 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
A
SKETCH_PAD © Press Release |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
| |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Principal Ackerman Receives Informal
Thumbs-Up For SmartCode From City Code Committee
 PRESCOTT, AZ- CATALYST
Principal Matt Ackerman received an informal
thumbs-up for his August
28th presentation of the SmartCode to the
City's Unified Development Code (UDC) Committee. Mr. Ackerman had previously presented before the UDC Committee on July 31. During that presentation, Mr. Ackerman showed a documentary film illustrating the problems of sprawl, and the benefits of Smart Growth. The one hour film, titled "Rethinking Suburban Sprawl," is a 1994 presentation by renowned architect and planner Andres Duany, considered by many to be the father of "New Urbanism," to a group of planning officials from the City of Toronto. According to Mr. Ackerman, the documentary, though 14 years old, is still a timely and compelling view of the problems and origins of contemporary suburban sprawl, and illustrates the many social and economic benefits of Smart Growth development practices, as an alternative. The documentary describes the character and elements of a more pedestrian oriented, mixed-use development pattern. It also highlights how most contemporary zoning codes have inadverdently created extremely negative consequence for such vital demographic groups as our youth, and quickly-expanding elderly populations.  After the July documentary film showing, Mr. Ackerman was invited back before the UDC Committee several weeks later to summarize the benefits of Smart Growth, and to describe how adopting a SmartCode for the City of Prescott could help steer future growth in the City towards more sustainable infrastructure and development practices. Mr. Ackerman's August 28th presentation showed numerous local examples of current development patterns for both residential and commercial constuction, and how these models could be improved upon in the future though the adoption of a SmartCode, tailored to meet the City of Prescott's particular needs and unique geographic character. Mr. Ackerman also fielded questions from the UDC Committee members regrading the process required in order to adopt such a measure, as well as what specific incentives the City's Planning Department might use in order to encourage developers to plan and build in a more sustainble manner. While no formal action was taken, the general support of the UDC Committee was evident. Following Mr. Ackerman's second presention, Committee Chair Len Scamardo requested Community Development Director Tom Guice to identify the next steps. Other Resources and Articles: DPZ's SmartCode SmartGrowth.org Smart Growth Saves Taxpayers Money Environmental Benefits of Smart Growth  With a background in Urban Design, Matthew
B. Ackerman, LEED AIA brings over 20 years of design experience in
mixed-use, masterplanning, commercial, and custom residential
work. He is the current chair of the Yavapai County Sustainable
Planning Committee, and the Grand Canyon AIA Chapter of COTE (Committee
On The Environment). Mr. Ackerman is an Advisory Board member of
CAZREN (Central Arizona Renewable Energy Network), as well as the
Yavapai College Construction Technology Committee. Matt was the
first U.S. Green Building Council LEED™ accredited architect in Yavapai
County. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Click here or on the CATALYST logo above to return to The SKETCH_PAD © | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||