Our Projects
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- Category: Comprehensive Plans
Alleghany County and the City of Covington leveraged their resources and worked collaboratively in updating their Comprehensive Plans by having a joint planning process. In that effort, Benchmark Planning worked closely with a joint steering committee to develop a common vision, goals, and objectives for the County and the City. Benchmark helped craft tailored implementation strategies for each jurisdiction to implement the common vision. While this was a joint planning process with a common vision and set of goals, each jurisdiction received a separate plan. The joint planning process helped to ensure that both the County and the City will grow together cohesively and continue coordinating on matters concerning development. Both of these plans were adopted in March of 2019.
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- Category: Comprehensive Plans
The City of Mount Airy (pop. 10,417), (known famously as the inspiration for Andy Griffith’s fictional Mayberry) is located in North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley wine region, with breathtaking views of the Blue Ridge mountains and the rugged pinnacle of nearby Pilot Mountain. Benchmark prepared the city’s very first Comprehensive Plan, building on previous land use and strategic planning efforts, engaging citizens, business leaders and elected officials through a participatory process.
Benchmark worked closely with the Planning Board and the public throughout the process to develop this meaningful and action oriented comprehensive plan. In addition to traditional comprehensive plan topics, this plan focused heavily on branding and aesthetic improvements, particularly in the city’s downtown core in an effort to enhance the city’s standing as premier regional tourism destination. The resulting plan has led to significant investment in the city and surrounding area, with a focus on projects that have enhanced the community as a tourism destination, particularly focused on the growing wine tourism industry and outdoor recreation tourism.
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- Category: Comprehensive Plans
Shepherdstown is a historic university town that is situated on the Potomac River in the far western exurban reaches of the Washington, DC metro region. As the oldest incorporated municipality in the state of West Virginia, Shepherdstown’s rich history is well preserved in its historic downtown and neighborhoods that grew up around the bustling river trade associated with the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. From its beginnings as a center of river trade, Shepherdstown has evolved into a hub for artists and cultural events, including the internationally renowned Contemporary American Theater Festival
In 2013, Shepherdstown engaged Benchmark to prepare an update to its comprehensive plan. The primary focus of the plan was the need to preserve the rich historic, cultural and environmental fabric of the community and surrounding agricultural landscape. The successful planning effort led to the adoption of a Growth Management Boundary in coordination with Jefferson County, which, along with a range of new land use policies, has established a clear path toward a sustainable future for the community.
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- Category: Comprehensive Plans
Colleton County, South Carolina is located in the heart of a National Wildlife Refuge and National Estuarine Research Center that encompasses a total of 350,000 acres primarily across Beaufort, Charleston, and Colleton counties. In 2009, Benchmark prepared the 10-year Comprehensive Plan update that led to the rewrite of the County’s Zoning and Land Development Ordinance. The new land use regulations, prepared by Benchmark, were adopted in 2010 and included diagrams and illustrations to demonstrate the intent of the ordinance in a visual manner.
In 2018, the County retained the services of Benchmark to prepare the current 10-year update to the Comprehensive Plan. The process has included stakeholder meetings, a public survey and public meetings at three locations across the county. The plan update is a joint plan, including the Town of Cottageville’s jurisdiction. An emphasis was placed on protecting the County’s natural resources and sense of place, directing growth toward the county’s municipalities where infrastructure can accommodate development. The plan was adopted in January of 2020.
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- Category: Comprehensive Plans
Onslow County selected Benchmark Planning to prepare a Comprehensive Plan which met the requirements of the Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA). In addition to the standards established by the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the Plan examines existing and future land use and development patterns in an order to make recommendations about future actions taken by the County. The Plan is significant in its consideration of military and operational impacts associated with Camp Lejeune and the Marine Corps Air Station New River, as well as in the County's unique combination of urban and rural communities experiencing significant growth. The Plan is currently in the development process and is anticipated to be adopted in early 2024.
- Details
- Category: Comprehensive Plans
Person County and the City of Roxboro embarked on a joint planning process to develop a Comprehensive Plan guided by a common vision for the future. Benchmark’s consulting team was selected to lead the collaborative planning process. Person County and the City of Roxboro are strategically located for business and industry growth, being within an hour’s drive of North Carolina’s two major economic centers, the Research Triangle Park (Durham, Chapel Hill and Raleigh) and the Piedmont Triad (Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point), and a two-hour drive of Richmond, Virginia.
The shared Plan focuses on a growth strategy that will help maintain the rural character and lifestyle of the rural areas by encouraging development in around the City of Roxboro where urban infrastructure and services are readily available to support growth.
Benchmark is currently working with Person County to develop a Unified Development Ordinance to help implement some of the strategies from the plan.
Comprehensive Plans
Preparing comprehensive plans for municipal and county governments is a core component of Benchmark’s practice. For 40 years, Benchmark’s team has worked closely with local governments to prepare plans that address our client communities’ unique growth and development challenges. Our client base spans a wide range of community types, ranging from small rural communities with several thousand residents to growing suburbs, to larger urban cities and regional organizations spanning multiple counties with hundreds of thousands of residents.