KM Date Community Planning, LLC is a consultancy providing support services to communities and neighborhoods in making sound decisions about land development, revitalization, conservation and open space, land management, economic development, historic preservation, and community involvement. Changing household, market, economic, and environmental conditions require communities to make informed decisions that will make a difference for their future. Your decisions now will determine who you are in twenty years – your fiscal and economic situation, your community character, and your long term prosperity and quality of life. We provide information, analysis, recommendations, data, and facilitation to assist with those decisions – to leaders, groups, consultants, businesses, and citizens.
KM Date Community Planning is led by Kirby Date, AICP, a planner with over 20 years’ experience working with Ohio communities.
Decision Support Analysis
All of our work is firmly based in analysis of data to illuminate trends, comparisons, and weigh the tradeoffs for future scenarios. The firm has capabilities in retail and housing market analysis, economic base analysis, economic and fiscal impact analysis, site evaluation, site planning alternatives, and real estate evaluation. Example projects include revitalization strategies for Kenmore Boulevard in Akron, and Fleet Avenue in the Slavic Village neighborhood of Cleveland; an economic and fiscal impact analysis for the Variety Village District on Lorain Avenue in Westown neighborhood of Cleveland; a housing needs assessment, market analysis, and slum/blight analysis for the City of Lorain; a retail market analysis and economic base analysis for the Town of Greenville, PA; retail market analysis for six neighborhood main streets in the City of Cleveland; analysis of regional growth patterns for the Ohio Department of Transportation; and development of a fiscal impact tool for members of the Northeast Ohio Mayors and Managers Association.
Public and Stakeholder Engagement
All of our projects involve extensive work with the public and key stakeholders. We are committed to the principle of meaningful engagement that facilitates the public and stakeholders in collaboratively shaping positive policy change. Past work in The Countryside Program and the Balanced Growth Program both involved innovation in local government policy which would not have succeeded if not founded on heavy input from citizens and nonprofits, developers, the banking and real estate community, prosecutors and law directors, elected leadership, planning commissions and zoning boards. In addition, we have had the opportunity to provide engagement assistance to others to help elicit meaningful input on a variety of topics. Work has ranged from interviews and focus groups to public meetings, collaborative hands-on workshops, field trips and design seminars. Clients and collaborators have included the Western Reserve Resource Conservation and Development Council, Cleveland Metroparks, Ohio Lake Erie Commission, Holden Arboretum, Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, the Northeast Ohio Stormwater Training Council, and the Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium, among many others.
Community Planning
We have prepared community-based plans for parks, recreation and open space, housing, main streets, retail and mixed-use sites, mined lands reclamation, and conservation development. Recent and current work include a housing study for the City of Oberlin, a main street redevelopment strategy for Fleet Avenue in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood, and a retail expansion/vacancy analysis for Lorain Avenue at 117th Street in Cleveland. Past projects include a historic downtown plan for the Village of Jefferson, Ohio; a main street study for the Village of Middlefield, Ohio; mixed use site alternatives for the City of Olmsted Falls, Ohio; a master plan for 10,000 acres for the Santa Clara County Park District, California; and sand mine alternative development schemes for the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, California.
Conservation and Development
Ms. Date led the Countryside Program for ten years in the Northeast Ohio region, consulting with local governments, developers, and citizen groups on policy initiatives to balance conservation and development. This was followed by ten years assisting the Ohio Balanced Growth Program with local government outreach on watershed-protecting best practices such as conservation development, compact development, storm water management, tree and woodland protection, stream setbacks, floodplain protection, historic preservation, and natural lands management. Key clients and collaborators include the Ohio Lake Erie Commission; the Ohio Water Development Authority; the Chagrin River Watershed Partners; county planning commission and prosecutor offices across the Ohio Lake Erie Basin; and local governments such as the Village of Richfield, Erie County Soil and Water District, and City of Toledo.
Plan and Code Reviews
Recent housing studies have included detailed code reviews on zoning, housing, property maintenance, vacancy and foreclosure management, rental management, and college town issues. Recent assistance to the Cleveland Tree Coalition led to the development of a tree canopy protection regulation for the City of Cleveland. Technical assistance to local governments under the Ohio Balanced Growth Program included code reviews with regard to watershed-protecting practices such as conservation development, stream setbacks, and other conservation and development measures. In addition, comprehensive plan reviews have been completed to assist local governments with planning for upcoming updates. Key clients have included the City of Geneva, City of Toledo, Montville Township, Erie County Soil and Water District, City of Kent, City of Oberlin, Columbia Township, and the Village of Burton.
Project Management, Grants and Proposals
The firm principal has successfully solicited funding for, and implemented, over $2 million in community planning-related projects. Projects have ranged in size from $5,000 to $275,000, and teams have ranged from one to ten subconsultants in a wide variety of disciplines. Funders have included a number of private foundations and public and private clients, and the State of Ohio. In addition, Ms. Date was a member of the team that successfully proposed the Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortiums’ $4.5 million grant to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, received in 2010. We take special pride in completing complex projects on time, on budget, and with a sense of humor.