Team Management
RRPC has worked with many of the Southern and Central Ontario based consulting firms. Robert can recommend and assemble a team of professionals that can expedite approvals.
He and his staff can manage teams of consultants including oversight of various technical elements and reviewing invoices against project budgets. The Robert Russell team has experience writing cost sharing agreements and can review, advise, and act as a client’s representative when negotiating development agreements. RRPC understands that a strong management presence and frequent follow-up with members of a team of consultants will help ensure that the consultants deliver on time and on budget.
Development Approvals
RRPC is highly skilled at navigating the municipal development approvals process. RRPC planners understand that timeliness is one of the key components in a successful and profitable development. A significant investment is required to fund the approvals process and service the development. There is no income until the lots are sold (or built).
The profit margin of a project depends upon how quickly the RRPC team can secure approvals. Local, regional, and provincial issues and potential delays are identified early in the approvals process thereby providing clients with options and alternative courses of action.
RRPC analyses legislation and policy statements to prepare compelling presentations that justify the merits of a development.
Subdivison Design
Subdivision design is partly creative and partly policy implementation. Design requires experience and analytical skill to find the balance between contemporary, marketable, subdivision design and policy statements.
RRPC has experience with subdivision design from small common element condominium sites to large 2,400-unit subdivisions. With input from the client/developer about the product, RRPC will analyze the existing and potential constraints and determine options for the most appropriate site layout, maximizing unit yield.
Zoning By-Laws
Zoning By-laws are sometimes a balancing act between accommodating a development and the municipality’s vision expressed through urban design policy and design standards.
Zoning By-laws require careful consideration of all aspects of the parent by-law to ensure the proposed zone standards will allow the intended development to be completed.
RRPC would review the parent by-law to identify issues that might prohibit issuance of a building permit.
Site Plans
Conceptual site plans for use in a Master Plan are routinely prepared for clients for internal consideration only.
RRPC planners also coordinate design with architects and engineers to draft a formal Site Plan that facilitates the implementation of a proposed development. Planners work with municipal officials to move the site plan application through the planning approvals process.
Consent (serverence) and Minor Variance
RRPC assists clients with applications for consent and minor variance. The process permits relief from the Zoning By-law to accommodate an addition to a house or business, extend a legal non-conforming use and special permissions, or create a new buildable lot. Municipalities require a plan to be submitted with the application. The decision will be made by the Committee of Adjustment at a public hearing where proponents present their case for the variance or severance. RRPC assists many clients with such applications and presentations.
GIS Mapping for Urban and Rural Planning
Geographic Information System (GIS) visualization technology helps landowners, local governments, and others evaluate options for urban growth into rural areas and redevelopment of neighbourhoods. GIS technology enables resource monitoring, environmental protection, and identification of land uses and infrastructure for sustainable development and resiliency to changing weather patterns and climate change. Using maps generated by GIS technology, planners assess biophysical and social economic effects of proposed land use changes.
The Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has created a vector-based GIS dataset of geographic features for the various levels of municipal boundaries in Ontario. Datasets include mapping of Greenbelt Natural Heritage System, Agricultural System Mapping, Provincially Significant Employment Zones and Provincially Significant Wetlands. All of which present constraints and guidance for decisions related to the use and management of land.
Client Advisory
Clients who are inexperienced with the land development process seek guidance to realize a vision for their project. RRPC assists by sharing legislative requirements and personal knowledge of the development process and land use planning to enable a successful negotiation when selling real property to a developer. RRPC is experienced in reviewing Agreements of Purchase and Sale to ensure that clients fully understand their obligations and commitments to avoid being mislead by incomplete legal documents.
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