American Planning Association

July 22, 2014 APA's Community Planning Assistance Team (CPAT) initiative provides pro-bono planning assistance to communities with a demonstrated need and a lack of planning resources and expertise. Each CPAT pairs a multidisciplinary team of expert planning professionals from around the country with community members, key stakeholders, and relevant decision makers to foster community education, engagement, and empowerment. In this program, Rich Roths, AICP, and Douglas Martin, AICP, shared insights from their respective CPAT experiences and demystifyed the process for potential participants. In September 2013, Roths led a CPAT looking at the potential future of a gateway commercial corridor located in a floodplain in Franklin, Tennessee. The previous year, Martin lent his expertise to a CPAT for Wakulla Gardens, a small-lot subdivision in otherwise rural Wakulla County, Florida. After summarizing these projects, Roths and Martin highlighted lessons learned for future CPATs.