Formatting and Writing the Staff Report
Zoning Practice — November 2004
By Stuart Meck, FAICP, Marya Morris, FAICP
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Writing staff reports on proposed developments and permit applications is a core skill of planning practice. These are the reports a professional planner prepares that digest a particular development proposal or permit request; assess site conditions; relate the proposal to the comprehensive plan, subplans, and functional plans; and make a recommendation, all against the backdrop of local government policies and development code criteria.
A good report concisely communicates vital information on development proposals to members of the planning commission, the local legislative body, the board of zoning appeals, the public, and the persons applying for any type of development permission. Considering how much time planners spend on them, their preparation is a topic about which there is surprisingly little written.
This issue of Zoning Practice presents guidance to help staff prepare reports that convey vital information on development proposals to members of the planning commission, the local legislative body, the board of zoning appeals, the public, and development applicants.
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About the Authors
Stuart Meck, FAICP
My website: http://bloustein.rutgers.edu/meck/
Marya Morris, FAICP
<p>Marya Morris, FAICP, is a Principal Planner with Kendig Keast Collaborative, a planning and zoning consulting firm with a national practice. She specializes is comprehensive updates to city and county zoning, subdivision, and land development regulations. Earlier in her career she served for many years as a Senior Research Associate at the American Planning Association, where she authored nine Planning Advisory Service Reports and led multiple research initatives, including groundbreaking work with the CDC and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to re-integrate public health objectives into planning and community design, among other topics. She was a member of the Glencoe, Illinois, Plan Commission from 2009-2017.</p>