Battle Creek Consolidated Plan
Common Commitment in Action Program and Consolidated Plan

As part of an overall effort to update community goals for its five-year Consolidated Plan, the City of Battle Creek is embarking on an extensive public engagement process designed to reach high levels of citizen participation. Five years ago, Battle Creek completed its highly successful Common Commitment Project that engaged about 3,000 residents in community goal setting. Today, building on these results, Common Commitment in Action is underway and is designed to update community goals, and move purposefully toward the development of key community benchmarks and targets. This new process will not only update prior community goals, but will substantially sharpen the focus of each goal with meaningful benchmarks and performance measurements.
Community excitement was high as this project kicked off with more than 150 residents attending the kick-off event alone. In January and February, about an equal number of people attend several community forums throughout the City, and many more completed mail-back or web surveys to contribute to the overall process of reshaping and updating community goals
Location: Battle Creek, Michigan
Community Visioning and Economic Development Plan
Hillsdale County, Michigan

PDG is teamed with Jarret Consulting to assist local leaders with establishing a long-term vision for economic development. Recent downturns in manufacturing in the area (and throughout the Midwest) prompted local leaders to seek professional planning assistance in a substantial effort to chart a new course for economic development efforts.

Work on this significant project began with a high level of community engagement. This included one-on-one interviews with local community leaders, four county-wide visioning sessions and a large number of focus groups held in local business districts. Additional outreach efforts include web-based surveys for school-aged residents and existing business and industry representatives.

Preliminary directions being taken with this effort include a substantial emphasis on entrepreneurship, tourism, unique local businesses, specific quality of life dimensions and heritage tourism.
Fallen Timbers Cost-Benefit Analysis
The City of Maumee retained the services of PDG to develop a financial Cost-Benefit Analysis of the proposed Fallen Timbers Mall and adjacent commercial development. The mall is proposed to be developed by the second largest mall developer in the world, and the adjacent acreage is proposed to be developed by a local developer.

Assumptions were made based on the most current, detailed information available from developers, property owners, and the local government agencies providing services and infrastructure. These assumptions and the resulting numbers were compared to comparable malls in comparable cities and in Toledo. Malls in Grandville, Michigan and Coralville, Iowa were compared, as were Franklin Park Mall and Southwyck Mall in Toledo.

Increased financial costs included necessary improvements in road and infrastructure maintenance, police, fire protection, EMS services, and the increased load on the municipal courts. Increased benefits to various entities include revenues generated from income taxes on employee and construction workers' wages; real and personal property taxes on the new facilities, equipment, and inventory; sales tax revenues; hospitality tax revenues; and permit fees.

The analysis looked at costs and benefits from 2002 through 2013, with the anticipation of the mall starting construction in and opening in September 2004.

Scenarios were developed for the current income tax sharing agreement through the Joint Economic Development Zone (JEDZ) and for the proposed amendment to that agreement.
Location: Maumee, Ohio
City of Galion Downtown Planning
PDG assisted the City of Galion with the acquisition of three CDBG-Downtown grants for improvements to Uptowne Galion, including a major plan for renovation of Public Square, the intersection of the two main corridors in the City. Early in the planning process, two different scale models were prepared for use in public participation sessions to illustrate concepts for redesign of the Public Square and acquire consensus from the community on the final design scheme.

PDG assisted the City with a full range of services on the downtown project, including grant applications and administration, preparing a manual for administering a CDBG-funded facade/building improvement program, training of Main Street Galion staff, and preparation of preliminary streetscaping design scenarios. Engineering design services were provided for renovation of the Public Square; pedestrian alleys; and street, parking and lighting improvements.

Renovation of the historic Central Hotel on the Square and The Big Four Depot on the east side of Uptowne involved planning and architectural services from PDG, including structural and architectural analyses, preparation of RFP's for developers, stabilization planning for the hotel, interior layouts and roof repair plans for the depot. The third grant extended the streetscaping and facade program east of the railroad in an effort to incorporate a previously neglected area into the Uptowne.PDG prepared a concept plan for this area.

Galion became one of Ohio’s first Main Street communities, and the first Main Street community to receive a CDBG-Downtown grant. It also received the Governor's Award.
Location: Galion, Ohio
Athens Comprehensive Plan


2005 Ohio Planning Conference Award
Comprehensive Planning - Small Jusisdiction

 PDG was selected to assist the City of Athens with the development of a Comprehensive Plan for the community, which includes extensive involvement with Ohio University, the City’s largest employer. Ohio University’s campus includes over 100 buildings, representing close to 4 million square feet of space on a 1,000 acre campus. It employs close to 10,000 employees. Thus, the relationship between the City and the University is key to proper planning and development of the community as a whole.

Visioning and citizen participation were key elements of the comprehensive planning process, and the University played a key role in those efforts. Staff from Ohio University participated on the Steering Committee, which is coordinating the project.

Issues addressed in the planning process include a pedestrian linkages between the campus and the downtown, parking problems, traffic flow in and around the campus, student housing, the infamous OU Halloween party and its impact on the downtown, industrial expansion including the university-owned airport property, and overall town-gown relationships.

The first phase of the planning process was completed in early 2003. Phase two, which involves the development of implementation strategies, is scheduled to commence in mid 2003.

PDG has also completed projects specifically for Ohio University, including Fenzel House Water Heating System Upgrade and the Shively Kitchen Ventilation Improvements.
Location: Athens, Ohio