The purpose of the Rosenberg Parks and Recreation Master Plan and Update was to determine the community’s current and future needs for improving its existing parks and providing adequate areas and facilities to meet its short- and long-term needs. This master plan formed the policy direction of the City pertaining to the timing of park development, their placement within the City and its planning area, the type and quality of facilities, and the method by which enhancements and improvements are funded. It guided the City’s planning efforts for developing a “first class” public parks and recreation system, while also directing private contributions to the system through provision of active recreation areas and passive open space to meet the requisite needs of new development. The plan addressed the availability, quality, type, size, and location of leisure and recreation opportunities to meet the needs of Rosenberg’s residents and visitors.

A significant outcome of this process was the development of a park land dedication ordinance. This was particularly important for the community since they were in the path of development in Fort Bend County, much of which was occurring in their two-mile extraterritorial jurisdiction. The ordinance allowed the City to accept a dedication of land, a fee in lieu of land, or private park development. A point system allowed certain improvements to receive credit toward the required dedication or fee.

Seabourne Creek Park is a 240-acre park designed as a stormwater collection facility. Currently, the park is improved with passive facilities such as a fishing lake and walking trails. Through the master planning process, a master development plan (shown above) was created for the park including enhancements such as an interpretive center, bird habitat and viewing areas, an athletic complex with competitive ball fields and an indoor recreation center, an activity lake with paddle boats, an amphitheater for community celebrations, and a greatly expanded network of trails.

Additional Projects: Environmental Impact Report, General Plan

The City of Williams is undertaking a comprehensive update to its General Plan with Kendig Keast and Development Impact, Inc. The City realized that the pending changes to the General Plan will necessitate changes to the zoning regulations in order to maintain the ordinance as the primary means of plan implementation. Updating the zoning regulations is a “reasonable and practical means for implementing the general plan … so that it will serve as an effective guide for orderly growth and development.”

The City realized that if the General Plan and zoning regulations are not in-sync, then the zoning regulations will tend to drive development in a manner that undermines the integrity of the General Plan. The purpose of the comprehensive zoning ordinance update is to create an ordinance that implements the City’s new General Plan and resolves some of the issues that the City faces with its current ordinance. The update will:

• Provide concise, clear, internally consistent, and illustrated regulations;
• Ensure consistency with California and Federal law;
• Clarify and improve development review and administrative appeal procedures;
• Address design and infill compatibility where appropriate, particularly in the City’s downtown; and
• Incorporate standards that promote green building and smart growth

The Zoning Ordinance is only one tool for this community to implement its stated General Plan goal of preserving its unique character. The regulations are written to influence private development and work with the market rather than frustrate efforts. This is done by ensuring that character-based regulations are reasonable and clear to understand.

Kendig Keast Collaborative (KKC) is on a design team to update the Area Plan and “green book” policy guide for this 4,500 acre private golf club and mixed-use community. KKC was sought out for participation on this project due to our expertise for planning and development regulations in highly sensitive natural environments. The project is relatively unique in that it is funded by the City, the developer, and the area’s property owners’ association in equal parts.

As a complement to the Area Plan, KKC drafted land development code amendments. The proposed new district for the area will safeguard the quality character of development, while offering flexibility of standards that respect the uniqueness of the development and its significant topography and resources. The district will also provide for streamlined approval procedures for projects that implement the Area Plan.

Situated on the edge of the Kansas City metropolitan area, the development is settled along Cedar Creek and is nestled among steep slopes and limestone outcroppings, picturesque lakes and streams, and dense tree cover. Preserving the natural character and sustaining development quality, while respecting the developers’ expectations of a reasonable return on their investment, are among the highest project priorities.

Additional Projects: Comprehensive Plan, Unified Development Ordinance

Recognition: Outstanding Project (Unified Development Code), Honorable Mention, Indiana APA, (2010)

The U.S. 30 Corridor Plan defines a strategic vision for improving the function, appearance, and economic potential of a 4.5-mile highway segment that passes through the City of Valparaiso, a mid-size Indiana community located 50 miles southwest of Downtown Chicago. The planning process culminated in an illustrative design and policy document that set forth strategic recommendations for public and private investment activity. It also functioned as marketing collateral, helping to garner $25 million in streetscape and transportation improvements for a local Federal-aid project through INDOT. The City had previously retained Kendig Keast Collaborative (KKC) to comprehensively redraft its land development regulations into a single unified development ordinance, and to update its comprehensive plan.

One of the project’s challenges was to reconcile the corridor’s multiple and sometimes competing functions: to move high volumes of through-traffic as well as local traffic; provide access to property; carry important public infrastructure; connect several of the city’s activity centers, and serve as the City’s main “face” to the region. The plan shows how the corridor should redevelop in the event of major changes in market conditions or property ownership, while also making recommendations for proactive, targeted infrastructure improvements and redevelopment opportunities. The plan concluded with an implementation strategy, which presented a number of tools at the City’s disposal: zoning and special design standards; developer incentives; annexation policies; and direct public investment in infrastructure, landscaping, and possible participation in real estate development.

Click here to view the Plan – PDF Format, 8 MB

Additional Project: Comprehensive Plan

As part of a three-plan series including a Comprehensive Plan and Long-Range Transportation Plan, the City of Fremont retained Kendig Keast Collaborative to develop a Park and Recreation Master Plan.

The purpose of the plan was to provide comprehensive policy direction over a 20-year planning period to meet both current and future parks and recreation needs and, in turn, enhance livability in the community. The vision was to connect the community through people, parks, and programs.

The firm’s primary technical role was to assess the strengths, opportunities, and challenges associated with Fremont’s parks and recreation system; evaluate the existing park inventory and facility conditions; facilitate the development of both a long‐term vision and specific goals and action strategies for enhancement; assist in establishing the necessary public policies and public/private implementation tools; and ensure meaningful participation of community leaders and residents in the planning and implementation processes. Additionally, the plan outlined the various partnerships between organizations such as the YMCA and Fremont Public Schools and their use of city facilities and made recommendations for further collaboration.

The firm worked with the City to involve the public in the planning process. Community outreach efforts included neighborhood input meetings, small group interviews, and an implementation workshop with the Parks and Recreation Board and City Council.

Additional Projects: Comprehensive Plan, Unified Development Code, Esplanade Streetscape Improvement Concepts, Schematic Site Plan, On-Call Services

The City of Cuero, Texas, hired Kendig Keast Collaborative (KKC) to assist in the preparation of an updated comprehensive plan and a new downtown plan for guiding the long-range growth, development, and enhancement of the community. Today, the City is positioned for unprecedented growth and opportunity with its prime location along the Eagle Ford Shale formation. This potential for rapid growth, however, has both positive and negative implications on employment, traffic, housing, and infrastructure – among other community impacts. It is these contradicting implications of growth that prompted Cuero to undertake this planning effort, one that allowed them to proactively set their community vision for the future.

Through the process of developing the comprehensive plan and downtown plan, the community assessed unique and desirable traits in order to preserve its history and culture, improve aesthetics and overall quality of life, retain multi-generational families, and attract prospective businesses and residents to the area. The plans set the stage for a community vision and present next steps in the form of concrete and actionable recommendations.

What sets this planning process apart, however, is the strong community support and commitment to implement the proposed actionable recommendations. Before either plan was complete, the City had already proceeded with implementing many of the recommendations, including getting the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to help fund and construct pedestrian streetscape improvements (e.g., cross-walks and bulb-outs) along a five-block area through downtown, relocating the farmers market, keeping and expanding the library downtown, dedicating first-ever funding for sidewalk and other pedestrian improvements, consolidating outdated ordinances into a unified development code, and re-envisioning the future of the City’s largest community park.

Together, the comprehensive plan and downtown plan policy documents, and the City’s quick commitment to implementation, will provide communities across Texas and the country with concrete examples of what a well-thought out planning program can do to improve any jurisdiction’s long-term future.

City of Pflugerville selected Kendig Keast Collaborative to lead its Old Town Vision project, aimed at enhancing a traditional Main Street area that was fading as a focal point in a rapidly growing suburban community near Austin. KKC was charged with facilitating a process that would build on, but follow a distinctly different path from, previous efforts at consensus building and action planning which had yielded limited results. In particular, KKC planners needed to break down complicated issues and entrenched views and then gradually work toward a renewed vision and sense of commitment to Old Town revitalization. This was accomplished through numerous interviews, three targeted stakeholder forums, three steering committee meetings, interim briefings, and combined stakeholder and community-wide forums—all completed within 49 intensive days.

The resulting report is accessible to residents and businesses while also providing the level of guidance sought by City officials and staff. A colorful fold-out summary uses graphics, an easily-navigable action agenda table, and bulleted text to convey the essence of the process results and direction. The implementation emphasis is clear throughout, especially by spelling out the what, when and who of making specific outcomes happen. The agenda highlights a first set of “Top 5” initiatives to pursue; a next set which City staff can readily address; and a third set of other possibilities. Use of a traffic signal motif quickly conveys the status of potential actions: green for “Go” (strong support and a path toward implementation), yellow for “Caution” (lukewarm support and likely obstacles to overcome), and red for “Stop” (little or no support and limited chance of success). The report also points out specific actions taken by two other high-growth communities, emphasizing similarities to and differences from the Pflugerville scenario. KKC planners were praised for building trust early on, enabling their pointed observations to be received favorably when it came time to shed their neutrality and offer definitive recommendations to City Council.

Additional Projects: Livable Centers brochures, Vision for Tomorrow booklet, Building Better Bikeways brochure, Pedestrian Pathways brochure, Sustainable Transportation Strategies brochure, program display banners, Watershed Action Plan publication templates, Regional Plan for Sustainable Development visual identity and editing

Kendig Keast Collaborative (KKC) was engaged by the Houston-Galveston Area Council to re-design its Access Management Program website. The key design challenge was to adapt a graphic approach and page hierarchy that would work within the strict constraints of the agency-wide website template. As with previous graphic design engagements which KKC completed for H GAC, this assignment involved: (1) early brainstorming with client staff, especially to pinpoint their communication objectives and target audiences; (2) presentation of and feedback on preliminary design concepts and overall approach; and (3) an iterative process of refining all elements to arrive at a final approved design and content. An early design recommendation by KKC was to use a large featured graphic as a “clickable ” portal for users to navigate to more detailed information on various options and solutions encompassed by the term “access management.”

In this case, KKC personnel also drew from their own community planning experience with access management policies and regulations to contribute new overview and background text (including a Frequently Asked Questions, or FAQs, page); coordinated with two separate graphic artists to prepare original renderings to incorporate into the webpage design; and created a series of information sheets that would link to the main portal graphic and open as PDF documents for users to easily save and/or print. Since this project involved webpage design, KKC also coordinated with H-GAC technical staff on the final transfer of all electronic files and the logistics of setting up test pages for evaluation and eventual incorporation into the overall H-GAC website.

Additional Projects: Environmental Impact Report, Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance

Kendig Keast Collaborative was hired to rewrite the City of Williams’ General Plan at a time of anticipated growth. Despite the City’s small size and independence from a major metropolitan area, the Central Valley’s pace of development was straining utility systems and service delivery – even for small towns like Williams. In anticipation of a new housing and commercial prospects, the City wanted to identify a desired character and pattern of development, and to implement regulations that would steer the process. Key areas of focus include:

• Revitalization of Downtown to review options for implementing a Redevelopment Agency;
• Work to develop the City’s long range master and sewer plans;
• A public participation process that ensures multiple opportunities for input;
• Coordination with the Colusa County General Plan process;
• Compliance with California’s complex requirements; and
• A focus on community character.

Additional Projects: Comprehensive Plan Update, Industrial Park Master Plan, Urban Renewal Plan, Economic Development Strategy Plan

In conjunction with the Comprehensive Plan, Kendig Keast Collaborative (KKC) was hired to create an independent Parks and Recreation Master Plan for the City of Moscow. The purpose of the master plan is to determine the community’s current and future needs for improving, expanding, and enhancing its existing parks and recreation system.

Community input was gathered through multiple outreach efforts including a community survey, stakeholder meetings, a Citizen’s Congress, and five meetings with the Parks and Recreation Commission throughout the plan development. Stakeholder interviews were held to invite residents’ thoughts and ideas concerning the community’s parks and pathway systems and recreation facilities. Under the guidance of the Parks and Recreation Commission, goals and objectives were formulated to guide future decisions regarding the provision and improvement of parks and recreation areas, public open spaces, and pathways, and to identify the priorities for ongoing development of the parks and recreation system.

The plan includes: an inventory of the City’s 11 developed parks and recreational equipment, five undeveloped park areas, and 38 acres of linear parks and pathways; an adequacy assessment of existing facilities (compared to facility and development standards); and a determination of improvement needs. Steps for fulfilling the identified needs are outlined in the implementation section, which contains recommendations for updating and maintaining the existing park systems, priorities for new facilities, and regulatory and programmatic initiatives that are important to further develop the parks and recreation system.