A Short Course in Site Planning

Every semester the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning offers a nice little selection of one-credit short courses.  These courses usually last four weeks and are designed to give students a chance to build practical planning skills.

This September, the department offered a short course in Site Planning, taught by City Councilman Satyendra Huja.  As fledgling site planners, my fellow classmates and I were tasked with the redevelopment of a small parcel of land on Charlottesville’s Monticello Avenue.

Our assignment was to design a site plan that provided for the following program:

• 20,000 to 40,000 square feet of commercial space
• 5 to 15 single-family dwelling units
• 20 to 40 multifamily dwelling units

In developing our site plans, we needed to consider a plethora of issues, everything from off-street parking to zoning restrictions to drainage and landscaping.

The site plan that my planning team cooked up can be seen below (I’d recommend clicking the image to see a larger version).

The site planning process was an excellent adventure, I must say.  And I’d fully recommend taking a planning short course.  Just a month of your time for an incredible experience.