Land Use Planning & Design

Compass Blueprint helps cities and stakeholders prepare for the future, understanding local capacity for growth while developing strategies to conserve resources, culture and character. We can provide tools and expertise to plan for housing and employment growth through new development and redevelopment.

Compass Blueprint Land Use Planning and Design services will be customized to address the issues unique to each partner community and might include assistance with:

General and specific plans

Reflect your community's culture, history and values, while providing a vibrant and clear message for the future. Compass Blueprint can assist in creating or updating policies for housing, economic development, transportation, neighborhoods, urban design, infrastructure, parks and open space, public involvement etc. Products are user-friendly, well-illustrated and fully functional in a web environment.

Development code analysis

Draft language to amend local codes so they better supports development goals. Test the effectiveness of codes to produce the high quality projects envisioned by the city and community. We can help you consider strategic, often small, changes such as adjusted densities or parking requirements that can greatly influence the likelihood of plans becoming reality.

Form-based codes

Specify your community's desired form and scale of development through the creation of a form-based code. Compass Blueprint can help you create zoning that sets standards for the mass of buildings, orientation of buildings to sidewalks, and the quality of the street network rather than focusing solely on the uses of the buildings. This can improve public spaces and streetscapes, making urban and suburban areas more inviting to people and continued investment.

Scenario planning

Consider the implications of a range of possible futures for your community with scenario planning. Combining quantitative GIS analysis with stakeholder input, we can help you test the economic, transportation, infrastructure, and environmental effects of growth before it happens.

Infill analysis & strategies

In many Southern California cities the best, or only, locations remaining for growth or changing land use are on infill or redevelopment sites. Planning for these sites can be more complicated than for traditional greenfield sites in terms of market conditions, land use designations and design considerations. Compass Blueprint can help you pinpoint specific parcels with infill potential, estimate citywide infill capacity and identify various opportunities and constraints for infill development.