TOWN OF KIAWAH ISLAND COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE - RFP

The Town of Kiawah Island is seeking a qualified (licensed) person, firm, or corporation for the preparation of the Town of Kiawah Island's Comprehensive Plan Update. The Town of Kiawah Island is looking to evaluate its long-term vision for the future of Kiawah Island. The Comprehensive Plan plays a critical role establishing and implementing the vision for the future of Kiawah Island. The Town's current comprehensive plan was adopted in 2015 with recent updates in 2018. The plan's update will include, at a minimum, comprehensive land use planning, contextual neighborhood planning, and will guide future development of the Town for the next 10 years.

Factors that are important for consideration of this comprehensive plan update include the Town's executed development agreements impacts, resiliency, parks and natural areas, diversity of housing stock, community facilities, undeveloped areas on the Town's perimeter beyond the Town limits, transportation and infrastructure, fiscal analysis, remaining development opportunities, and community placemaking.

The plan will include a thorough and comprehensive community engagement process that will involve the Planning Commission, key stakeholders, and members of the public. The Comprehensive Plan will establish a framework of highly actionable items, policies and plans intended to guide implementation of proposed improvements and ensure the quality of life is sustained for Kiawah Island.

Town of Kiawah Island - RFP Comprehensive Plan Update

PRE-SUBMITTAL INFORMATIONAL MEETING

A virtual consultant informational meeting will be held on Thursday, June 30, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. to answer questions about the plan expectations and project scope. Attendees must
register in advance to attend the meeting. Additional documentation will be available online. Register in advance for this meeting using the link below:

Register To Attend Virtual Informational Meeting

June 30, 2022 (10:00AM EST)

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

PROPOSAL DEADLINE:

July 15, 2022 (3:00 PM EST)

PROPOSAL EXPECTATIONS

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT/ENGAGEMENT

Involving and engaging the community's residents, property owners, leaders, workforce, businesses, and key stakeholders is a critical component to the success of the update. The engagement process will educate the public and stakeholders on the purpose and importance of the Comprehensive Plan and will give participants a chance to meaningfully participate in shaping the vision and goals. The Town expects the CONSULTANT(S) to:

• Engage in meaningful and relevant dialogue – The community should feel that the dialogue has been meaningful and relevant to their interests and quality of life.
• Prioritize inclusive representation and outreach – The perspectives and participation of a broad range of community members and neighborhood types should be equitably represented in the process and resulting plan.
• Provide unique access to information and opportunities to engage – The public should have the information they need to participate in ways that are appropriate to their experiences and lifestyles.
• Make sure contributions have impact – The public should feel their input has been thoughtfully considered and see their contributions reflected in the plan.
• Consider creative outreach and engagement opportunities as focused design sessions, pop up events, interactive online tools, community workshops, project website, social media.

RESILIENCY & NATURAL RESOURCES

Kiawah has a rich variety of maritime habitats and scenic natural resources that include over 10 miles of beach, a broad salt marsh with tidal creeks, freshwater wetlands, and extensive maritime forest and shrub thickets. As a result of environmentally sensitive planning, Kiawah Island has been recognized nationally for its creative balance between natural and developed areas. The plan will focus feature the importance of resilient planning. The Town expects the CONSULTANT(S) to:

• Build upon several existing plans and reports to prioritize resiliency and establish comprehensive resiliency strategies within a new resilience element.
• Prioritize incorporating the findings and or recommendations of the Town's Comprehensive Marsh Management Plan anticipated to be completed this Fall.
• Prioritize careful attention to the preservation of key natural resources and critical wildlife habitat.

LAND USE & NEIGHBORHOOD/AREA PLANNING

Kiawah Island is a residential master planned community that encompasses a world class resort. The right balance of concentrated high density residential and commercial land use to low density residential land use is a priority for Kiawah. The Town of Kiawah is a party to two executed development agreements to which there are limited areas of remained developable tracts of land within the Town limits. Adjacent to the Town's commercial village is hundreds of undeveloped acres of land within unincorporated Johns Island. The Town expects the CONSULTANT(S) to:

• Engage in local neighborhood planning that clearly defines land use patterns and establishes an amenable hierarchy of residential densities and commercial resort activity.
• Examine and identify future land use patterns based on existing conditions, projected growth for the surrounding community within and outside of town limits.
• Explore overlay districts for the Town's two maintained roads (Kiawah Island Parkway and Beachwalker Drive)
• Evaluate properties that are available for development including vacant and underutilized sites. This task will include identification of parcels with inappropriate land use designations in the existing comprehensive plan, as well as an evaluation of land use category descriptions in general to determine if new categories are needed.
• Focus parks, open space and recreation land uses

HOUSING & DEMOGRAPHICS

Kiawah is made up of a diverse group of owners, including full-time residents, second homeowners, and property investors. These groups have varied viewpoints and interests that reflect their experience on Kiawah. However, all share a common goal in ensuring the long-term health of the housing market and that Kiawah remains a market leader among master-planned residential resort communities. The Town expects the CONSULTANT(S) to:

• Utilize 2019 Housing market study to guide the update of the housing element
• Prioritize recent Census data to understand changes in demographics since 2015 update.
• Examine strategies to sustain the long-term housing needs for Kiawah
• Ensure a continuum of care available for residents as they age in the community
• Examine compatibility of residential and commercial densities for unincorporated Charleston County properties adjacent to the Town.

TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCURE

Kiawah Island is unique in that all roads and infrastructure within the Island's front gate are privately owned. While the Town is not responsible for their maintenance and replacement, it is responsible for the safety and welfare of its citizens in driving these roads and impact of other infrastructure. The Town is responsible, however, for the maintenance and replacement of the two roads outside the front security gate (Kiawah Island Parkway and Beachwalker Drive). The Town expects the CONSULTANT(S) to:

• Engage in comprehensive approach to review the preservation of the Town's two main road assets.
• Review the existing network of multiuse paths across the island to ensure accessibility and connectivity to neighborhoods and resort amenities.
• Explore the utility infrastructure and ways to enhance the Island's quality of life.

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

The Town's Comprehensive plan is to focus investment on the priorities identified as critical to the sustainability of the Island, long-term developing projects and infrastructure improvements. The Town expects the CONSULTANT(S) to:

• Review of long-term strategies associated with the Town's Capital Improvement Plan considering the needs of public safety, emergency management, infrastructure as roads, utilities and town facilities, and cultural resources.