Leveraging State Mandates to Advance Community Goals? How Five Cities Are Navigating Complexity During This Comprehensive Planning Cycle

Session 6D | Thursday | 2:45 PM – 4:00 PM (PT)

This session will feature different perspectives and approaches to Washington's unprecedented comprehensive planning cycle. While some communities may be apprehensive about some of the planning mandates, there is an immense opportunity to advance long-standing community goals such as expanding housing opportunities through breaking down zoning barriers, creating sustainable economic growth and development through land use strategies, and mitigating the impacts of climate change through better land use and transportation planning. Planners from Sammamish, Airway Heights, Milton, Sultan, and Buckley will share how they've adapted new planning mandates to advance community goals with a focus on new legislative requirements like HB 1220, innovative engagement techniques, graphic communication and accessibility, implementation programs, and the advantage of web-based plans.

Tyler Quinn-Smith

Planner/Urban Designer, Framework

Tyler brings a background in smart growth, zoning reform, and community planning to his role as planner and urban designer at Framework. He is driven to help cities create climate-resilient neighborhoods with rich housing diversity and is passionate about urban design principles that make communities feel welcoming and safe to all types of people. Tyler's experience includes wide-ranging responsibilities at non-profit and private sector planning firms where he has helped cities revise regulatory systems to support aspirations for joyful mixed-use neighborhoods.

Jeff James Arango, AICP

Jeff Arango is an urban planner and designer and the Managing Principal at Framework. His practice is focused on improving downtowns, districts, and neigh¬borhoods, and helping communities in this growing region to gracefully absorb density. As part of this work, Jeff leads projects for cities and other organizations on urban design, planning, parking policy and strategy, placemaking, public/private partnerships, street design, infrastructure funding, transit access, and public outreach. Jeff’s work has transformed the communities he has worked for by providing designs, plans, and strategies that reflect local values and lead to better urban environments and stronger communities. Before joining Framework in 2017 to expand the planning and urban design practice, Jeff was an Associate Principal with BERK and served as the Director of Community Planning for the City of Langley, WA from 2011-2014. He also served as the Planning Director in Essex Junction, Vermont from 2002 through 2008. Jeff has presented at national conferences including the Future of Places conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Institute of Traffic Engineers Annual Meeting, and the Vermont Housing Conference.

Heather Trautman, AICP

Heather has 30+ years of experience working as a Planner in several communities in the Central and Eastern Washington region. She has worked in small cities and the largest regional centers including many different aspects of local planning to assist the communities with reaching their goals. Heather has extensive experience in policy development, zoning reform, grants, transportation project design and development, and community engagement. Heather is currently Planning Director of the City of Airway Heights completing projects including the 2020 and 2023 Comprehensive Plans, 2021 Downtown Sub-Area Plan (Governors Smart Community Award winner for Smart Vision), developing a new multimodal and safety transportation design for US 2, developing designs and implementing roadway multimodal networks, as well as Tribal and City project coordination. Heather is a member of the American Planning Association and is certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and the International for Code Counsel (ICC) for Housing and Zoning Inspection

---

David Pyle

David Pyle serves as the Community Development Director for the City of Sammamish where he has worked to support implementation of the community vision since 2015. Prior to his service with the City of Sammamish David worked for the cities of Bellevue and Shoreline where he had the opportunity to support their comprehensive plan updates making this 2024 update his third comprehensive plan update cycle. David became interested in community planning by way of lived experience through Peace Corps service where he witnessed the impact community planning can have on community success. Returning from his Peace Corps service, David moved to Seattle where he continued his education adding onto his bachelor's degree in Natural Resources Management from Colorado State with five university postbaccalaureate certificates in Wetland Science, Wetland Delineation, Environmental Law, Geographic Information Systems, and Low Impact Development, and rounded off his studies with a master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Washington in 2014. Even with his deep affection for the process of community planning David is looking forward to closing out this 2024 comprehensive plan update cycle and focusing on implementation as a welcome change of pace.

---

Angelie Stahlnecker

Prior to working for Milton, Angelie worked for the City of Fircrest and the City of Walla Walla. She is proud to have assisted with the City of Walla Walla’s first comprehensive plan. She is a graduate of Eastern Oregon University with a geography and regional planning degree and a minor in political science.

TBA

Back to Schedule