[Consultantservices] [Consultant Services] RFQ posted Monday, September 24, 2007 3:49 PM

[Grace Williams]

AICP has adopted the following policy:

The AICP Commission requests that entities soliciting planning
consultants follow a two-part RFQ/RFP selection procedure. Click here to
read a description of such a two-part process in PAS Report 443,
Selecting and Retaining a Planning Consultant: RFPs, RFQs, Contracts,
and Project Management, by Eric Damian Kelly, FAICP. To view more
excerpts from the report, click here.

Please send RFPs & RFQs to websitefeedback at planning.org.

Request for Qualifications - Consultant Services

Urban Plan and Design Guidelines
The City of Ithaca, New York
Submittal Deadline: October 22, 2007

The City of Ithaca, New York, seeks qualifications from firms interested
in preparing an urban plan and design guidelines for the city's
Collegetown neighborhood, a mixed residential and commercial area.
Interested firms must have the capability to prepare an urban design, to
make recommendations regarding pedestrian circulation and design for the
"complete street", to consider impacts accompanying diversification of
land use, to propose regulatory mechanisms for implementation of design
controls, and to recommend appropriate zoning for the stabilization and
protection of mixed student rental and adjacent owner occupant
neighborhoods.

In February 2006, upon Mayor Carolyn Peterson's initiative, the City of
Ithaca Common Council adopted a resolution authorizing the preparation
of a vision statement for Collegetown and the establishment of a task
force. In April, the Mayor appointed 12 task force members representing
the city, businesses, landlords, students, neighborhood groups, and
Cornell University.  The work of the task force took place over a
ten-month period between May 2006 and March 2007.  The development of
the vision statement included an extensive public process in which the
comments of individuals, members of civic groups, and elected officials
were incorporated into the vision.  On June 6, 2007, the Common Council
endorsed the Collegetown Vision Statement as a guide for shaping the
growth and form of Collegetown.  The resolution also authorized the
establishment of the Collegetown Vision Implementation Committee (CVIC)
to develop a strategy for implementing the ideas of the vision
statement.  The Collegetown Vision Implementation Committee is in the
early stages of its work and is focusing on prioritizing the
recommendations of the vision statement.  Preparation of an urban plan
and design guidelines is a high priority recommendation as it serves to
bring together many ideas and recommendations of the vision statement.
The CVIC has directed staff to prepare the Request for Qualifications
for the preparation of the Collegetown Urban Plan and Design Guidelines
as a first step of the implementation process.

Excerpt from the Collegetown Vision Statement endorsed June 6, 2007

"The primary goal of the Collegetown Vision Statement is to set the
course for the creation of an outstanding urban environment that builds
on its proximity to the adjacent campus of Cornell University, an
institution of importance to the city for its educational and cultural
contributions and for its positive impact on the local economy. As such,
there is a unique opportunity to create a diverse, commercially viable,
dense, mixed-use community characterized by notable urban design, a
predominantly student population, high quality architecture, vibrant
public spaces, and pedestrian amenities. The vision for residential
neighborhoods east of Collegetown includes a population mix of students,
long-term residents, families, and owner-occupants that enables all to
enjoy a high quality of life. The neighborhood between Collegetown and
downtown is a primarily residential historic district that enjoys a
unique status as a result of its location between two active commercial
areas. This area merits attention in the form of programs or incentives
to strengthen both its visual appearance and the resident mix of
owner-occupants and student renters. A convenient public transportation
system connecting Collegetown and the surrounding neighborhoods to the
larger Ithaca community is one of several strategies aimed at reducing
car traffic in Collegetown and enhancing the environment for
pedestrians".

The city anticipates that the urban plan will constitute a "road map"
leading to the incorporation of ideas and the achievement of goals
promoted in the Collegetown Vision Statement, as summarized above. There
are three overarching issues to be considered in relation to the scope
of an urban plan for Collegetown:  the treatment of the Collegetown
core; the treatment of potential expansion from the core eastward
between Oak Avenue and Dryden Road and southward on College Avenue and
Linden Avenues; and the treatment of edge areas where student housing
meets owner occupied housing.

The complete Request for Qualifications and additional information are
available at the City of Ithaca website:  www.cityofithaca.org
<http://www.cityofithaca.org> .  (Select City Departments; then Planning
and Development; then Planning and Development Initiatives then
Collegetown Vision and the Urban Plan and Design Guidelines.)

Respondents must submit a letter of interest and other requested
information regarding qualifications by 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
on Friday, October 22, 2007 to the Department of Planning and
Development, C/O Leslie Chatterton.  For questions or additional
information, please contact Leslie Chatterton, Neighborhood Planner, by
email at lesliec at cityofithaca.org <mailto:lesliec at cityofithaca.org>  or
by phone at 607-274-6555.

 

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