Comprehensive Sustainability Planning

The goal of rural and urban community development/re-development should be an integrated system of planning decisions that knit communities and neighborhoods together instead of tearing them apart. Communities can -- and will, and should -- develop. But to make sure they develop wisely, we need clear-headed, far-sighted comprehensive planning and better guiding models to replace the random collision of economic forces that has turned parts of our rural and urban landscapes into a "junkyard."

Sustainable development represents a holistic way to achieve recovery and enhance the quality of life for everyone in these communities by developing local assets to revitalize economies, limiting waste and pollution, improving the status of all people, conserving natural resources, and promoting cooperation and efficiency.

Five E's Unlimited has been extremely successful at assisting clients in developing an "adaptive management" attitude toward solving their problems, a new approach to community-based, sustainable, comprehensive planning. Adaptive management accepts the fact that economic development and landscape planning must proceed even if we do not have all the information we would like, or we are not sure what all the effects of our decisions might be.

Thus, we view the process of planning as not only a way to achieve objectives, but also as a process for learning more about the resources or system being managed. This allows one to discover from doing and then to make adjustments as the implementation process moves along. Adaptive management does not postpone action until "enough" is known, but acknowledges that time, resources, and human condition are too deficient to defer some action. In taking action therefore, it causes us to adapt our policies to improve management success and to be more responsive to future conditions.

We Will Assist You In:

• assessing the current economic, social, and environmental circumstances that characterize an area;
• conducting of public meetings and stakeholder consensus-building round tables;
• advising about new tools for advancing sustainable development planning;
• achieving consensus among competing stakeholders;
• defining recommended revisions to existing plans;
• identifying model ordinances and resolutions used elsewhere that will achieve "smart development" results; and
• advising planning staff in compiling new comprehensive plans.

In addition, we believe it is critical that client projects and programs not be prepared by an expert and handed over as a done deal. Such assistance is not likely to be helpful or user-friendly. Instead, we insist the client be fully involved in learning about problems relating to their issues, considering choices, and, most importantly, developing a project action plan collaboratively with us so they can personally internalize it and commit to it.

Therefore, our role as a planning consultant is to fit into the existing network of client relationships and bring to this network an integrative perspective. The goal of Five E's assistance in this regard is not to change the client's objectives, but to understand those objectives so that programs can be developed to best aid the client in achieving their self-defined ambitions.

Experience of Five E's Unlimited in Comprehensive Planning includes the following projects.

• Evaluation of county comprehensive plans and grassroots organization programs, including two VA Eastern Shore plans, to identify their major social, economic, environmental, and cultural concerns.
• Social vitality research to consider the fit between policies outlined in regional planning documents with attitudes, values, and goals of the local Eastern Shore populace.
• Advancement of planning methodologies for small-town business revitalization.
• Development and consultation on comprehensive rural village design concepts.
• Studies to assess community (especially minorities) needs and desires for recreation by identifying resident social patterns and recreational interests.
• Facilitation of visioning/action planning for business people and residents desiring to revitalize the Exmore (VA) business district