RFQ - Comprehensive Plan Consultant Services

Cherokee County, Georgia

Cherokee County, a rapidly growing county in the northern portion of Metropolitan Atlanta, is seeking a qualified planning firm or consultant to assist in developing an update to the Cherokee County Comprehensive Plan. The county wishes to develop a truly innovative and integrated plan which will provide local officials with the knowledge and tools to make sound decisions. The plan will be constructed under the newly revised State Minimum Planning Standards established by Georgia's Department of Community Affairs. The county's due date for the update of the plan is 10/31/2007. The anticipated timeframe for completion of this work will cover the next three years.

The consultant will be required to produce and manage a Public Participation Plan reaching out to all the citizens of the County and providing ample opportunities for the public to become engaged in the planning process. The consultant will be required to make available or be able construct a web site for the dissemination of information during and after the update of the Comprehensive Plan

Cherokee expects the Plan to exceed the minimum standards in format and content. To that end, the county anticipates the plan to be analyzed for its fiscal impact on county resources as well as its responsiveness to real estate market conditions and forecasts. A great portion of the plan will utilize maps to display concepts, highlight environmental constraints and map the future of the County. The consultant will be expected to have expertise in, and liberally employ, GIS in the plan. Additionally, the County expects the generous use of graphics, illustrations and photographs to augment the Comprehensive Plan.

The consultant or team should have the following skills at their disposal for this project:

• Public Participation and outreach

• Community Visioning

• Land Use planning

• Urban Design

• Transportation Planning

• GIS

• Technology (ie. Web site, visualization, modeling, database)

• Fiscal Impact Analysis

• Real Estate Market Analysis