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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBozemanEntrywayCorridorDOP-RFP-Q&Av2 Request for Proposals for Professional Services FY 2016 – FY 2017 Page 1 of 4 Request for Proposals PROFESSIONAL SERVICES TO UPDATE THE ENTRYWAY CORRIDOR DESIGN GUIDELINES Questions & Answers from Interested Parties Note: The following questions have been submitted to Community Development Department staff as of April 19, 2016. We have extended the open period for clarifications about this opportunity and associated queries about the Design Objectives Plan to Thursday, April 21, 2016. Responses to new questions will be posted by April 25th. Please send questions by email to Rebecca Owens, rowens@bozeman.net. Request for Proposals for Professional Services FY 2016 – FY 2017 Page 2 of 4 1. We understand engagement of stakeholders and the public is an important component to this process. Can you provide an indication of the level of outreach you are anticipating? Here is a SAMPLE elaboration on the public process that Community Development staff has in mind, but to emphasize, we are flexible and interested in hearing consultants’ recommendations in their proposals and beyond: Public Participation - It is expected that the proposer will work closely with City Staff, interested organizations, and the public to complete the Design Guidelines revision. The proposer should be prepared to commit to a public process that is transparent and understandable to the community. A primary objective will be to reach members of the public who may not normally participate in input processes. Deliverable 1: Develop a detailed project schedule with milestones leading to adoption of the Design Guidelines update that includes: public noticing for workshops, and two public workshops. The first workshop will present proposed design guideline revisions and draft an outline for the update. The second workshop will present proposed changes to Entryway Corridor location(s) and scope. Workshops will aim at characterization and documentation of the corridors in order to update their portrayal in the Design Guidelines. Deliverable 2: Develop a broad-based public participation plan that specifies how and when the public (including Entryway Corridor-area neighborhoods, businesses, the development community and other interested parties) will be engaged throughout the revision process presented in the timeline. The Consultant will specify the methods it will use to achieve meaningful public participation, how and when materials will be available and presented to the public, and specifications on the Consultant’s provision of technical capabilities for graphically communicating needed information. The Consultant will also consider multiple means of obtaining input both during and outside of identified meetings and must develop and manage a system to track public input throughout the revision process. Accordingly, the City desires employment of dedicated project website communications and social media outreach in addition to other strategies that the Consultant may propose using their own or the City’s existing channels/resources. The logistics of scheduling spaces, noticing requirements and similar public activity will be determined in collaboration with Community Development staff. The Consultant is expected to attend, present and participate in community outreach meetings with staff to introduce updates to the Design Guidelines, highlight the proposed format, summarize proposed changes, present proposed land use processes within the Entryway Corridors, explain what factors shaped the changes and identify alternative strategies considered in their development. Request for Proposals for Professional Services FY 2016 – FY 2017 Page 3 of 4 Deliverable 3: Prepare a memorandum that summarizes public input gathered during the issue identification process. 2. Has a consultant been retained for the updates or is the city conducting it internally? Yes, the City has retained a consultant for the ‘umbrella’ update process to Bozeman’s municipal code and that effort began in Fall of 2015, and the effort is referenced in this RFP. News about the Unified Development Code update may be accessed at https://www.bozeman.net/Projects/UDCCodeUpdate/News. The City Commission accepted the first set of code amendments in early April. The UDC update is a discrete project managed apart from the Design Objectives Plan update that this RFP addresses; however, the two initiatives are inherently related and project teams will coordinate on their compatibility. 3. Because this update is part of a larger effort of on the 2016 Design Guidelines, are there opportunities to coordinate engagement efforts? The Design Objectives Plan (DOP) and Unified Development Code (UDC) updates are mutually dependent and in support of each other, which means that coordination is required between these two, roughly concurrent processes. Key recommendations of the DOP update will inform UDC changes. Both the guidelines and code update are set for finalization in Dec. 2016/Jan. 2017 but this is somewhat flexible depending on how the public process and other projects, including the Bozeman Strategic Plan and Community Plan (growth plan) updates progress. We seek unity as well as a diversity of contributions in support of our community development goals and associated reference updates. 4. What is the relationship between this RFP for the design guidelines (Design Objectives Plan) update and existing projects that are updating the Midtown (N. 7th Avenue) entryway corridor zoning, and citywide code (Unified Development Code)? As described in the RFP for the DOP update, the DOP is complementary to the UDC zoning regulations. The DOP, UDC and related zoning maps exist to aid fulfillment of Bozeman’s long-range Community Plan. A key function of the DOP is to elaborate on what is acceptable versus unacceptable design, in detail beyond what there is necessarily room for in the UDC. The DOP is sometimes regarded as ‘encouraging’ language, but by direct reference in the UDC, the guidelines in the DOP is to be treated as an enforceable set of corresponding rules. Implementation criteria and strategies for UDC requirements are identified in the DOP—so, practically speaking, the DOP can be regarded as a “how to” reference. The DOP also intends to highlight priority areas of the UDC and assure their proper implementation in proposed development through amplification of long-range design aspirations for the City of Bozeman. For example, a primary goal is to increase the community’s adaptability and maximize value through neighborhood, building and site design that is innovative by virtue of flexible aesthetics and use. The other main function of the DOP, at least since its inception, has been to direct development of specially zoned and primarily commercial Entryway Corridor sections of the City. This purpose is described in the RFP as well as in the Introduction of the DOP. The DOP provides explicit criteria and related illustrations of required best practices for the Entryway Corridor district. Request for Proposals for Professional Services FY 2016 – FY 2017 Page 4 of 4 By reason of such functions, the DOP has continued to live as a standalone reference for application on properties within and along the Entryway Corridor district. While City staff will give consideration to other visions, for the time being, the updated DOP is planned for continued application in conjunction with the UDC; that said, certain aspects of the current DOP, including the Midtown (N. 7th Ave.) corridor and a new B-2M zoning designation are already being integrated with the UDC update, particularly under Phase Two. The respective UDC and DOP project teams will collaborate to synchronize these efforts, including to identify guidance more appropriate to district-specific, as opposed to citywide application. All current references to the DOP in the UDC will apply until the revised UDC is fully adopted.