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On the Boards
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The 4th Quarter of 2009 found lots a new projects on the boards at The Cecil Group. New projects include: Owner's Rep for the renovation of the Bostix booth in Boston's Faneuil Hall, New London Neighborhood Revitalization Planning, Stamford Westside Neighborhood Plan, Stratford Transit Centered Development Study, Charles River Country Club Site Development with Graham/Meus Architects, and Beals Memorial Library Landscape Design with Ammondson Architects.
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Plan Views
from The Cecil Group
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The holidays are behind us, new year resolutions have been forgotten and Boston is being embraced by old man winter. Lucky for some of us we've been making lots of trips to Florida for continued work at Port Canaveral.
The new year brings new change to The Cecil Group, part of that change is welcoming Ted Brovitz AICP to our team. You can read more about Ted's experience below and meet him in person as Steve Cecil and Ted conduct a workshop about design considerations for Massachusetts' Department of Housing and Community Development.
Read on to learn more about our TOD work in Andover, see the winning plan from our holiday card contest and learn about our most recent award.
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The Cecil Group Welcomes Ted Brovitz
 The
Cecil Group is happy to announce the addition of Ted Brovitz AICP, to its team of
professionals. Acting as a consultant, Ted's experience will further strengthen
The Cecil Group's work in community planning, urban planning and institutional
planning and community relationships. Ted brings over 23 years of experience to
the firm and has spearheaded dozens of community master plans, downtown revitalization
and redevelopment plans, economic development and marketing strategies, land
use regulations and design guidelines and corridor plans throughout the
Northeast as well as in Florida and Idaho. Two of his recent projects - Barrington
NH New Town Center Plan and Downtown Buzzards Bay MA Vision Plan - have won
awards including the 2007 APA NNE
Outstanding Planning Award, the 2008 APA
SNE Outstanding Planning Award and
the 2009 Vermont Chapter of the ASLA Merit Award.
Ted
comes to us from the northeast offices of Stantec Planning & Landscape
Architecture/Dufresne-Henry where he was the lead urban planner for the past 10
years. Prior
to joining Stantec, Ted served as Executive Director of downtown organizations -
the Hyannis Main Street Business Improvement District and Fitchburg By Design,
Inc. He was also the Director of
Planning and Development for the Town of Brattleboro, Vermont. During this
time, Mr. Brovitz implemented several planning initiatives such as business
improvement districts, downtown redevelopment projects, parking management,
economic development programs, local comprehensive plans, land use regulations
and design guidelines.
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Learn More About Design, Design Guidelines and How to
Implement A Successful Sign & Facade Program
Massachusetts' Department of Community Housing and Development will be hosting The Cecil Group's, Steve Cecil and Ted Brovitz as they
present a hands-on workshop in which participants will learn how the "concept" of
design matters in revitalizing a downtown or town center. This workshop will
address how a downtown can be enhanced through design guidelines and how to
implement design guidelines through a sign and façade program and other
initiatives.
This
workshop will be useful for communities that are considering creating
design guidelines and/or a sign and facade program, as well as communities that are currently in the process of creating or implementing these programs. The workshop will also be beneficial for training public and private members of design committees.
Date: March 24, 2010
Time: 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Place: Braintree
Town Hall
To register click here
Registration Deadline is March 15, 2010
For more
information contact: Emmy Hahn, 617.573.1364 or elizabeth.hahn@state.ma.us
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Project Spotlight - Andover 40R
For nearly two years the Town of Andover, through
its Town Yard Task Force, has been investigating redevelopment options for the
Town's municipal yard. The Town's goal is to maximize opportunities for private
investment, which will result in multiple public benefits. In order to free up
the land for redevelopment, Andover is looking to move existing Town Yard
facilities to a new location.
The Town Yard is strategically situated near
Andover's MBTA commuter rail station, and one block from the core central business
district. While the municipal land encompasses slightly over 12 acres, the
study area has expanded to over 24 acres due to the interest of private
property owners wanting to include their land holdings as part of the
redevelopment plan. Adding to the magnitude of this project, the Town received a commitment from the
MBTA to include one of its parcels, currently being used for parking, to the
project. These parcels together will result in a comprehensive plan for
redevelopment that accounts for public facility needs framed within a truly
mixed-use, transit-oriented program.
Given the unique set of circumstances and
opportunities, the Task Force chose to advance a Smart Growth/40R Overlay
District on the town yard and adjacent properties. To assist the Town in
drafting and adopting the 40R regulations, The Cecil Group teamed with Atty.
Mark Bobrowski, of Blatman Bobrowski & Mead. The Cecil Group is
facilitating the public charrette process and providing Design Standards according
to the urban design concepts the firm developed for the site, while Mark
Bobrowski is providing the 40R bylaw and the application to DHCD. Because there
is no developer in place, MassDevelopment was asked to provide a market
feasibility study to assist in the creation of the redevelopment program. The
Board of Selectmen authorized the submission of the 40R Overlay District to
DHCD and has placed the article on the spring 2010 Town Meeting Warrant.
Project meetings and other work show community and
market support for redevelopment that includes a combination of housing,
retail, restaurant, and office, along with structured parking to accommodate
the growth the development will bring about. By moving forward on a Smart Growth Overlay district, the Town
anticipates the resulting redevelopment project to help expand and
reconnect the core central business district to the regional transit station,
increase housing diversity, improve traffic conditions, enhance the character
of the downtown, expand the existing tax base, bolster property values and
allow for compatible land uses to evolve within the Essex/Pearson/Lewis Street
neighborhood.
More information on the 40R project is available by clicking here.
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And the winner is...
Todd Thomas, Norwell Town Planner for his above submission to The Cecil Group's Holiday Card Planning Contest.
This year's holiday card from The Cecil Group featured a charrette board game and game pieces, a familiar tool in The Cecil Group's arsenal of community engagement tactics. The goal of the planning project was to help the North Pole begin designing a portion of its city to achieve the community's long-term goal of becoming a world-class theme city (true story, read more about it by clicking here). Holiday card recipients were invited to use enclosed game pieces to design their vision for an area of North Pole located to the right of Highway 2, encompassing Mistletoe Drive, Kris Kringle Drive, Blitzen Drive, St. Nicholas Drive and Donner Drive.
Todd's submission included lots of open space, a pedestrian bridge, strategically placed mixed use development and shared parking to accommodate residential, commuter and visitor parking needs. For his winning entry, Todd received a $50 gift card to Barlow's, a new restaurant located in The Cecil Group office building at 241 A Street in South Boston.
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MA APA Outstanding Planning Award
The Cecil Group was honored to receive an Outstanding Planning Award for its planning work in Framingham's downtown. The award, from the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Planning Association, was presented to The Cecil Group at an awards luncheon this past December. You can read more about our work on this project in our Q3 2009 issue of Plan Views.
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We hope you enjoyed our 4th issue of Plan Views - The Cecil Group's quarterly e-newsletter. Our aim is to provide you with useful information and update you on firm news. Is there other information you'd like to hear from us? Reply to this email and give us your feedback.
Sincerely,
The Cecil Group
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