Why DIY?

An affordable alternative to consultant-prepared comprehensive plans.

The Program

A one- to three-day comprehensive, hands-on series of training sessions.

Why Choose DIYGP?

The general plan provides direction for most staff reports and actions by elected officials. Keeping a general plan up-to-date can be costly and time- consuming. As a result, most communities update their general plans infrequently. Given the time commitment and complexity that often accompany a major general plan update, the work is often contracted out. But times have changed and money is tight, particularly for long-range planning. Still, communities want to update their plans for many reasons—despite or because of the current fiscal crisis.

To provide an affordable alternative to consultant-prepared general plans—and to put planners to work during these difficult economic times—we’ve created the DO-IT-YOURSELF GENERAL PLAN®. It enables staff to gain the skills, knowledge, and tools to update their general plan in-house with a minimum of outside assistance and expense. And it provides communities the opportunity to:

• Learn from our firm’s 25 years of experience preparing more than 50 general plans.
• Acquire the tools and templates to do the work.
• Gain access to our technical support as they update their plans.
• Develop long-term organizational capacity to not only update the general plan, but also to implement it.

The Program

The DO-IT-YOURSELF COMPREHENSIVE PLAN® program is a comprehensive, hands-on series of training sessions designed to give planners and their local governments the tools and guidance necessary to update and implement their comprehensive plan.

Seven training sessions cover every aspect of comprehensive plan preparation. While a full three-day program is recommended, one- and two-day programs are available that focus on selected aspects of general plan preparation and implementation. These sessions can also be spread out over several months.

Each training session has three parts: lecture and course materials; interactive discussion; templates and guides.

Each Training Session Includes:

• Lecture and course materials.
• Interactive discussion.
• Templates, examples, and guides.