Who We Are - Orion Planning Group

Annual Letter
Thank You!
Looking
Ahead to
2014
Downtown Huntsville, Alabama
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Thank You!
Looking Ahead to 2014
Awards and Recognition
OPG Volunteers
Speaking Out
Changes at OPG
Who We Are
We are starting 2014 with a bang! We
are working in more states and with
more people than ever. What’s even
more exciting? We continue to attract
great projects and great clients.
We expect 2014 to be a year of refinement
and new focus. We had a very productive
retreat in December and are working on a
visionary growth-oriented business plan
to guide us well into the future. We are
excited about the changes and the direction OPG is taking.
For a list of some of our recent projects
visit our website at www.OrionPlanning
Group.com
2014
As a firm that doesn’t try to be all
things to all clients, we value partnerships with other firms that have
expertise we don’t. In 2013 we were
fortunate to work with a number of
such firms.
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Our clients have ranged from small
to medium-sized cities and towns to
counties, regional governments and
federal agencies.
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As we start a new year and celebrate
our fourth year in business, OPG would
like to thank all of our clients as well
as our partner firms for your continued support.
Awards and Recognition
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2014
Brandon Downtown
Plan Receives APA-MS
Award
Teamed with Arnett Muldrow
& Associates, Alta Planning and
Design, and Wier Boerner, OPG
helped the town create its first
downtown plan. The downtown
is an historic center and the only
real downtown in Rankin County.
Like many historic downtowns,
Brandon’s enjoyed an economic
vibrancy that waned over the past
50 years. Their new downton plan
gives them a vision and the tools to
recapture its place in the community and become a true town center once again.
In November 2013, the Brandon Downtown Plan was awarded the Best Project Award by the
Mississippi chapter of APA.
Barber Receives AICP Presidents Award
Once during their term of office the AICP president may select one individual to recognise for their outstanding contributions to professional
planners. In 2013 Anna Breinich selected Bob Barber for this prestigious
honor for his past contributions to the profession as well as his ongoing
efforts as chair of the Fellows committee. Bob was unable to attend the
annual business meeting to receive the award, but he was patched in by
phone. Some in the audience were heard to say that it’s the first time
they could remember Bob being speechless or nearly so.
Greensboro Sustainability Plan Receives Award from ASCP
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The American Society of Consulting Planners
awarded the “Sustainability and Efficiency Opportunities for the Comprehensive Plan Update” for
Greensboro North Carolina, an honorable mention
within its Smart Growth and Sustainable Planning
Award category. OPG in partnership with Brendle
Group and Teska Associates evaluated current City
plans, policies, and practices with respect to sus-
appointed by Governor Hickenlooper in
November 2013 to the Colorado 20th Judicial Performance Review Commission. The
purpose of the commission is to evaluate the
performance of all judges up for reelection in
the District, and mailing these evaluations to
all eligible voters. “It is an honor to be asked
to serve again,” Graham said. “This is a very
important service to my state.”
Serving in Peru. Bob Barber serves on
the Board of Peru Mission and is currently
engaging in Christian faith-based community
development through a holistic ministry of
hospital construction and operation, primary
education, and microfinance, job skills and
entrepreneurial training. The mission’s Parish Woodshop trains carpenters and strives
to be “good stewards of the earth,” making
use of the pona that has been left on the
jungle floor following the clear-cutting of the
Peruvian jungle. Bob’s board work placed him
in Peru multiple times this year for strategic and long range planning, and resource
development. For more about this mission,
go to http://www.perumission.org/parishwoodshop.
2014
North Carolina has been a leader in low
impact design education and certification,
hosting one of only two similar certification
programs in the country. Carol was originally
certified in 2011 and received her two-year
recertification this year. “Low impact design
is an important stormwater design technique
that changes our approach to stormater
planning,” she explained. “For years stormwater has been treated as a waste, a hazard
that needs to be removed from properties as
quickly as possible. LID helps us change that
thinking by realizing that stormwater is a resource and a responsibility for each property
owner.”
Helping the Courts. Graham was re-
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Rhea Receives Recertification for Low Impact Design
in North Carolina
some of our recent activities.
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tainability and to make recommendations for
better integrating sustainability, with a focus
on updates to Connections 2025, the City’s
Comprehensive Plan. Phase 1 of the project
involved a plan, policy, and ordinance review
to become familiar with relevant City goals,
plans, and practices related to sustainability.
This evaluation became the basis for identifying the gaps, inconsistencies, and opportunities with respect to sustainability. Phase 2
included developing a set of recommended
actions to capitalize on identified opportunities, address noted gaps and inconsistencies,
and support the inclusion of themes related
to sustainability in the update of Connections
2025, the City’s Comprehensive Plan.
CPAT Leadership. Bob Barber led a Community Planning Assistance Team (CPAT) to
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Volunteers
Our partners continue their tradition of committing unpaid volunteer hours to community events and planning initiatives. At OPG
we feel this is vital not only to fulfilling our
ethical obligations, but in helpings us become
better planners, human beings and community members. The following is a brief list of
OPG helps communities like Campbell County, Wyoming
protect rural character and quality of life.
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2014
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the border town of La Feria, Texas in the
Lower Rio Grand Valley. Geographically
isolated from the rest of Texas and the
U.S., this area is a center of international
commerce with five bridges to Mexico.
The small but growing town of La Feria
has 7,302 residents and encompasses
approximately 2,800 acres. This CPAT
project focused on an area of town that
included aging neighborhoods and the
original town site. Read the team’s final
report at http://www.planning.org/communityassistance/teams/laferia/pdf/finalreport.pdf. Watch for next year’s letter,
or visit our website, to find out more about
a CPAT team Graham is leading in the Pine
Hills community of Orlando, Florida later
this year.
Downtown Calls. Joanne Garnett
lives four blocks from Downtown Sheridan, Wyoming and walks less than a mile
to her OPG office when the weather cooperates. She’s maintained an office literally
on Main Street since moving to Sheridan
in 2009. That same year she became
a board member with the Downtown
Sheridan Association, and in 2013 she
answered the call to become president of
the association. As Joanne remarked, “I
love downtowns and am so proud of ours!
This is a wonderful way to give back to
my community. On top of that,” she adds
“DSA puts on really great events (Third
Thursday Street Fair in summer, Wild
West Wine Fest in March, Goose Creek
Cup Polo in July) and things are always
hopping.” Visit Joanne in Sheridan and
see for yourself what fun it is!
PAB Site Visit. Carol Rhea served on
her fifth PAB Site Visit Team last October.
“It is intense,” she said of the work involved, “but you learn so much and meet
great people.”
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Stomping for Bubbles. There are
few things OPG partners like more than
drinking champaign and putting our foot down
for a good cause. That’s why we chose to sponsor the Campaign Divot Stomp at the Goose
Creek Polo Cup in Sheridan, Wyoming on behalf
of the Downtown Sheridan Association. The
event is a high caliber polo match with lots of
good food, beverages, and fun for all participants. OPG and another downtown business
sponsored the champagne divot stomp between
matches, when spectators are rewarded with
a glass of champagne for walking out onto the
playing field and tamping down the grass divots
before the next match. OPG (Joanne especially)
loves this kind of sponsorship!
Helping AICP. Joanne was appointed by
Anna Breinich, AICP President, to serve on a
committee of six asked to review a list of planners who wanted to be included on the PAB Site
Visitor Pool as practitioners. Her efforts and
those of the committee helped to ensure that
PAB has a solid list of practicing planners from
which to draw.
Projects
We started 2014 with a number of excellent
projects in hand. In summary, we have 3 in
Wyoming, 2 in Colorado, 1 in North Carolina,
4 in South Carolina, 8 in Mississippi, 1 in Tennessee, and 1 in Louisiana. These projects take
advantage of our expertise in local government
planning management, comprehensive planning,
code writing, public engagement and facilitation.
We also entered 2014 with nine outstanding
project proposals. Please check our website for
more information about current and past projects and look for new and upcoming projects as
they are posted throughout the year.
Ongoing Projects
Meeteetse, Wyoming
Comprehensive Plan
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis Greenprint
Sheridan, Wyoming
Comprehensive Plan
Camden, South Carolina
Zoning Ordinance
Pacolet, South Carolina
Planned Development District Regulations
Newberry, South Carolina
Zoning Code Update
Greenwood , Mississippi
Development Code Update
Greensboro, North Carolina
Strategic Plan for Planning and Community
Recently Completed Projects
Timnath, Colorado
Comprehensive Plan
Campbell County, Wyoming
Comprehensive Plan
2014
Timnath, Colorado
Land Use Code
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Process Handouts
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Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Land Development Code Update
Hernando Mississippi
Retirement Community
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Greenville, Mississippi
Comprehensive Plan
Development Department
Brandon, Mississippi (Recipient of the
Mississippi 2013 Award for Best Project)
Downtown Plan
Woodville, Mississippi
Town Plan
Laramie, Wyoming
Turner Tract Area Plan
Estes Park, Colorado
Development Review
Tunica, Mississippi
Ongoing Planning Support
Duarte, California
Local Hazard Mitigation Plan and Regulations
Madison County, Mississippi
Health Care Plan
Batesville, Arkansas
Industrial Park
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Development Review Fee Study &
Impact Fee Study
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2014
Speaking
Out
OPG partners were on the move in 2013
attending seven chapter and regional
conferences as well as the National Planning Conference in Chicago. Anyone who
knows us knows we love to talk and we
love to share and that was evident in the
more than 30 conference, workshop and
webinar sessions we led or participated
in. While our venues were varied, there
were themes: ethics (6 sessions), the
effect of changing demographics (2 sessions), and planners in the courtroom (2
sessions).
Changes at
OPG
As we begin to look ahead at all 2014 has
to offer, we also realize that the start of
a new year is also a good time for new
beginnings. The six founding partners
of OPG are very proud of how far we’ve
come, and we’ve remained friends first
and foremost. As we begin the new year,
some organizational changes have occurred. Bob Blanchard is now an associate partner which gives him more flexibility for his other passion besides planning:
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photography. Cynthia Hoyle decided to focus
on her interest in building active transportation
systems, and is no longer a partner, although she
remains one of our valued resources for work
involving complete streets and all things bicyclerelated. They will both forever be founding
partners of OPG and helped to get us where we
are today, and we are grateful for that.
Who We Are
The Orion Planning Group is a team of planning
professionals committed to creating communities of lasting value. We believe in the significance of public involvement, the power of team
work, and the consistent use of sound planning
principles. Most of our experience has been
gained working directly for state, regional and
local governments. We have worked in small,
medium and large cities, urban and rural counties, fast-growing regions and communities in
decline. We have performed nearly every aspect
of planning in a governmental context. In addition, each of us has a wealth of consulting experience. We bring all of that knowledge and experience together as partners in the Orion Planning
Group. Learn more about us at
www.OrionPlanning Group.com

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