In June, Jamie Greene and Sarah Bongiorno, alongside Kimberly Sharp, Deputy Director of Planning and Development for the City of Westerville, presented on the topic of scenario planning and place-based land use policy at the 2015 Central Ohio Planning and Zoning Conference. Imagine Westerville, the City of Westerville’s first comprehensive plan in over 50 years, utilized a character based approach to creating a land use plan. Through the development of a character type palette and the use of an innovative scenario modeling tool the city was able to make more informed decisions about different potential futures for the community. The modeling tool helped leadership in Westerville consider how factors such as population growth, transportation demands, job growth, and income tax revenue should influence planning and zoning decisions well into the future.
The session included an overview of the process undertaken by the city including public engagement activities and scenario modeling technical work. At the end of the session a series of lessons learned were shared which prompted a thoughtful and engaging question and answer session.
