2018 VOLUME 24, NUMBER 6 THE COMMISSIONER

PLANNING TOOLS | HISTORY | BEST PRACTICES | LAW

communities to reevaluate the existing infrastructure, land-use patterns, and public facilities that could be affected by a catastrophic event, particularly a repeat event. An important factor for local, state, and regional governments to consider is a disaster’s economic impact on a com- munity. The faster an area recovers from the damage, the sooner businesses can reopen and begin the recovery period. Frequent disruptions in economic activity stemming from recurring events may indicate the need for a careful study of the area’s vulnerabilities.

Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa experienced some flooding during Hurricane Michael The commissioner’s role in October, despite being more than 300 miles from landfall in Florida’s Panhandle. Commissioners have multiple tools at their disposal to aid in resiliency plan- ning. These tools range from local mitiga- Putting a Resiliency Plan in Place tion strategies, which can reduce or even eliminate risks, to capital improvement ECENT EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS have alerted planning commissioners all over plans that can identify needed projects the U.S.—and the world—to the need for resilience, a term that is becoming a key and options for financing them. R element of the planning vocabulary. In the wake of Hurricane Michael, the state Perhaps the most important tools of Florida is particularly sensitive to the threat of hazards. Hillsborough County, where are comprehensive plans and long-range I am the executive director of the city-county planning commission, is continually transportation plans. In 2015, the state taking steps toward greater resiliency. of Florida enacted the Peril of Flood Act, which imposed new requirements for local governments to prevent flooding— What is resilience? is to identify vulnerable locations and to including floods caused by sea-level rise. The U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on adapt social, economic, and environmen- The city of Tampa was one of the first Climate Change defines resilience as tal systems to respond to catastrophes. local governments in the state to respond. “the capacity of social, economic, and The ultimate goal is to minimize the long- Its location along Tampa Bay and the environmental systems to cope with a term impacts of extreme events. Hillsborough River makes it particularly hazardous event or trend or disturbance, vulnerable to sea-level rise even though responding or reorganizing in ways that What can governments do? much of the riverfront is given over to maintain their essential function, iden- Every community should have plans in yards and public parks. tity, and structure, while also maintain- place to prepare for hazardous events that The local planning effort was aided

ing the capacity for adaptation, learning, affect public safety. The general popula- by a vulnerability assessment based on VIA AP and transformation.” tion should be informed about evacua- sea-level rise projections for the area Although the types of hazardous tion processes or the resources required calculated by the Tampa Bay Climate events in the U.S. vary, the planning to weather the storm, and the aid they can Science Advisory Panel. The Hillsbor- required to overcome them generally expect from local, state, and national gov- ough County City-County Planning remains the same. It includes cooperation ernments. Particularly vulnerable groups, Commission, serving as project manager, TIMES BAY TAMPA and coordination by governments at all such as the elderly and the disabled, may worked with city staff and the Tampa Bay levels. That means involvement by public require additional care and preparation. Regional Planning Council to complete agencies within a planner’s jurisdiction Populations with limited English skills the assessment. and in neighboring ones. may need additional guidance. In 2017, the Tampa planning commis- Taking measures to lessen the impact Resiliency planning addresses more sion approved new comprehensive plan of known hazards is the first step toward than the potential loss of life and proper- policies to bring the city into compliance

preserving communities. The next step ty that results from a disaster. It calls on with state law. It is now updating its BORCHUCK/ JAMES BY PHOTO THE COMMISSIONER Planning Tools

land-use codes and stormwater infra- structure plans. HISTORY MAKING AN INDUSTRIAL CITY WALKABLE Another useful resiliency planning tool for commissioners is a long-range In 1792, acquired the Erie Triangle—a 300-square-mile tract transportation plan. Transportation bordering —with the aim of giving the commonwealth, and especially systems are the backbone of a community. Philadelphia, a connection to Great Lakes commerce. Surveyor They facilitate the daily flow of jobs, com- laid out a fine street grid that would become the framework of the future city. Today, the question facing Erie (and many other industrial cities) is how to merce, education, and recreation. They adopt that grid to today’s fierce challenges. The factories are mostly gone, and the are also key to maintaining security and city’s population has shrunk from 138,000 in 1960 to about 98,000. State Street, emergency services in extreme weather the spine of the downtown retail district, is far less active than when I was growing conditions. Long-range transportation up just beyond the city line in the 1960s. plans can direct federal and state infra- Erie still possesses strengths. Charles Buki, principal of CZB planning consultants in Alexandria, Virginia, identified the city’s best qualities in 2015 when structure funding 20 years into the future. he devised a revitalization strategy called Erie Refocused. The city’s core, he wrote, An example of using an LRTP for reminded him of Savannah, and he started to think about inserting small parks into resiliency planning is the transportation the grid east and west of State Street. vulnerability assessment funded by Today, Kathy Wyrosdick, aicp, the city’s first planning director in decades, is the Federal Highway Administration looking for ways to carry out Buki’s ideas, from narrowing traffic lanes downtown (notably on State Street) to restoring eroded sidewalks on the East Side. in Hillsborough County. As part of Her mandate is to take the Erie Refocused plan and “move the action forward.” the project, the county’s Metropolitan Erie business and civic leaders formed the nonprofit Erie Downtown Planning Organization included a Development Corporation. After raising $27 million through an equity fund, performance measure in its long-range the corporation recently purchased a series of contiguous, mostly three-story transportation plan. The measure calls for buildings—including some on State Street. The upper stories will be redeveloped as apartments, says John Persinger, reducing the hurricane vulnerability of the organization’s CEO. Ground-level spaces will get an upgraded set of county roads to minimize economic loss. commercial, restaurant, and retail occupants. Let’s say, for example, that a Category Recently, controversy has raged over whether the city should demolish or Three hurricane hits Tampa Bay and refurbish the McBride Viaduct, an overpass that for decades carried traffic over disrupts major road networks, causing railroad tracks that divided the East Side in two. The deteriorated viaduct has been closed to vehicular traffic since 2010. a huge loss in productivity and wages. Erie’s mayor, Joe Schember, has proposed demolition. But various citizen With adequate planning to protect against groups (aware of the success of ’s High Line) argue for rehabbing the flooding, the road recovery time could structure for use by pedestrians, cyclists, and skateboarders. As of this writing, be shortened from eight weeks to three. the viaduct’s fate is being debated in federal court. According to the LRTP analysis, investing —Philip Langdon Langdon is a writer in New Haven, . He is the author of in mitigation measures could reduce the Within Walking Distance: Creating Livable Communities for All (Island Press, 2017). economic losses in Hillsborough County from $266 million to $119 million. Additional community savings are pos- sible if mitigation projects are included with scheduled infrastructure upgrades.

Takeaway Resilience can be achieved through a combination of effective tools and agency collaboration. By identifying vulnerabili- ties and adapting systems to respond to unpredictable hazards, the impacts on a community can be reduced. Most important, communities will be better suited to adapt to a changing climate and other hazards in the future. —Melissa E. Zornitta, aicp The intersection of State and 9th Streets in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1922. Zornitta is the executive director of the The main retail district is much less active today. Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission. “ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA 1922” BY R.C. MAXWELL COMPANY, WIKIMEDIA (CC BY-SA 3.0) BY-SA WIKIMEDIA (CC COMPANY, MAXWELL R.C. BY 1922” “ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA THE COMMISSIONER Best Practices

they should review the plan every year,” Behind the Scenes at a Training Session Marston says. “Look for parts that need tweaking, especially if the community ERVING ON A PLANNING COMMISSION or a zoning board can be daunting, even for has been seriously impacted by the great those who come to the job with experience in related fields. All those acronyms and recession or is facing changes due to new S legal terms are truly mysterious. Planning is, after all, a field that depends on its own technology.” Years ago, she notes, the jargon, or “plannerese.” The learning curve is steep, with many different fields to absorb. arrival of cell towers caused local officials Staff reports can be hard to figure out. Your fellow commissioners come from different to rethink the zoning ordinance. “In the professions and have their share of biases. future, it will be something else, maybe self-driving cars. “ The inevitability of change—and its This all makes training a necessity. we are dealing with citizens, volunteers effect on a local comprehensive plan— How-to sessions are a feature of most state who come from all sorts of backgrounds. prompted many questions during the planning conferences, and occasionally We felt this type of training worked best training session. “How do you know when of a national conference. Several state gov- in a face-to-face setting.” it’s time to update?” asked one partici- ernments have organized training sessions The APA Illinois sessions are cospon- pant. Attorney Greg Jones noted that, at on their own. Some are limited to design sored by DePaul University’s Chaddick least in Illinois, there are no specific legal or another field. Some are mandatory, and Institute for Metropolitan Development, standards for changing the comprehensive some have other requirements. States with a Chicago-based group focused on urban plan. “It is a policy document, not a law,” open meetings acts are planning and trans- he said. The danger is that the plan will required to hold training portation. The Chicago languish on a shelf. And, Jones added, sessions on the workings TRAINING Metropolitan Agency for an out-of-date plan can cause all sorts of of a public body; Illinois SESSION Planning, the regional problems when it comes into conflict with requires commissioners HIGHLIGHTS planning agency for seven a zoning issue. to take online training to counties, also cosponsors The presenters concluded that in most learn the law. Roles and training sessions for the cases a once-a-year workshop to review responsibilities of I talked to Laurie commissioners purpose of building local the plan is appropriate. “You can decide Marston, faicp, of the Findings of fact, government capacity. then if the big picture you painted is still Illinois Chapter of APA conflict of interest, relevant,” said Jones. When a community about a training program role of chair The basics and beyond is still developing, once a year may not be that she helps organize. Process and So who should attend? enough. “You may spot some guidelines conduct of The training program has meetings “We encourage staff to in the plan that just don’t make sense been held at the annual invite anyone who has to anymore,” Marston said. Comprehensive Illinois APA chapter con- plan and zoning do with land use,” says Finally, the trainers urged that ference for the last seven ordinance Marston. That includes commissioners make use of their best years. The conference members of the planning resource, the professional planning staff. held in Springfield in late commission, zoning “Read everything they give you,” they September marked the 40th anniversary board, preservation commission, environ- said. “And make sure you understand it.” of the chapter. It featured a day-long mental commission—“any group involved training session and a mock hearing. The with decisions related to good planning.” Mock trial other trainers were Michael Blue, faicp; Typically the planning staff will also The Springfield training day ended with a Greg Jones; and David Silverman, aicp. attend. “In one community, we were make-believe planning commission meet- Before APA Illinois started doing delighted to see the fire chief, director ing in the village of Erehwon. The event training, the Urban Land Institute and the of public works, and village manager. involved all four trainers and a good part University of Illinois at Chicago spon- And we have always encouraged of the audience. All the roles were filled: sored a joint online program for planning communities to invite elected officials,” the loopy city commissioner, the angry commissioners. “The online format was she says. neighbor, the earnest city administrator. effective for professional planners who Throughout the day at the Springfield The chair (straight out ofDr. Strangelove) were there mostly to keep up their AICP session, the presenters stressed the need was named Merkin Muffley. The message: certification,” says Marston, a former sub- to refer to the comprehensive plan at how not to run a meeting. urban community development director planning commission meetings and to —Ruth Eckdish Knack, faicp and long-time planning consultant. “But keep it up to date. “We tell people that Knack is a former executive editor of Planning. Vol. 24, No. 6 The Commissioner (ISSN 2330-4499) is published six times a year by the American Planning Association. Planning commissioner/official THE COMMISSIONER members of APA receive the newsletter as part of their membership package; others may subscribe. Kimberley Jacques, Editor; James M. Drinan, jd, Chief Executive Officer. © 2018 American Planning Association, which has offices at 205 N. Michigan Ave., Ste. 1200, Chicago, IL 60601-5927, and 1030 15th St., NW, Suite 750 West, Washington, DC 20005-1503; planning.org. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized Law in any form or by any means without permission in writing from APA.

reaccreditation after a year (for a suspen- Doing Right: Evolution of Ethics at APA sion) and after five years (revocation). “Revocation is rare and applies only E ALL FACE ETHICAL ISSUES at one time or another. Jim Peters, faicp, APA’s to a serious charge,” says Peters. Last year, ethics officer, says it’s inevitable, even for the most upstanding members of local there was only one such outcome, with a W planning boards and commissions. planner who committed perjury. Ethics has always been a concern of APA and its predecessor organizations, he adds. Getting all this information to plan- But it wasn’t always so formal. The first code, Ethical Principles in Planning, was adopted ning professionals and to volunteer mem- by the APA board of directors in May 1992. It applies mainly to nonprofessionals who bers of local boards and commissions is volunteer to serve on commissions. “It’s often overlooked,” says Peters, “but it gives useful another matter. guidance and should be brought out in training board and commissioner members.” That’s where the case studies come in. The cases, based on real-life ethics problems, are presented in AICP certif- For more formal complaints, the journalism helped me in this job,” he says. icate-maintenance courses throughout main guide is the AICP Code of Ethics. “I am not afraid to pick up the phone and the country. An ethics course is required It applies to everyone—certified planners call someone about a complaint.” every two years, and in 2012, the “cases of and volunteers alike. But only certified the year” were added to the program. planners can be formally charged with a Advice and investigation “Originally,” says Peters, “there was complaint. It’s up to Peters to decide who Peters’s current role is twofold. “I get lots one case with many threads to it. Now it’s faces suspension or, in the worst cases, of requests asking for informal advice about a half-dozen cases, each on a sep- revocation of his or her certificate. about what could be an ethical violation.” arate issue. We test them throughout the In the last year, he has Then there are the year at chapter conferences and do a final reviewed 19 complaints. complaints. The form is presentation at the annual conference.” Five involved people who AICP CODE OF online, so anyone can Peters’ copresenter at the ethics sessions ETHICS AND wrongly claimed to be PROFESSIONAL file—and they do. Last is Chicago-area planning consultant Lee AICP members. “In the CONDUCT year, there were 19 for- Brown, faicp. end,” he says, “it turned The ethics code was mal complaints involv- Most of the cases involve professional out that they had allowed adopted by the AICP ing certified planners. planners, but every once in a while a Commission in 2005 their membership to and revised in 2016. A “I start my investigation citizen planner pops up. Last year, it was a lapse.” Two other planners key section is the one by checking the facts real estate salesman named “Harland” for received letters of admo- with the 26 rules of and making a prelimi- the occasion (after the famous consul- conduct, which apply nition for violating a rule to all AICP members. nary decision.” tant, Harland Bartholomew). Harland’s of conduct, and another There are also Peters dismissed 10 problem was an up-to-date one. He was sections on advisory was punished with a one- opinions, complaints of those 19 complaints criticized (by the city’s planning director) year suspension of of misconduct, and because he believed that for acting inappropriately by posting AICP certification. discipline of members. they were unsupportable. items about a development proposal on See the Ethics in When Peters was hired Planning section of the The person who files social media. in early 2015, he became APA website: planning. can appeal to the Ethics The case raised several questions. For APA’s first ethics officer. org/ethics. Ethical Committee, whose seven instance, did Harland violate Ethics Code Principles in Planning Before that, the reviews are also at this link. members are appointed Rule of Conduct 8 or 9—both addressing were done informally by the AICP president. private communications about matters by various executive One member of the that may come before the commission? directors. It is now a part-time job but a committee must be a member of the AICP Strictly, that’s not a violation, says Peters, busy one for Peters, who also teaches in Commission. “That is the jury of your but the planning director should tell the planning and historic preservation peers,” says Peters. Harland that he was acting inappropriately. programs at the University of Illinois at If the complaint is upheld by the Peters notes that the Ethics Committee Chicago and the School of the Art Institute committee, Peters is responsible for has already reviewed case-of-the-year of Chicago. He is the former executive responding. proposals for next year’s national planning director of Preservation Illinois, a Chicago- He may take one of these steps: conference in San Francisco. “We have a based nonprofit group, and a former dismissal, letter of admonition, publica- good assortment,” he says, with a focus on member of the Planning editorial staff and tion of name, suspension of certification, social equity issues. newspaper reporter. “My background in revocation. Applicants may apply for —Ruth Eckdish Knack