DC&E has received a Merit Award for its conceptual design, entitled "Refarming Suburbia," for the SMART Ideas Urban Design Competition for Northwest Santa Rosa.!

The competition, sponsored by the Redwood Empire Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy, was intended to gather urban design ideas for development and circulation around the future North Santa Rosa station of the SMART train.

The eleven participants from DC&E developed a conceptual design that proposes incorporating agricultural cultivation, open space corridors, greater bicycle and pedestrian connectivity, and mixed-use development throughout the North Santa Rosa station area.

Partipants included:

• Bill Bogenschutz
• Bruce Brubaker
• Agnes Chan
• Melissa Erikson
• Mike Ernst
• Isby Fleischmann
• Yiu Kam
• Charlie Loy
• Kurt Massey
• Sophie Mintier
• Kevin Waldron

For more information, visit the competition website. Congratulations to the DC&E team!

Click image to view first board (7 MB PDF)

Click image to view second board (5 MB PDF)

DC&E is excited to announce that the West Broadway Urban Village Specific Plan was adopted by the City of Seaside City Council on November 19, 2009. Although West Broadway Avenue functions as Seaside's primary commercial corridor and main arterial, it is currently lacking pedestrian amenities, attractive streetscape features and a cohesive sense of place. The Plan, which will have its seconding reading on January 21, 2010, establishes a node of activity within Seaside that can support an increased intensity and mix of uses, including the development of residential units with ground-floor retail.

The West Broadway Urban Village Specific Plan is the result of an exciting planning process to revitalize and enhance the economic, social, cultural and recreational fabric of the City of Seaside's West Broadway Avenue. Working closely with City staff and community members, DC&E developed a comprehensive framework for the creation of an "urban village" that will serve as Seaside's downtown. Guided by the City's vision for the West Broadway area, the Specific Plan describes and illustrates a vision for the area and includes design concepts for a mixed-use project containing a public library and parking garage; new residential development in the adjacent neighborhood; and a future multi-modal transit hub and light rail station. Throughout the planning process, the Specific Plan emphasized vibrancy, safety, accessibility, mobility and place-making as key priorities.

DC&E is proud to announce that Cynthia Gallant is now a Bay-Friendly Qualified Landscape Professional. Cynthia has been working with Alameda County's StopWaste.Org team as an on-call consultant, providing technical review services and developing model policy language promoting the Bay-Friendly Landscape Program. Bay-Friendly Landscaping is a holistic approach to gardening that fosters soil health and conserves water and other valuable resources while reducing waste and preventing pollution. Cynthia has now completed an intensive training program to understand and implement the Bay-Friendly Landscape Program, among the first class of Bay-Friendly Qualified Landscape Design Professionals.

Click here for more information.

Following in the footsteps of AB 32's battle against climate change, the State Court of Appeals issued one of the first rulings on energy analysis under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). On September 18th, the California Third District Court of Appeal upheld an EIR analysis completed by DC&E for a new WinCo Foods store in the City of Tracy, which stated that the project would have a less-than-significant effect on energy consumption since it would exceed the State's Building Energy Efficiency Standards. This ruling sets an important precedent for CEQA by allowing application of Title 24 standards in determining the impacts from energy consumption. In addition, the court found that the City is not required to take action to mitigate the impacts associated with traffic at intersections outside the city limits. The case also clarified that a City Council is not required to remand an EIR back to the Planning Commission if an amended EIR is prepared after the Planning Commission has completed its review. In such a case, the court stated, there is no requirement to send the amended EIR back to the Planning Commission. DC&E's Principal of Environmental Review, Steve Noack, was Principal-in-Charge for the WinCo Foods EIR for the City of Tracy.

DC&E is excited to be working on a Community Action Plan for the City of Point Arena, a coastal community of 500 residents located in the southwest corner of Mendocino County. The Plan, funded by Caltrans through a Community- Based Transportation Planning Grant, will identify solutions for a wide range of transportation improvements in the downtown core, promote community identity, and help provide direction for long-term, sustainable growth consistent with the City's General Plan. As part of the Plan, DC&E recently worked in partnership with the Mendocino Council of Governments and the City of Point Arena to host a multi-day Design Roundtable to develop a future vision for the City of Point Arena. Community members voiced their concerns, shared their ideas, and helped to shape a vision for Point Arena during three community workshops, a walking audit, and numerous focus group meetings. At the final Community Workshop, DC&E presented preliminary recommendations for a Downtown Streetscape Plan, a Circulation and Parking Plan, gateway, signage and traffic calming elements, and a framework for future sustainable growth.

On October 12, 2009 the San Carlos City Council adopted the San Carlos 2030 General Plan, prepared by DC&E. This General Plan focuses on environmental sustainability goals relating to all aspects of development in San Carlos. The General Plan was prepared concurrently with a Climate Action Plan (CAP) as part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in San Carlos. DC&E also prepared the Environmental Impact Report for the General Plan and the CAP.

The General Plan update process involved extensive public outreach and participation. San Carlos residents attended nine public workshops and forums to provide input on the General Plan. DC&E also facilitated over 40 meetings of the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) to help guide the preparation of the General Plan. The GPAC, composed of 15 members representing diverse stakeholder groups, worked together to achieve consensus on a variety of controversial issues.

DC&E also updated the City's Housing Element as part of the General Plan Update. This Housing Element complies with State Housing Element law and balances the goals of expanding the supply of affordable housing and maintaining San Carlos' unique community character.

The General Plan Update began in the fall of 2007 with a mandate from the City Council to complete the process within two years. DC&E achieved this goal through effective partnerships with City staff and a commitment to meeting product deadlines as part of an aggressive schedule.

DC&E's Southern California Principal, Bill Fulton, presented findings from an analysis of Miami-Dade County's Urban Development Boundary (UDB) and infill policies at a high-profile public workshop on the County's growth management policies, held October 14th through 16th. The analysis, conducted in conjunction with Florida State Planning Department Chair Tim Chapin, sparked controversy, with some participants labeling it a rationalization for moving the boundary and limiting the developer-driven process. In addition, real-time bloggers expressed frustration over what has been an ongoing struggle to protect property rights of rural landowners while maintaining limits on urban growth. In the end, attendees were satisfied with the outcome of Fulton's analysis, which included a tentative set of UDB amendment options. Options included revising the Comprehensive Development Master Plan amendment process to lengthen the two-year application cycle, as well as strengthening infill policies within the UDB while conserving the 60,000 acres of agricultural land outside the boundary.

The workshop was convened by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of the Smart Growth Implementation Assistance Program. It was attended by numerous experts in the growth management field, including Department of Planning & Zoning staff, County officials, greenfield landowners, infill proponents and members of Hold the Line, an organization dedicated to maintaining the UDB's current location and protecting lands outside the boundary.

Sarah Sutton, ASLA, LEED AP, Principal and Landscape Architect at DC&E, has recently achieved two Green Industry Certifications: Green Roof Professional (GRP) with Green Roofs for Healthy Cities and Green Point Rater (GPR) with Build it Green. These accomplishments further complement her expertise in green building which she applies to all of her projects at DC&E. She is currently one of only 11 GRPs in California and brings over 20 years experience in the design and installation of green roofs, including the design of an extensive green roof for the Dona Spring Animal Shelter in Berkeley. As a GPR, Ms. Sutton continues to apply her knowledge in green building design and construction to DC&E’s projects, from urban and regional planning to site specific designs.

Several DC&E staff members spoke at the 2009 CCAPA Conference, which was held September 13th through the 16th in Squaw Valley. DC&E participated in the following panels:

• Parks as Resource Management Tools: Isabelle Minn
• Reinventing the General Plan Map: David Early
• Fire and Water: Isby Swick
• We Grow It, You Eat It: David Early
• Form-Based Codes in the Real World: David Early and Ben Noble
• Sustainability in Mountains: Truckee Leads the Way: Joanna Jansen

DC&E was awarded three projects in the first round of RFPs, the most of any firm, and a fourth project in the second round.  These exciting new projects include the following:

• Sustainable Transit Communities for the City of Los Angeles.  This project will involve working with the Mayor’s office and other city departments to develop a framework for identifying ten Sustainable Transit Communities and formulate the principles and process for redevelopment in these areas.
• Transferring Development from Greenfields to Infill for the City of >Redlands and San Bernardino County.  This project will include developing a pilot "Transfer of Development Rights" program to reduce pressure for outward growth, and develop TOD strategies around rail stations and downtown.
• North Newhall Specific Plan for the City of Santa Clarita.  This project will focus on developing a Specific Plan with transit-oriented and mixed-use development, walkable and bike-friendly land use, and economic and redevelopment opportunities.
• Downtown 3D Model & Database for the City of Fullerton.  This project will include creating a three-dimensional digital model and database of the downtown area to help analyze its development potential and serve as a communication tool.

DC&E's work with the City of Tracy was recently recognized with a San Joaquin Valley Blueprint Award of Merit for the Tracy General Plan and with an honorable mention for Tracy's Growth Management Ordinance and Guidelines. The San Joaquin Valley Regional Blueprint program is an eight-county collaborative planning effort to develop a vision for the future of the Valley. The Valley's regional planning agencies created the awards program to recognize exceptional plans, policies and projects addressing critical issues facing the vitality of the San Joaquin Valley. The awards will be presented by the Regional Policy Council at the Fall Policy Conference luncheon on October 2, 2009 in Fresno.

DC&E has completed its work with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) to prepare Designing for Smart Growth, a set of smart growth design guidelines for the entire San Diego region. The SANDAG Board of Directors accepted the guidelines at its June 2009 meeting.

In this yearlong project, DC&E worked closely with SANDAG staff to show how smart growth development can result in well-designed, enjoyable places that are valued and embraced by the community. Kimley-Horn and Associates and KTU+A also contributed to the guidelines.

The design guidelines address all aspects and scales of new development, from the design of individual sites and buildings to the inclusion of parks and civic buildings within a neighborhood. Along with the guidelines, DC&E and SANDAG also created a Smart Growth Scorecard, which provides a straightforward tool for evaluating the quality of individual projects and comparing proposed developments with one another.

Local jurisdictions in the San Diego region have already begun to use the guidelines as a starting point for their own planning efforts, and as a reference to understand the key principles of creating great places. The guidelines are also serving as a source of inspiration for developers, designers and citizens throughout the region.

We are proud to announce that Cynthia Gallant is now qualified as a Landscape Architect in the State of California, joining Principal Sarah Sutton and Senior Associates Melissa Erikson, Isabelle Minn and John Hykes.

Cynthia Gallant LEED AP, Project Landscape Architect

Sarah Sutton ASLA, LEED AP, Principal

Melissa Erikson ASLA, Senior Associate

Isabelle Minn ASLA, LEED AP, Senior Associate

John Hykes ASLA, Senior Associate

DC&E principal Bill Fulton has written a chapter for Climate Change and the Future of Southern California, a publication released by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). Bill's chapter is titled "How Planning Can Combat Climate Change in Southern California".

Read the chapter here (1 MB PDF).

SCAG's report on Climate Change and California's future.
Read more about the report here.