Making your EAR Process More Effective

1
Making your EAR Process More Effective

• Jerry Bell, AICP, Principal Bell David Planning
  Group
• Paula Church Miami-Dade Department of Planning
  and Zoning
• Sharon Williams, Associate Planner City of
  Pembroke Pines

2
Summary

• EAR Preparation
• Public Participation
• Best Practices
• Areas for Improvement
• Success Stories
• Our Experience

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EAR PREPARATION

• Background
• Preliminary Work
• Preparation
• Outline and Checklist
• My Toolbox

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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

• Incorporate public comments from other community
  visioning efforts
• Maximize your budget - Use technology to your
  benefit
• Solicit ideas from other community forums
• Create an Interactive web-site
• Make sure state agencies know of your meetings
• All public comments should be woven into larger
  issues

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Best Practices

• Scoping Meetings
• Channeling public input into key issues
• Identifying a manageable number of meaningful
  issues
• Review Agency Selection
• Identifying clear monitoring measures and best
  data sources
• Interagency coordination

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Best Practices

• Coordination w/ reviewer(s) throughout process
• Voluntary review before adoption
• Proactive (where do we want to go as a
  community?) and retroactive (how well have we
  done in achieving our Plan?)
• Clear, explicit recommendations

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Areas for Improvement

• Public Participation
• Focus on issues has not, in practice, resulted in
  an expedited process
• Many mandated issues and topics to address
• Statutory requirements not always applicable or
  relevant
• Census Data Timing

8
Areas for Improvement

• Mandating boilerplate issues one size does not
  always fit all
• Small city challenges
• Population projections limitations to Shimberg
  data
• Reviewers understanding of local issues

9
Success Stories

• Learning Experiences
• Sufficient on 1st Draft
• EAR amendment process
• Implementation of new programs and initiatives
  i.e., new land development regulations and design
  guidelines, increased public participation
  opportunities,
• establishing a fundamental shift in planning
  and development patterns

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OUR EXPERIENCE
11
Questions

• Sharon Williams,
• Associate Planner
• City of Pembroke Pines
• 10100 Pines Blvd
• Pembroke Pines, FL 33026
• 954-435-6513 (O)
• 954-435-6546 (F)
• swiliams_at_ppines.com

Jerry Bell, AICP Principal Bell David Planning
Group 80 SW 8 Street, Suite 2000 Miami, FL
33130 [phone] (ph) [phone]
(F) jerry_at_belldavid.com
Paula Church Section Supervisor Department of
Planning and Zoning, 12 Floor 111 NW 1st
Street Miami, Florida 33128 305-375-2835 churchp_at_m
iamidade.gov