We are thrilled to unveil our newest venture, Contexto Urban Planning, which is dedicated to providing a comprehensive suite of services tailored to support projects across San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles counties. This expansion signifies a significant milestone in our evolution as we expand our team and elevate our service offerings.
As we embark on this journey, we invite you to join us in exploring the field of urban planning and Contexto’s planning process and services that support successful development projects.
What is Urban Planning?
Urban Planning is, as the name implies, urban (city) planning. It seeks to project, among other things, the infrastructure needs and environmental impacts of proposed projects - one project at a time - to build up our urban environment. It requires an understanding of sound site design, potential environmental opportunities and constraints, jurisdictional requirements, and the public and political will to support the project.
Development planning at the local or regional level is complex. Few people will require the services of planning professionals in their lifetime. Selecting the right consultant is critical to ensuring project success for the few that will.
What is the Process?
The process starts with selecting a quality consultant, but this is easier said than done.
It is not unusual for prospective clients to not know what questions to ask since, after all, they are engaging in one of the most complex processes anyone can be a part of. Various people will hire a Planning consultant, from professional developers to small business owners trying to get an existing business entitled. The diversity of our clients can make communication difficult.
Planning can involve an alphabet soup of acronyms, complex processes, and numerous responsible agencies and departments having approval authority over a project. To bridge the communication gap a consultant should seek to understand the project scope, know the local jurisdiction and understand the project requirements. Once a complete understanding is achieved, the consultant should develop a game plan and communicate it to the client as clearly as possible.
With the correct information, the client is well-equipped to make critical decisions on their project. This may involve finding another prospective property or continuing to pursue the project on the selected site to fruition.
Client and Consultant Relationship
Contexto seeks to foster a relationship with our clients as partners in the development process. Our preferred approach is allowing us to become partners in the development process with our clients. This means we keep our clients informed on the importance of the sequential steps in the process. Our clients should not be kept in the dark regarding the development of their projects. We value honesty, even if that means a client will discontinue work on a site with significant engineering and environmental constraints. Ultimately, nothing else gives us more satisfaction than our clients thanking us for giving them information no one else did.