Plan Development Flashcards
What is the difference between Home Rule and Dillon’s Rule?
In Home Rule states, cities and counties have the ability to pass laws and govern as they see fit.
Dillon’s Rule is the principle that cities and counties have no powers other than those assigned to them by state governments.
How do state governments impact local planning?
States grant the police power to local governments.
They also control where investments are made and provide funding for planning.
How do federal and local regulatory powers differ when it comes to cell phone towers?
Federal and state agencies regulate cell towers, but local governments determine specific locations.
How are special districts created and what power do they have?
Special districts (like school or fire districts) are an independent unit of government created for a specific area.
They are created by referendum and have the power to incur debt and levy taxes.
What are the steps in the planning process?
Stage 1: pre-planning
• Community diagnosis
o Determine your community’s purpose, capacity and readiness for planning
o Identify key stakeholders
• Process Design
o Establish a budget for planning
o Issue an RFP, if applicable.
o Incorporate opportunities for public participation and education
Stage 2: Planning
• Data Collection and Analysis
o Assess your community’s data and information needs.
• Issue Identification
o Involve local decision-makers and the public in identifying key community issues, challenges, opportunities, and desires.
o Identify a vision for the future development of the community.
• Goal and Objective Formulation
o Develop goals and measurable objectives to help attain your community’s vision.
• Strategy Formulation
o Identify potential plan implementation strategies to satisfy goals and objectives.
o Take formal action to adopt the plan.
Stage 3: Post-Planning
• Plan Implementation
o Adopt a specific course of action to implement the plan
• Monitoring and Assessment
o Monitor progress towards achieving stated goals, objectives, and indicators
What is “Visioning”?
Visioning is a process whereby citizens attend a series of meetings that provide an opportunity to offer input on how the community could be in the future.
Visioning occurs early in the planning process.
The purpose of visioning is to build consensus.
What should be in a Vision Statement?
• Positive, present-tense language
• Emphasis on the region’s uniqueness
• Inclusiveness of the region’s diverse population
• A depiction of the highest standards of excellence and achievement
• A focus on people and quality of life
• A stated time period
What are some advantages of visioning?
• Serves as a catalyst, by brining residents together in new ways and inspiring resident to get involved in the community.
• Creates excitement about planning
• Keeps the process on track. Citizens can make sure the rest of the process addresses the achievement of the vision
• Keeps implementation moving forward. Citizens will be motivated to keep track of actions proposed to achieve the vision they helped create.
What are some disadvantages of visioning?
• Adds to the cost of the planning process.
• An intense public participation effort.
• Creates unrealistic expectations that the government can’t fulfill.
• Dependent on facilitator (which is why many communities train a local planning or land use committee to facilitate visioning workshops.)
Home Rule States
An article or amendment to the state constitution grants cities, municipalities, and/or counties the ability to pass laws to govern themselves as they see fit.
Dillon’s Rule
Is the principle that cities, towns and counties have no powers other than those assigned to them by state governments. 40/50 states apply this principle.
General-purpose local government
counties, cities, townships, etc
Single-purpose local government
school districts, fire districts, etc.
Special Districts
an independent unit of local government often created by referendum and organized to perform government functions in a specific geographic area. They usually have the power to incur debt and levy taxes.
Area wide planning organizations
Provide grants and planning assistance, coordinate intergovernmental activities. They are not a separate layer of government.
(like regional organizations)
Regional planning agency
Develops regional plans and reviews regional impacts and projects. In some cases, a local government may transfer some local government powers to a regional agency, but that is not usually the case.
Preemption
Preemption is when the law of a higher level of government limits or even eliminates the power of a lower level or government. Preemption is not inherently good or bad. Some of the most important laws upholding equal protection under the law have come from preemptive state and federal legislation. For example, Congress enacted the federal Fair Housing Act in 1968 for the very purpose of preempting discriminatory local laws.
Lately, however, planning policies, like affordable housing protection, have been stymied by preemption. States can, for example, pass legislation that prohibits local inclusionary zoning ordinances. Local policy initiatives like Minneapolis’ effort to restrict single-family zoning are threatened by state preemption. On the other hand, state preemption can be an effective way to combat NIMBYism
Tribal Sovereignty
The federal government recognizes 583 tribal governments throughout the country, all of which are recognized as sovereign nations by the U.S. Constitution.
1959 case Williams v. Lee, tribes possess “the right…to make their own laws and be ruled by them.” However, a wide range of federal laws can impact lands that fall under the tribe’s jurisdiction. For example, federal environmental laws might still apply to tribal land areas or affect their waterways. State laws like Washington’s State Environmental Policy Act do not apply to reservation lands, but they still have an impact because of how they apply to nearby communities off the reservation.
In 25 states, municipal governments frequently work with tribes to develop transportation plans, protect environmental resources, and collaborate on other land-use issues. Ultimately, tribes are most successful when they build solid relationships with their neighbors. This is often achieved through a memorandum of agreement or understanding that helps ensure that local and state governments recognize the sovereignty of tribes in relation to the federal government.
Policy impact Analysis
Policy Impact Analysis—and relatedly, policy evaluation an policy assessment—is a professional field in its own right, and planners make use of their methods. Analysis can focus on environmental, economic, or social impact.
What is the difference between Policy Assessment and Evaluation?
Assessment analyses the intended and unintended consequences of policies, plans, programs, and projects.
Evaluation examines a plan, project, or program against a set of criteria, usually to establish organizational accountability.
Fiscal Impact Analysis
The purpose of fiscal impact analysis is to estimate the impact of a development or a land use change or a plan on the costs and revenues of governmental units serving the development.
A fiscal impact analysis would involve looking at:
• A city’s property tax rate
• The average cost of educating a child in the local school system
• The average cost per square foot of constructing a public building
It would not involve historic trends in assessed valuation
How is economic impact analysis different from fiscal impact analysis?
Economic impact analysis focuses on the cash flow to the private sector (measured in income, jobs, output, indirect impacts, etc.)
Fiscal impact analysis estimates the impact of a development or a land use change or a plan on the costs and revenues of the government.
Cost-benefit analysis
Cost-benefit analysis is a quantified comparison of costs and benefits generally expressed in monetary or numerical terms. The actual and hidden costs of a proposed project are measured against the benefits to be received form the project.
Environmental impact analysis
The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) resulted in the creation of the Council on Environmental Quality. NEPA requires that the environmental impacts of a project be considered.
