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

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

EAR PREPARATION Background Preliminary Work Preparation ◦ Outline and Checklist ◦ My Toolbox

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

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

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

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

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

Success Stories Learning Experiences Sufficient on 1 st 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…

OUR EXPERIENCE

Questions Sharon Williams, Associate Planner City of Pembroke Pines Pines Blvd Pembroke Pines, FL (O) (F) Jerry Bell, AICP Principal Bell David Planning Group 80 SW 8 Street, Suite 2000 Miami, FL (305) (ph) (305) (F) Paula Church Section Supervisor Department of Planning and Zoning, 12 Floor 111 NW 1 st Street Miami, Florida