• Developing a Tri-plex Growth Strategy

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WHERE ARE THE CHARRETTES?
2005/1 GrandWalk - Cities of Grand Rapids
Walker 2005/2 US31Chicago Dr. - Holland Charter
Twp. City of Holland 2005/3 Seaway Dr. -
Cities of Muskegon Heights Norton Shores 2007/1
S. Division 36th to 60th - Cities of Kentwood
Wyoming with The Rapid 2007/2 N. Central
Muskegon County - Blue Lake, Dalton, Fruitland,
Laketon Muskegon Townships 2007/3 Holland
Gateway - Holland Charter Twp. City of Holland
GRAND RAPIDS
2005/1
2007/1

MUSKEGON
2007/2
2005/3
2007/3
HOLLAND
2005/2
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WHAT IS A CHARRETTE?

• This use of the term is said to originate in the
  19th century from Frances famous design school,
  École des Beaux Arts, where proctors circulated a
  cart, or charrette to collect final drawings
  while students frantically put finishing touches
  on their work before presenting.
• Today a charrette is a high energy, dynamic
  design workshop, facilitated by design
  professionals and made open by public
  participation. It can produce extraordinary
  results. The cyclical process of a charrette is
  review, critique, refine, synthesizing input
  from the many different sources and creating
  visuals to support the ideas for people to
  compare.
• Normally an urban design charrette is a 3-7 day
  process of UNDERSTANDING, CREATING, AND
  REPORTING. The goals, values, and principles
  understood the first day become measures that
  will guide creativity the following days and
  serve the entire project as a constant reminder,
  reporting what was heard from community
  stakeholders.

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THE WMRUD EVENT APRIL 26-28, 2007
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1. Design on a Human Scale
CONSIDER THESE PRINCIPLES
THE AIAS TEN PRINCIPLES OF LIVABLE COMMUNITIES
2. Provide Choices

• Compact,
• pedestrian-friendly communities allow residents
  to walk to shops, services, cultural resources,
  and jobs and can reduce traffic congestion and
  benefit people's health.

People want variety in housing, transportation,
recreation, shopping, and employment. Variety
creates lively neighborhoods and accommodates
residents in different stages of their lives.
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3. Encourage Mixed-Use Development
THE AIAS TEN PRINCIPLES OF LIVABLE COMMUNITIES
4. Preserve Urban Centers
Restoring, revitalizing, and infilling urban
centers takes advantage of existing streets,
services and buildings and avoids the need for
new infrastructure. This helps to curb sprawl and
promote stability for city neighborhoods.

• Integrating different land uses and varied
  building types creates vibrant,
  pedestrian-friendly and diverse communities.

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5. Vary Transportation Options
THE AIAS TEN PRINCIPLES OF LIVABLE COMMUNITIES
6. Build Vibrant Public Spaces
Citizens need welcoming, well- defined public
places to stimulate face-to-face interaction,
collectively celebrate and mourn, encourage civic
participation, admire public art, and gather for
public events.

• Giving people the option of walking, biking and
  using public transit, in addition to driving,
  reduces traffic congestion, protects the
  environment and encourages physical activity.

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7. Create a Neighborhood Identity
THE AIAS TEN PRINCIPLES OF LIVABLE COMMUNITIES
8. Protect Environmental Resources
A well-designed balance of nature and development
preserves natural systems, protects waterways
from pollution, reduces air pollution, and
protects property values.

• A "sense of place" gives neighborhoods a unique
  character, enhances the walking environment, and
  creates pride in the community.

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9. Conserve Landscapes
THE AIAS TEN PRINCIPLES OF LIVABLE COMMUNITIES
10. Design Matters
Design excellence is the foundation of successful
and healthy communities.

• Open space, farms, and wildlife habitat are
  essential for environmental, recreational, and
  cultural reasons.

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BUT ALSO INCLUDE

• Sustainable Communities filter in dialogue
• In decision making, try to balance the triple
  bottom-line
• Economic prosperity
• Environmental integrity
• Social justice

Ecology, Economy, Equity All Equal
Parts courtesy, McDonough-Braungart Design
Chemistry
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AND

• Consider the Hidden Assets of Sustainable
  Communities
• Urban Purchasing Power
• Concentrated Workforce
• Mass transit systems
• Accessibility
• Abandoned and Under-used land
• Underutilized infrastructure
• In-place infrastructure with underused carrying
  capacity
• Already assembled right-of-way
• Efficient resource use
• Biodiversity natural capital
• Credit Scott Bernstein. President, Center for
  Neighborhood Technology
• See www.cnt.org for Using the Hidden Assets of
  Americas Communities and Regions to Ensure
  Sustainable Communities

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INTENDED OUTCOMES

• Provide municipal planners, elected officials,
  community stakeholders and citizens the
  opportunity for strategic, civic engagement with
  multi-disciplined designers.
• Provide local planning entities the opportunity
  to learn new methods for sustainable planning,
  policy and design.
• Provide opportunities for planning commissions
  to work together in a facilitated,
  non-threatening setting to consider how Michigan
  PA226, among other legislative tools, can help
  them.
• Create momentum for collaborative planning.
• Uncover grey and green infrastructure assets and
  opportunities that will spur sustainable growth
  and change in critical areas of interest.
• Identify local assets that can be revitalized to
  increase the attractiveness and sustainability of
  a specific area and improve a communitys ability
  to compete in a rapidly changing world.
• Provide a professional visual presentation in
  PowerPoint format of the charrette findings and
  proposals for change in each jurisdiction.
• Position jurisdictions to pursue grants for
  implementation of ideas and opportunities coming
  out of the charrettes.

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GOING FORWARD FROM HERE

• Phase I Charrette We consider the
  multi-jurisdictional charrettes to be Phase I of
  a plan to increase the sustainability of our
  region and make multi-jurisdictional land use
  planning a standard practice. Future phases
  include
• Phase II - Prospectus Under a Joint Planning
  Agreement, participating jurisdictions can work
  together to establish the Authority responsible
  for implementing the redevelopment initiative
  identified through the charrette process. This
  Authority might take the form of an NGO, private
  or public sector, or hybrid Authority as is
  appropriate for the project. Further community
  presentations can be made using the WMRUD
  PowerPoint as a guide. This Authority develops a
  prospectus that describes the investment
  opportunities and any additional studies or input
  necessary to advance the vision of the charrette.
  
• Phase III - Due Diligence The Authority serves
  as the lead entity that will direct the process
  of accomplishing further studies necessary to
  build partnerships and answer fundamental
  questions of feasibility. Often these studies
  will be funded by Federal or State grants from
  entities such as EPA.
• Phase IV Funding The Authority will solidify
  public/private partnerships specific to the
  targeted outcomes. Using the materials developed
  during the charrette process, the Authority will
  seek further funding for implementation. This
  phase will include the development of a marketing
  plan to help engage the community in the project.
• Phase V Design and Implementation Each
  project area is unique, and will be developed
  within guidelines established by the Authority
  and under market conditions for private sector or
  public investment.

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PARTICIPANT TEAMS
DIVISION AVE. TEAM BRYAN KOEHN, AIA TEAM
CAPTAIN, PROGRESSIVE AE ROBERT PETKO TEAM
CO-CAPTAIN, PROGRESSIVE AE ED VERMURLEN, AIA
VERMURLEN ARCHITECTURE MANJU MARULIAH
INDEPENDENT ARCHITECT BRIDGET LEWAKOWSKI, AAIA
DESTIGTER/SMITH ARCHITECTS JIM HORMAN, AIA
DESIGN PLUS NATE GILLETTE, AIA BAZANNI
ASSOCIATES, INC. SCOTT FLORIA TOWER
PINKSTER PETE LAMOURIE, PE-TRAFFIC,
PROGRESSIVE AE TOM WILLIAMS,
PE-TRANSPORTATION DMJM HARRIS, CONSULTANT TO THE
RAPID LISA GOLDER, AICP PLANNER, CITY OF
KENTWOOD TIM COCHRAN, AICP, ASLA PLANNER,
CITY OF WYOMING TERRY SCHWEITZER, AICP
PLANNER, CITY OF WYOMING JIM FETZER THE
RAPID DIVISION AVE. COMMUNITY
TEAM DEBARGHA SENGUPTA PLANNER, CITY OF
KENTWOOD JOE PUNG PLANNER, CITY OF KENTWOOD
BARB VAN DUREN ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, CITY OF
WYOMING RON DRESSANDER TRAFFIC SAFETY
DIRECTOR, CITY OF WYOMING CARLOS CACERES
ENGINEERING DEPT., CITY OF WYOMING ED
FREDERICK DIVISION AVE. BUSINESSMAN, KENTWOOD
EDC JERRY DEGOOD DIVISION AVE.
BUSINESSMAN DOUG TAATJES REALTOR LAURIE
SHELDON PLANNING COMMISSIONER, CITY OF
KENTWOOD RAY POYNER PLANNING COMMISSIONER,
CITY OF KENTWOOD TAI LAI DIVISION AVE.
BUSINESSMAN TOM BRANN, DIVISION AVE.
BUSINESSMAN MAYOR RICHARD ROOT CITY OF
KENTWOOD
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PARTICIPANT TEAMS
HOLLAND GATEWAY TEAM DAVID WILKINS, AIA TEAM
CAPTAIN, GMB ARCHITECTS ENGINEERS HARM PERDOK,
AIA TEAM CO-CAPTAIN, GMB ARCHITECTS
ENGINEERS SCOTT HOMGREN, ASLA INNOVATIVE LAND
DESIGN DAWN HOLTROP, AIA DMH ARCHITECTURE
CRAIG HONDORP, ASLA PROGRESSIVE AE KATIE KAHL
GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGER, WEST MICHIGAN
STRATEGIC ALLIANCE LEONARDO TOMBELLI, AIA GMB
ARCHITECTS ENGINEERS TUNG THANH DO GMB
ARCHITECTS ENGINEERS JON MERSMAN PLANNER,
HOLLAND CHARTER TOWNSHIP PHIL MEYER, AICP
PLANNER COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, CITY OF
HOLLAND HOLLAND GATEWAY COMMUNITY
TEAM JOEL DYE PLANNER, CITY OF HOLLAND MARK
VANDERPLOEG PLANNER, CITY OF HOLLAND BRIAN
WHITE PLANNER, CITY OF HOLLAND DENNIS GEBBEN
PLANNING COMMISSIONER, HOLLAND CHARTER
TOWNSHIP MARION HOEVE PLANNING COMMISSIONER,
HOLLAND CHARTER TOWNSHIP DAVID LEVITT HART
COOLEY PROPERTY, THIRD COAST DEVELOPMENT LLOYD
VERHAGE BUSINESS OWNER, CHICAGO DRIVE GORD
BUITENDORP ARCHITECT, GMB ARCHITECTS
ENGINEERS DERK WALKOTTEN DIRECTOR, MACATAWA
GREENWAY GREG HOLCOMBE PLANNER, RIVERVIEW
GROUP STEVE BULTHUIS DIRECTOR, MACATAWA
COORDINATING COUNCIL MARTY DUGAN PLANNING
COMMISSIONER, CITY OF HOLLAND MAYOR AL
MCGEEHAN, CITY OF HOLLAND JAY PETERS PLANNING
COMMISSIONER, CITY OF HOLLAND KIRK KOEMAN
PLANNING COMMISSIONER, CITY OF HOLLAND JACK
VANDERMUELEN PLANNING COMMISSIONER, HOLLAND
CHARTER TOWNSHIP
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PARTICIPANT TEAMS
MUSKEGON COUNTY TEAM MARK MILLER, AIA TEAM
CAPTAIN, NEDERVELD ASSOCIATES ALAN MAJESKI, AIA
TEAM CO-CAPTAIN, HOOKER DEJONG AE BOB DAVERMAN,
AIA EVENT CHAIR, PROGRESSIVE AE JEFF
VANDENBOSCH, AIA ERGO QUEST JEFF HILLIGONDS,
PE-TRAFFIC PROGRESSIVE AE WAYNE NORLIN, AIA
TOWER PINKSTER HARRY WIERENGA, PE FLEIS
VANDENBRINK JULIE STONEMAN DIRECTOR, LAND
CONSERVANCY OF WEST MICHIGAN RICK CHAPLA
RE-DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, THE RIGHT PLACE,
INC. ROLLAND CRUMMEL SUPERVISOR, LAKETON
TOWNSHIP CHAIR NCJPC CAROL CARTER PLANNER,
WMSRDC DAVID FISHER COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
DIRECTOR, MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP SCOTT HLADKI
SUPERVISOR, DALTON TOWNSHIP PATRICK JORDAN
SUPERVISOR, MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP GREG BOUGHTON
SUPERVISOR, FRUITLAND TOWNSHIP DON STUDAVEN
SUPERVISOR, BLUE LAKE TOWNSHIP MARY ELEY
PLANNING COMMISSIONER, FRUITLAND
TOWNSHIP MUSKEGON COUNTY COMMUNITY TEAM PAUL
BOUMAN ENGINEER, MUSKEGON COUNTY CINDY LARSON
MUSKEGON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE RANDY PARROT, PE
JOHNSON ANDERSON ENGINEERING CATHY
BRUBAKER/CLARK PLANNING DIRECTOR, CITY OF
MUSKEGON KEN MAHONEY COMMISSIONER, MUSKEGON
COUNTY DAVE ALEXANDER REPORTER, MUSKEGON
CHRONICLE STEVE FINK, PE ENGINEER, MUSKEGON
COUNTY DPW KATHLEEN EVANS TIMBERLAND STEPHEN
CARLSON PLANNER, WMSRDC
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SPECIAL THANKS
GUEST SPEAKERS AT THE WMRUD CHARRETTE NORMAN
COX, ASLA GREENWAYS COLLABORATIVE KAREN GAGNON
COOL CITIES COORDINATOR, MICHIGAN DEPT. LABOR
ECONOMIC GROWTH GLENN PAPE CITIZEN PLANNER
PROGRAM COORDINATOR, MSU LAND POLICY
INSTITUTE TOM WILLIAMS, PE, TRANSPORTATION
PLANNER, DMJM HARRIS RESOURCES JACK HELDER PAL
COMMUNICATIONS KATE COLBET MSU LAND POLICY
INSTITUTE DAN MCCLOUD LASERS RESOURCE MATT
BOES VEENSTRA ANDY BOWMAN, PCP, PLANNING
DIRECTOR GRAND VALLEY METRO COUNCIL GREG
NORTHRUP, PRESIDENT WEST MICHIGAN STRATEGIC
ALLIANCE KATIE KAHL PROGRAM MANAGER WEST
MICHIGAN STRATEGIC ALLIANCE SUE ANN CLARK SITE
COORDINATOR WEST MICHIGAN STRATEGIC ALLIANCE PAM
LANDES, COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT THINK
AGAIN THE RAPID, the MATS and the MATS BUS
DONATION THE PINNACLE CENTER HOST SITE FOR THE
CHARRETTE DENNIS KING, FAIA, PRESIDENT AIA
MICHIGAN JEFF HAMMOND, AIA, SPECTRUM HEALTH
FACILITIES MEL KANTOR, AIA CONTINUING EDUCATION
CREDIT SUBMISSION FOR AIA MEMBERS MIKE DAVIS
GRAPHIC ASSSITANCE PROGRESSIVE AE
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SPONSORS
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LINKS TO INDIVIDUAL CHARRETTES