Community planning
Community Planning is the framework from which present and future challenges are addressed in a thoughtful stakeholder-driven process. The complexity of challenges in our land use, community, and school planning assignments requires a diversity of professional expertise and training.
Each assignment is directed by senior planning staff that has the resources of our entire organisation available to them. Planning is not a linear, rigid process, but rather evolves during the planning period with input from the community and stakeholders and analysis of data.
How can SLR help?
As “what ifs” and “whys” emerge, our staff provides creative solutions based on best practises and sound analysis using GIS, public outreach, and traditional and new media resources. Our staff members pride themselves on their ability to work effectively with public and private sector stakeholders, as well as the general public, to forge consensus and achieve the desired outcome for every assignment.
Our services include:
Our planning experience ranges from small towns and villages looking to update their comprehensive plans and zoning regulations to urban canters seeking to create a sustainable long-term vision to school systems seeking guidance with enrolment projections and redistricting plans.
Working closely with the community’s leadership, we carefully listen to the aspirations of the community, facilitate and articulate a clear community-driven vision, and develop realistic strategies that are tailored to your individual needs.
- Comprehensive Plans
- Zoning & Land Use
- Housing, Economic & Demographic Studies
- Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Plans
- Redevelopment & Economic Development Plans
- Market & Feasibility Studies
- Community Outreach, Consensus Building, & Story Mapping
Our team includes
-
Nina Peek
Planning Technical Discipline Manager
Nina Peek is a Senior Principal in SLR’s Planning division with 30 years of experience providing a broad range of public and private sector clients with land use planning, public engagement, and environmental consulting services. Her work includes transit-oriented development plans, corridor studies, multi-use trailways and trailway master plans as well as open space and farmland protection plans. She has a robust resume of National Environmental Policy Act and State Environmental Quality Review Act reviews for on-call assignments, including for the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery, the New York State Department of Transportation, the New York State Thruway Authority, and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. Nina has extensive expertise managing land planning, design, permitting, infrastructure, and construction projects throughout the Hudson Valley. In addition, she has deep management experience assembling and directing teams, building consensus on goals and objectives, and completing projects on schedule and on budget.
-
Robert Collins
Principal Planner
Robert Collins, AICP is a Principal Planner with extensive experience working in many facets of a public planning department including managing and reviewing current planning projects, land development, permit and zoning review, developing and administering comprehensive plans and amendments, and managing and coordinating multifaceted community revitalisation and conservation plans and projects. He is experienced in land development, site plan and zoning review, community outreach, citizen interaction, coordination and mediation, and physical improvement project implementation and management. Robert is also a skilled presenter, communicator, and facilitator of public meetings as well as community participatory workshops and multidisciplinary teams. He is involved in professional planning work that promotes community needs, implements change, and builds healthy, vibrant communities.
-
Taylor Daigle
Planner I
Taylor Daigle is a Planner I with a background in Natural Resources and Environmental and Resource Economics. She has direct experience providing support to a local city planning department in New Hampshire including updating long-range planning documents, reviewing permits for regulatory compliance, and providing various environmental monitoring and testing services. In addition, Taylor has provided consultation services regarding green real estate as well as completed projects involving the review of community plans and data, and developing subsequent recommendations for improvements and future planning efforts.
-
Vincent McDermott
Principal Landscape Architect
Vincent McDermott has over 50 years of experience with planning, engineering, and land development firms, as well as with governmental and academic institutions. He is responsible for technical oversight on such projects as streetscape improvements, land use planning, parks and recreational facilities, bikeways and greenways, community and master planning, and site development for commercial and residential facilities. He is routinely involved in community development and public outreach programmes.
Vincent has contributed to the recognition and advancement of landscape architecture through his extensive service on the Connecticut Board of Landscape architects and his leadership and involvement as President of the Council of Landscape Architecture Registration Board. He was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 1997
