Land Use Planning

Our land use planners listen to you to understand your goals and find ways to achieve them that are consistent with applicable local regulations—all while keeping your best interests in mind.

 

We do the work to find challenges before they turn into problems.

Our planners follow an extraordinarily rigorous due diligence/feasibility review process. This allows us to uncover potential challenges earlier in a project rather than receiving unexpected surprises later on.

An eye for quality and consistency.

Strategically prepared documents that are accurate, consistent, and attractive are crucial to successful planning efforts. Our land use team performs a tiered QA/QC process consisting of peer review, technical editing, and supervisor review of documents before they are considered final and ready for publishing.

 

Our planners come from diverse backgrounds.

Our planners have backgrounds in public land use policy, agency review, private development, landscape architecture, and master planning. They collaborate with our other disciplines to provide insightful, feasible, cost-effective solutions to meet your project goals. This spectrum of expertise results in highly informed, reliable advice.

Land Use Planning and Development Services

Our experienced planners draft thoughtful, comprehensive master plans that will lay the groundwork for your development for years or decades to come.

We know all the ins and outs of subdividing and partitioning parcels of land and how to navigate the various agencies, departments, and applications involved.

People come to us because of our site planning expertise. We ensure your project plans meet local codes and policies, and will be compatible with its surroundings.

We gather historical data about your property and analyze it to determine the best type of project to pursue. We identify how the project can move forward, the steps involved, and the risk factors.

Our planners analyze a proposed project’s potential impacts on an area and work closely with you to develop a plan to minimize the negative impacts. We know the political environment of the jurisdiction and potentially sensitive topics.

Our knowledgeable planners help you navigate the approval criteria, applications, and forms needed to apply for conditional use permits. These applications are about mitigating the impacts of a proposed project and building expert testimony to support the plan.

Our team’s knowledge of federal and local requirements, combined with our established relationships with agency staff, ensures your project complies with all regulations and requirements.

Our team is skilled at preparing bare land for future development. Our planners work closely with our engineers to navigate the various stakeholders and agencies required to ensure your site has the necessary infrastructure.

Our planners are skilled at helping you navigate the special criteria for rural land use applications, including applicable state ordinances.

We have built strong relationships with local agencies throughout Oregon and Washington, and our reputation is helpful when navigating the approval process.

Our land use planners serve as advocates to ensure that land use plans are designed in your best interest and consistent with project goals and objectives.

With decades of experience, our land use planners can review your planning-related documents to ensure they are complete and have the best chance of obtaining approval.

AKS planners have managed numerous land use hearings, providing unbiased expert advice to panels and giving testimony on how development meets the code provisions and impacts are mitigated.

Our planners are experienced in advocating for policy changes through lobbying, public education, policy arguments, and direct action by working with local, state, and federal government agencies.

Public meetings can be controversial and require a special touch. Our experienced planners attend public meetings and have an impressive track record of gaining community support for projects.

Communicating with neighbors and affected community members is a critical part of the process. We’re well versed in coordinating with public officials and providing public engagement services that generate engagement and enthusiasm within the community.

Our team oversees all tasks and resources that go into the planning and completion of a project. Our project managers ensure all involved parties are on the same page and that your project is completed on time, on budget, and complies with all local codes and requirements.

Some projects require extra help to obtain approval. Our planners have experience researching and submitting the required forms and site plans to get non-conforming uses reviewed by local municipalities.

We’re familiar with all the local codes and argumentation to obtain a variance or adjustment for your project.

Using our in-house resources, our team helps you navigate all the relevant surveys, forms, and applications needed to adjust property lines.