Frequently Asked Questions

A specific plan is a policy statement and implementation tool that is used to address a single project or planning problem. Specific plans contain concrete standards and development criteria that supplement those of the general plan.

The French word, "charrette" means "cart" and is often used to describe the final, intense work effort expended by art and architecture students to meet a project deadline.
This use of the term is said to originate from the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris during the 19th century, where proctors circulated a cart, or "charrette", to collect final drawings while students frantically wrapped up their their work. If a student had not quite completed their project by the time the cart reached them, they would climb aboard for the finishing touches, therefore being "on charrette."

These days, the word charrette has come to refer to a collaborative session in which a group of designers (the Design Team) drafts a solution to a design problem. The word "charrette" may also be used as a verb, as in, for example, "I am charretting" or "I am on Charrette."

The charrette process is a method of public participation that brings all interested parties (municipal officials, developers, business owners, and community members) together for several days in which anyone with a stake or interest in the project participates directly with the design team to develop and review ideas about the project at hand.

The charrette process is completely interactive and sees each of the design components (street and parking design, landscape, development capacity, zoning code) developed simultaneously in response to issues and needs posed by participants. City Staff are involved throughout, and help facilitate input from a person or group that needs to be heard on a particular subject. In this way, the feedback loops are ongoing and immediate, keeping unproductive or inappropriate results from being needlessly developed.

At the end of each day, the design team summarizes and presents the progress to date for additional comments and review. Through this highly visual and interactive process, participants are completely aware of the direction and intent of the evolving Plan.

A successful charrette promotes joint ownership of solutions and attempts to defuse confrontational attitudes that may arise, and helps residents who participate get early input into the planning process. For municipal officials and developers, charrettes achieve community involvement, may satisfy consultation criteria, and help with the objective of avoiding costly legal battles.