District Liaison Program

Welcome to the Bureau of Planning's District Liaison Program. The Bureau has assigned a planner to one of six areas of the city, called districts. Each planner will act as the Bureau's primary contact between communities, city agencies, and nonprofit groups on planning and development matters in the district.

The liaison will be the Bureau lead on issues that address district livability and vitality such as economics, development, design, and long range planning. District liaisons work with the full community including residents, property owners, businesses, organizations, developers, and others.

How is this different from past Neighborhood Planning?

The District Liaison Program supplements past neighborhood and area planning efforts by turning attention toward plan implementation as well as plan creation. The role of the district planner is to develop on-going in-depth knowledge of district planning issues and priorities, through communication with the community and city agencies. District liaisons will then address strategies for these priorities through short and long term planning tools.

What are the District Liaison responsibilities?

Partnering and Communication

• Develop an on-going understanding of district planning and development needs and desires, and formulate planning priorities with the community
• Inform the Bureau and other agencies about community planning priorities
• Create partnerships with the community, service providers, nonprofits and others to help implement community based priorities
• Share information with the community about city activities that may affect the district
• Provide technical assistance to the community on planning matters such as land use, zoning and urban design including referrals to other agency staff as necessary

Strategic Action

• Work to implement programs and actions of adopted neighborhood, community, and area plans
• Address planning and development matters using a wide range of approaches that emphasize creative and collaborative problem-solving with community members
• Influence Bureau work programs in order to realize community planning priorities
• Develop and implement custom quick response projects that address planning issues and opportunities

Long Range Planning

• Use the foundation of knowledge gained from the District Liaison Program activities to shape future Comprehensive Plan updates