URBAN DESIGN/PLACEMAkING - Renaissance Planning Group

Urban design/placemaking 

PHILOSOPHY & APPROACH 

The physical design of the built environment is fundamental to all projects at Renaissance. Through integrated, collaborative 

studios, Renaissance brings together architects, urban planners, landscape architects, and engineers to shape the built 

environment for a range of communities and clients. For the planners and designers at Renaissance, urban design is a creative 

expression of a spatial quality that makes vibrant places. Master and redevelopment plans are becoming increasingly 

important to the long-term vitality and success of communities and Renaissance provides an integrated approach to creating 

vibrant, sustainable places of community. 

SIGNATURE PROJECTS 

Crozet Master Plan 

The Congress for the New Urbanism Charter Award winning Master Plan 

creates site development guidelines that distinguish land use types, density, 

spatial enclosure, and infrastructure. 

CLIENT: Albemarle County Planning and Community Development, 

Charlottesville, VA 

NAME: Ms. Elaine Echols, Principal Planner 

EMAIL/PHONE: eechols@albemarle.org /434-296-5823 X 3252 

Panama City Business 98 Heritage Corridor Study 

and Master Plan 

The Master Plan blends redevelopment, urban form and transportation 

enhancements to create a unified corridor that reflects the different issues and 

needs within each Community Redevelopment Area of the city. 

CLIENT: Panama City (FL) Downtown Improvement Board 

NAME: Ms. Toni Shamplain, Main Street Coordinator 

EMAIL/PHONE: toni.shamplain@comcast.net / 850-785-2554 

Edison Smart Growth Planning Initiative 

The Smart Growth Initiative includes master plans that illustrate strategies to 

redevelop key areas of the community, including the Edison transit station, two 

former manufacturing plants, and targeted highway corridors. 

CLIENT: New Jersey Department of Transportation 

NAME: Zoila Mejia-Aragona 

EMAIL/PHONE: Zoila.Mejia-Aragona@dot.state.nj.us / 609-530-37435 

Kissimmee Vine Street\US 192 Redevelopment Study 

Renaissance prepared a vision and redevelopment plan for the corridor 

that would transform it back into a vital, positive access route. This entailed 

completing a market analysis and conditions study to explore redevelopment 

options, as well as a demonstration site where property owners were engaged 

in a detailed master planning exercise. The resulting corridor concept plan calls 

for a ‘transition from the strip’ to integrate the use and urban form with the 

adjacent neighborhoods. 

CLIENT: City of Kissimmee 

NAME: Bob Wright 

EMAIL/PHONE: bwright@kissimmee.org / 407-518-2373 

Orlando I Tampa I Charlottesville I Tallahassee I Delray Beach 

www.citiesthatwork.com

Scenario planning/visioning 


Visioning is a process designed to help communities articulate long term expectations for quality of life. A vision is not a plan, 

but rather it provides a framework for the creation of plans and policies geared towards implementing specific elements of 

the vision. From preferences in urban form, to environmental preservation, to economic development, to mobility strategies, 

Renaissance understand the value community-driven visions have in helping policy-makers set priorities and coordinate efforts 

across a wide spectrum of issues. We believe visioning works best based upon a strong public engagement process where 

varied interests and constituencies are represented. 


COUNTYWIDE VISIONING AND PLANNING PROCESS, 

ALACHUA COUNTY, FL 

Renaissance led a countywide visioning effort for Alachua County and its 

nine municipalities. The effort resulted in the creation of a countywide 

conceptual vision which articulated land use and development patterns 

for the unincorporated areas of the County. The visioning effort involved 

extensive public outreach to maintain the natural and rural character of 

Alachua County, while directing new growth into existing municipal centers. 

CLIENT: Countywide Visioning and Planning Committee (CVPC) 

NAME: Randall Reid, County Manager 

EMAIL/PHONE: rhr@alachuacounty.us / 352-374-5204 

Martin-St. Lucie Regional Transportation Plan 

Renaissance prepared a two-county long range regional transportation 

plan for the Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) that included an 

extensive scenario planning and visioning process. The result included the 

joint MPO adoption of a new transportation vision known as the Western 

Parkway scenario. 

CLIENT: Martin and St. Lucie MPOs 

NAME: Lois Bush, FDOT District 4 

EMAIL/PHONE: lois.bush@dot.state.fl.us / 954-777-4654 

Binghamton, NY Transportation for Tomorrow 

Renaissance led this visioning and scenario-planning process dubbed 

“Transportation for Tomorrow – Placemaking for Prosperity.” The 

process culminated in a preferred scenario for transportation, land use, 

and economic development, and earned a 2006 National Award for 

Outstanding Technical Merit from the Association of Metropolitan Planning 

Organizations and an Honorable Mention from the 2006 FHWA/FTA 

Transportation Planning Excellence Awards Program (TPEA). 

CLIENT: Binghamton Metropolitan Transportation Study 

NAME: Steven Gayle, Executive Director 

EMAIL/PHONE: Sgayle@Co.Broome.Ny.Us / 607-778-2443 

MCCLENNAN COUNTY SCENARIO STUDY WACO, TX 

Renaissance worked with a team of consultants to create a countywide 

transportation and land use vision plan for the Waco, Texas Metropolitan 

Planning Organization (MPO). The four-step process blended technical 

analysis with community input in an iterative manner, including four major 

phases: articulating local values & priorities; imagining alternative futures; 

evaluating scenarios; and envisioning a preferred future. The final vision 

plan outlines transportation investments and land development policies in 

support of the preferred scenario. The MPO will use the vision plan to 

guide the upcoming long-range transportation plan update and work with 

local communities on implementing recommended policies and strategies. 

CLIENT: Waco Metropolitan Planning Organization 

NAME: Christopher Evilia, AICP, Executive Director 

EMAIL/PHONE: cevilia@ci.waco.tx.us / 254-750-5666 



transportation planning and engineering 


Renaissance Planning Group provides the full range of transportation planning studies and traffic engineering services. 

Renaissance serves MPOs, DOTs, localities, and institutional clients on a wide range of projects, including development of 

long range transportation plans, traffic demand and operations modeling, corridor plans, traffic impact analyses, and freight 

movement planning. We are skilled in the application of Florida’s Efficient Transportation Decision Making process and the 

Environmental Screening Tool. In the conduct of these studies, Renaissance integrates its expertise with land use planning and 

urban design principles to ensure that the transportation plans are practical and support community objectives. Renaissance 

project staff includes professional engineers and certified planners who are knowledgeable of AASHTO, ITE, NCHRP and 

TRB standards, recommended practices and latest research. 


Liberty University Campus Growth Traffic Analysis 

Renaissance conducted a transportation study of the Liberty University (LU) 

campus for their growth plan from 10,000 to 15,000 on-campus students. 

The study addressed the addition of new roadways, dorms, classroom 

space, and related facilities relative to the multimodal needs of the campus. 

Recommendations ranged from additional sidewalk connections, transit routing, 

new roadways, and intersection improvements. 

CLIENT: Liberty University 

NAME: Lee Beaumont 

EMAIL/PHONE: lbeaumont@liberty.edu / 434-841-0642 

Sarasota/Manatee 2030 Long Range Transportation Plan 

Renaissance led this LRTP update in 2004-05 to guide multimodal 

transportation decision-making for this rapidly growing two-county area 

located at the southern edge of Tampa Bay. The study included evaluating 

alternative land use and transportation scenarios, implementing an extensive 

public participation program, and identifying needs and financially feasible 

transportation projects. 

CLIENT: Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization 

NAME: Mike Maholtz, Principal Planner 

EMAIL/PHONE: mmaholtz@sarasota-manateempo.org / 941-359-5772 

Bradenton/Palmetto Downtown Mobility Study 

Renaissance is working with the cities of Bradenton and Palmetto in Manatee 

County to evaluate short-term and long-term strategies to improve mobility 

within and through the two downtown areas located across from each other 

on the Manatee River. The study feasibility of roundabouts, lane reductions/ 

roadway narrowing, and one-way to two-way street conversions to create more 

livable downtowns while managing anticipated traffic growth. 

Client: City of Bradenton, FL Public Works Department 

Name: Claude Tankersley, PE, Assistant Director 

Email/Phone: Claude.Tankersley@cityofbradenton.com / 941-708-6300 

On-call Traffic and Transportation Planning Services 

Renaissance serves multiple cities and counties as an extension of staff for 

special studies, development review and plans preparation. Examples include 

the cities of Ocoee, Destin, Palmetto and North Port, Florida, as well as Alachua 

County and Manatee County, Florida. Typical assignments have included 

impact fee studies, traffic operational analysis and access management plans, 

and corridor right-of-way preservation plans and connectivity ordinances. 

CLIENT: City of Ocoee, FL 

NAME: Russ Wagner, AICP, Community Development Director 

EMAIL/PHONE: rwagner@ci.ocoee.fl.us / 407-905-3100 



Comprehensive planning and development codes 


As a firm whose strength is in integrated solutions, Renaissance uses its varied expertise in land use planning, urban design, 

and transportation planning to craft comprehensive plans and development codes that help communities clearly articulate 

their vision, define key projects and clarify expectations. With innovative and proven experience in community outreach 

and public participation, we work to craft plans and code that are integrated and provide useful benchmarks to achieve 

community goals. Our portfolio of projects includes comprehensive plans and amendments, evaluation and appraisal reports, 

land development codes, design guidelines, and plan reviews. 


Model Policies and Land Development Regulations 

to Support Livable Communities 

Within the context of largely built-out urban county with an emphasis 

on redevelopment, the Pinellas County MPO recommended the creation 

of policies that support livable community strategies that, at a minimum, 

improve the built environment for transit use, bicycling and walking. 

Renaissance has crafted model goals, objectives, policies, and land 

development regulations that infuse the use of density, diversity, and 

design to enhance placemaking and create destinations of sustaining value. 

CLIENT: Pinellas County, FL Metropolitan Planning Organization 

NAME: Al Bartolotta 

EMAIL/PHONE: Abartolo@pinellas.co.fl.us / 727-464-8200 

Town of Oakland Comprehensive Plan 

Renaissance completed a rewrite of the Town’s comprehensive plan and 

prepared a corridor master plan for Oakland Avenue and Tubb Street at 

the town’s historic core. Reflecting the Town’s vision, the plan emphasizes 

preserving the unique Old Florida rustic charm and character of the town 

of 2,400. The corridor master plan includes design and streetscape to 

organize land uses and create a coherent, well-defined walkable center 

for the community. 

CLIENT: Town of Oakland, FL 

NAME: Roland Magyar 

EMAIL/PHONE: planning@oaktownusa.com / 407-656-1117 

Plan East Gainesville 

The purpose of the Plan East Gainesville project was to develop joint City 

of Gainesville and Alachua County Special Area, Land Conservation, and 

Transportation Plans to revitalize East Gainesville, with particular attention 

to the environmental, economic, neighborhood and transportation factors 

of proposed development in this area. Renaissance led a community design 

charrette and prepared an integrated plan that led to amendments to the 

City and County comprehensive plans, revised development regulations 

and strategic public-private investments. 

CLIENT: Gainesville, FL Urbanized Area Metropolitan 

Transportation Planning Organization 

NAME: Marlie Sanderson 

EMAIL/PHONE: sanderson@ncfrpc.org / 352-955-2200 x103 

Manatee County Connectivity Study 

To complement the County’s thoroughfare plan, Renaissance prepared 

land development regulations to improve street connectivity through the 

site plan review process. With proper design, improved street connectivity 

helps reduce the traffic volume on the thoroughfare network by dispersing 

traffic and encouraging non-motorized travel. 

CLIENT: Manatee County, FL 

NAME: Chris Mowbray, PE 

EMAIL/PHONE: chris.mowbray@mymanatee.org / 941-748-4501 



Multimodal planning and design 


Renaissance integrates its expertise and innovative tools in transportation planning, land use planning, and urban design 

to develop comprehensive, multimodal strategies for communities. Multimodal planning is about more than just facilitiessuccessful 

multimodal planning also requires a thorough understanding and analysis of the mix and arrangement of land uses, 

the density of development, and the design of buildings and streetscapes. Each of these elements is an essential component 

of a multimodal plan, whether for a master plan, corridor study, transportation plan, comprehensive plan, or visioning 

exercise. With an additional emphasis on funding mechanisms, design guidelines, and other implementation strategies, 

Renaissance provides its clients not only with a planning framework but also with the various tools required for seeing the 

plan through to reality. 


FPO 

Multimodal Transportation District Planning 

& Implementation 

Renaissance has prepared plans and implementation strategies for several 

Multimodal Transportation Districts (MMTDs) throughout Florida. MMTDs are 

designed to encourage infill and redevelopment through a concurrency system 

focused on the provision of pedestrian-friendly, transit-oriented site designs 

and multimodal infrastructure development. 

CLIENT: Boca Raton, Destin, Kissimmee, and Tarpon Springs 

NAME: Jerry Mucci (City of Destin); Carmen Annunziato (City of Boca Raton) 

EMAIL/PHONE: jmucci@cityofdestin.com / 850-837-4242; CAnnunzi@ 

ci.boca-raton.fl.us / 561-393-7700 

Northwest Fluvanna/Southwest Louisa Land Use 

& Transportation Study 

In response to growth pressure on the outskirts of the Charlottesville, Virginia 

region, Renaissance completed a scenario planning process to evaluate the 

impacts of future growth on transportation, community design, and rural 

preservation. Renaissance provided recommendations and implementation 

strategies for increasing mobility options within the established communities 

and on the key corridors linking each community. 

CLIENT: Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission 

NAME: Harrison Rue 

EMAIL/PHONE: hrue@tjpdc.org / 434-979-7310 

Panama City Business 98 Heritage Corridor STUDY 

Renaissance prepared a 7-mile Corridor Master Plan for US Business 98 through 

downtown Panama City, including four designated Community Redevelopment 

Areas (CRA), with the intent of creating a more livable, vibrant, and attractive 

corridor. The Master Plan reflects the different issues and needs within each 

CRA, with tailored recommendations for pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicle 

accessibility and safety; corridor aesthetics; historic assets; economic vitality; 

utilities; and the overall character of the corridor. 

CLIENT: Panama City Downtown Improvement Board 

NAME: Toni Shamplain 

EMAIL/PHONE: toni.shamplain@comcast.net / 850-785-2554 

Tallahassee-Leon County Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan 

Renaissance developed a Countywide Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan for 

the Tallahassee-Leon County MPO (since expanded and renamed), consisting of 

a 2025 Needs and Cost Feasible Plan that identified facility improvements and 

recommendations for education, enforcement, and encouragement programs 

and policies. The plan included a set of design guidelines with minimum 

standards, best practices, and preferred treatments to support walking and 

bicycling. 

CLIENT: Capital Region Transportation Planning Agency 

NAME: Jack Kostrzewa 

EMAIL/PHONE: kostrzej@talgov.com / 850-891-8622 



A CorPlan overview 

Introduction 

CorPlan is a scenario planning model that estimates land development potential using prototypical community elements as 

its building blocks. It uses ARCVIEW© geographic information system (GIS) software, and the associated databases can 

be linked to Excel spreadsheets. The development of CorPlan was funded by a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) 

Transportation and Community and System Preservation (TCSP) grant for the Eastern Area Planning Initiative conducted by 

the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission for the Charlottesville, Virginia region. The software has since been used 

to support planning work in a number of large and small communities throughout the United States. 

Model Structure 

CorPlan relies on prototypical community definitions (community elements) to estimate land development potential and how 

that potential translates into the location of households and jobs. Each community element represents the development and 

infrastructure characteristics of a 31-acre area – the area of a circle with a quarter mile diameter. The quarter mile scale 

encompasses the maximum comfortable walking distance to transit for typical Americans. 

Each element reflects a unique existing or planned 

development pattern, such as urban downtowns, 

suburban retail areas, and village centers. The community 

elements are illustrated with a plan graphic and photos 

that convey their look and feel. Through workshops with 

community members and planners, enhanced community 

elements can be developed to represent characteristics 

of desired future development patterns. Each element 

is also associated with land use, infrastructure and 

socioeconomic data in order to estimate its development 

potential. 

Estimating Future Land Use Potential 

Users estimate land development potential in CorPlan by 

assigning one of the community elements to a subarea, 

such as collections of traffic zones or Census blocks 

that define boundaries for communities within the study 

area. CorPlan multiplies the land use, infrastructure and 

socioeconomic characteristics of the selected element by the total useable land in the subarea. Useable land includes 

both developed and vacant land suitable for development. The model sums the development potential for all subareas to 

estimate the total development potential for the study area. 

Developing and Testing Scenarios 

Users can quickly test alternative development scenarios by 

assigning community elements in different patterns, by adjusting 

the information in the community element inventories, and/or by 

creating new community elements to reflect community design 

characteristics that are not reflected in the existing inventory. For 

example, planners can try a scenario that assumes the continuation 

of a suburban retail pattern (shopping centers) along a major 

arterial corridor to determine how much land would be needed 

to extend to meet future retail employment forecasts at the 

existing scale and density. They can easily compare this to alternative scenarios 

that assume the creation of urban or enhanced suburban mixed use community 

centers along the corridor, which typically consume less land than the continuation 

of existing low-density patterns. 

Connecting with Other Planning Tools 

CorPlan makes a direct connection between land development patterns and 

socioeconomic characteristics. As alternative land use scenarios are tested the 

model automatically generates socioeconomic inputs for travel demand models. 

The unique travel parameters for each community element are incorporated into 

travel demand models so they can better reflect the influence of development 

patterns on travel characteristics. 

CorPlan connects regional land development patterns with site-specific development guidelines. The regional land use map 

identifies community element boundaries, and each assigned element has very specific land use, building and infrastructure 

guidelines. Some localities have used the community elements as a resource to help guide the development of local design 

standards. CorPlan can also generate projected fiscal impacts of alternative scenarios, and a module to assess multi-modal 

accessibility is under development. Another future enhancement to CorPlan is connecting with environmental and community 

assessment tools. The detailed information available for each community element is well suited for these tools and enables 

users to quickly assess the impacts of alternative development patterns over large areas. 

For more information: 

Chris Sinclair, AICP 

President, Renaissance Planning Group 

407- 487-0061x111 / csinclair@CitiesThatWork.com 



Transit Planning and Operations 


Renaissance understands the essential link between urban form and effective transit operations, where access to service 

and ridership are enhanced through principles of urban design and efficient service delivery. We believe that transit 

functions well as a viable travel choice to improve mobility and access when integrated into community design and an 

overall plan for corridor investment, economic opportunity and development performance standards. Our work has entailed 

transit operations and service plans, market research, countywide and regional system plans, funding, governance and 

administrative structure analysis, and the planning and design of transit-oriented development. We deliver these services by 

working in partnership with transit providers, stakeholders and the community to provide innovative, responsive and fiscallyresponsible 

solutions. 


Strategic Regional Transportation Initiative 

When the Tampa Bay Partnership got serious about its regional transportation 

initiative to improve mobility for the 8-county West Central Florida region, 

they turned to Renaissance to research best practices and provide guidance 

for a major expansion of transit service. Renaissance provided research and 

policy analysis to help create the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation 

Authority (TBARTA) in 2007, and continues to work on defining a regional 

funding strategy. 

CLIENT: Tampa Bay Partnership 

NAME: Stuart Rogel, CEO 

EMAIL/PHONE: srogel@tampabay.org / 813-878-2208 

Public Transportation System Analysis 

Renaissance prepared a two-county long range regional transit plan for the 

MPO in 2002 to define a service plan focused on major corridors and hubs 

to improve system efficiency, effectiveness and address mobility challenges 

in this fast-growing region on Florida’s southwest coast. Following adoption, 

subsequent work included a Latent Demand Analysis for the US 41 Corridor 

and a regional governance strategy to consolidate operations of the two 

county-based transit agencies. 

CLIENT: Sarasota/Manatee MPO 

NAME: Mike Howe, Executive Director 

EMAIL/PHONE: mhowe@sarasota-manateempo.org / 941-359-5772 

Transit Development Plan and Transportation 

Disadvantaged Service Plan 

Renaissance prepared a major update of the Brevard TDP and TDSP in 2007, 

building upon our prior market research for SCAT in 2004. The project entailed 

a peer review, use of the T-BEST model for ridership estimation, preparation 

of a 10-year vision and 5-year implementation plan, and extensive public 

participation, consistent with Florida’s TDP rule and TDSP requirements. 

CLIENT: Brevard County MPO and Space Coast Area Transit 

NAME: Jim Liesenfelt, Director 

EMAIL/PHONE: jim@ridescat.com / 321-635-7815 

Hillsborough MPO Transit Study 

Facing rapid growth and extensive traffic congestion, the Hillsborough County 

MPO engaged Renaissance to lead a scenario planning process to define a 

major transit investment strategy as the transit element of the Long Range 

Transportation Plan. Work entailed extensive community outreach, defining 

and evaluating transit-land use scenarios, and crafting a countywide vision and 

operational plan for regional and local transit solutions, and priority corridors 

for investment. This fits within the regional context of the Tampa Bay Area 

Regional Transportation Authority. 

CLIENT: Hillsborough County MPO (Tampa, FL) 

NAME: Lucie Ayer, AICP, Executive Director 

EMAIL/PHONE: ayerl@plancom.org / 813-272-5940

URBAN DESIGN/PLACEMAkING - Renaissance Planning Group

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