How Designing a Development Is Like Setting the Thanksgiving Table

The illustration above is an initial site plan submitted as a pre-application. It is a well-engineered plan following most of the municipal codes. However, the irregular site resulted in lots of parking and was not consistent with the city’s vision.

There are infinite possibilities when you design and lay out a new site for development. Every design either starts with a grand vision or specific purpose, and after many iterations, the ultimate design ends up somewhere between the two. The only limit is the imagination of the designer and the complexity of the site.

The design of a site plan begins to emerge as the development team puts the design to paper or, technically, in the computer. The vision takes on a form through massing (i.e., showing the form of the building), where we can experience and understand the volume and scale of the project. The purpose becomes clear with the addition of lines and measurements, which show how problems are addressed. The drawings are the language of the designer, providing a virtual expression of the final design.

Speaking from experience, there are a lot of drawings and interactions necessary for even the simplest of buildings. Each iteration tries something new, continuously improving the design. Now imagine taking drawings from lots of different projects in lots of different scales and putting them together on a single street or within a neighborhood and being asked to create some sense of order or reason. Making sense of this chaos is the essence and challenge of urban design.

City planning is very similar to a game of Tetris, where many odd-shaped pieces must fit together into complete rows or blocks. One mistake or rush to drop in a piece can result in an incomplete row that begins a negative series of events, starting with aggravation, and leading to losing the game. Urban design, like Tetris, is a series of complex moves that need to be patiently reviewed and thought out. If properly aligned, everything falls into place. If improperly aligned, mistakes result—in the urban environment, this can mean things like misaligned driveways or power poles in the middle of the sidewalk.

The presentation in front of a planning commission or city council is generally the end of the process for the development team. That makes this the worst time to try to impact or improve a proposed development. Developers start their project planning sometimes years before the application is presented in a public hearing. New development is most malleable early in the process. When working with site developers, you have to roll up your sleeves and start the conversation early and often.

Even the worst development plans can be modified into compatible urban development. Like setting a table, you can move the plates and dishes around to yield a different layout. Like the Thanksgiving table, you may be able to add some more seats or a couple extra serving dishes if you rearrange the table differently. Understanding the overall vision or goal to share a meal, we do not hesitate to adapt before we invite our guest to eat.

Staff engaged the developer early when the development plan was still malleable. Applying staff’s knowledge of the codes and asserting the vision of the city, an alternative plan was sketched. This plan yielded more development potential.

Municipal staff are the first to see these new developments. They may come in formal pre-application packages or in less formal forms, such as zoning inquiries or phone calls. These first contacts are really important. This is where the hardest work needs to start and we need to be aware where we can make the most change. This is where cities can gain the highest return on investment of staff time and training.

*The final approved plan was influenced by staff contributions. It also resulted in additional units and a site for a future building.*

We should encourage our municipal staff to become engaged early in the development process and teach them not to be afraid to explore different layouts or building placements. Early in the process is the time to share the community vision with the development team. This might include the request to connect roadways or suggestions as to where the buildings might be placed. This may also result in better utilization of a site, resulting in more development on the same site. Staff’s insight of the code they are administering and their understanding of the community vision help to yield a development that contributes to the broader community.

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Edward Erfurt

Edward Erfurt is the Director of Community Action at Strong Towns. He is a trained architect and passionate urban designer with over 20 years of public- and private-sector experience focused on the management, design, and successful implementation of development and placemaking projects that enrich the tapestry of place. He believes in community-focused processes that are founded on diverse viewpoints, a concern for equity, and guided through time-tested, traditional town-planning principles and development patterns that result in sustainable growth with the community character embraced by the communities which he serves.