The Comprehensive Plan for Plan El Paso is a living document subject to continue update and revision to match the goals and policies of the City. However, the first iteration of the plan adopted unanimously by the El Paso City Council in March of 2012 was authored by the team described below:
Dover, Kohl & Partners was founded in 1987. Our expertise lies in balancing the visionary ‘civic art’ of planning with the practical consensus building needed to make projects succeed. We are trained in the principles of traditional town planning, form-based codes, and have perfected techniques for gathering meaningful community input. Dover, Kohl & Partners is best known for public design Charrettes and detailed master plans that emphasize complete neighborhoods as the basis for sound communities. Our plans focus on smart growth, sustainability, and emphasizing that there does not have to be a trade-off between livability, economic prosperity, and environmental concerns. Our work ranges in scale from the street and block to the region, focusing on re-introducing walkability and civic art into the practice of urban planning. Additional information about our services can be found on our website at doverkohl.com.
We strive for maximum public involvement in planning and stress a hands-on visual approach, using techniques that merge design studio, policy-making, and town meetings. Video imaging (pioneered by our firm) and collaborative drawing make planning more accessible and meaningful for citizens and clients. For most master plans we produce simple, illustrated codes that replace conventional zoning. Often our projects have revealed potential in overlooked real estate and have helped to challenge outdated zoning or transportation policies.
Our work has been published in Progressive Architecture, in Metropolitan Home, in numerous planning journals, and has been featured on National Public Radio, CNN’s Earthwatch, and in BusinessWeek. Dover-Kohl projects have also been profiled in The New Urbanism by Peter Katz, Rural By Design by Randall Arendt, Sustainable Urbanism by Douglas Farr, Form-Based Codes by Daniel Parolek, Redesigning Cities by Jonathan Barnett, Retrofitting Suburbia by Ellen Dunham-Jones, and Land Use Strategies and Public Participation Tools, both published by the Center for Livable Communities.
Dover-Kohl’s plans have received numerous awards and recognition. City Plan 2025, the city-wide comprehensive plan for the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas, received the Achievement in Comprehensive Plan Development Award from the Arkansas Chapter of APA in 2006 and a Charter Award from the Congress for the New Urbanism in 2007. The Downtown Master Plan and SmartCode for the City of Montgomery, Alabama received an Outstanding Planning Award from the Alabama Chapter of the American Planning Association in 2008. The Downtown Plan for Richmond, Virginia received the 2009 Outstanding Plan Award from the Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association.
Jason King, Project Director for the Consultant Team: Jason King leads the multidisciplinary consultant team on Plan El Paso and in all El Paso projects. Jason has extensive experience with smart growth, comprehensive planning and form-based codes. His previous experience as a municipal planner assists in the creation of successful, effective plans and codes. Jason leads projects across the country through to implementation, and has participated in over 50 design and comprehensive plan charrettes worldwide. He is a specialist in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Transfer of Development Rights programs, and the Smartcode. His writings and graphics have been published in numerous planning texts.
IPS Group is a rapidly growing urban planning firm serving the needs of both private and public sector clients. Based in College Station, TX, the Group specializes in creating and implementing comprehensive plans through innovative approaches to community involvement. IPS has extensive professional experience in comprehensive planning and form-based code development, as well as streamlining development processes and project management. The principals have over 50 years of combined experience working with communities to help them reach their goals. IPS Group is recognized throughout the state of Texas for award-winning comprehensive planning.
IPS Group will apply their experience in community planning in Texas to assist in the Charrette process and in the creation of the Redevelopment Plans
Bill Spikowski founded Spikowski Planning Associates in 1992 after serving as Growth Management Director for Lee County, Florida. He has over 25 years experience with public sector agencies, writing and implementing comprehensive plans, redevelopment plans, and zoning codes. Spikowski is a frequent speaker and author on town planning and innovative code-writing techniques, recently contributing to A Legal Guide to Urban and Sustainable Development for Planners, Developers, and Architects by Daniel Slone and Doris Goldstein, and to Form-Based Codes: A Guide for Planners, Urban Designers, Municipalities, and Developers by Daniel Parolek, Karen Parolek, and Paul Crawford.
For the Asarco-TOD Redevelopment Plans and Form-Based Codes, Bill Spikowski will attend the Charrette and will assist in the creation of the Form-Based Codes.
Visualization and Design
Steve Price, Principal of UrbanAdvantage, is a national leader in computer simulated before-and-after visualizations. A trained visual artist, Steve Price’s imagery can be found in some of the best examples of urban design and comprehensive plans throughout the country.
Steve Price will attend the on-site Charrette, where he will create change-over time visualizations for each of the four study areas.
CEA Group is an El Paso-based civil engineering and architecture firm providing planning, design, project management and construction phase services throughout the Southwest. CEA Group is a DBE firm in the State of Texas. Incorporated in January 2002, CEA was founded with a personal commitment to responsive professional services. The firm’s founders, Ruben Chávez, P.E., Ulises Estrada, P.E. and Jorge L. Azcarate, P.E., bring over 40 years of combined civil engineering design experience to the firm. CEA offers a full range of professional civil engineering design services related to traffic and transportation, land planning and development, water and wastewater, hydrologic and hydraulic analysis, storm water management, and municipal public works.
CEA Group will serve as the Dover-Kohl team’s local liaison, attending all strategic meetings and the Charrette. They will lead the infrastructure planning aspects of the Asarco/TOD Redevelopment Plans and Form-Based Codes.
Charlier Associates, Inc. (CAI) is a multimodal transportation planning firm specializing in innovative approaches to improving community mobility. Our clients include state agencies, towns, cities, counties, regional agencies, transit service providers and private sector developers interested in moving beyond conventional solutions and approaches. The firm was established in 1993 and is based in Boulder. With 10 professionals, representing the disciplines of transportation planning, landscape architecture, urban design and transportation engineering, CAI has expertise in a wide array of transportation applications. The firm is nationally-recognized for integrating sustainable transportation mobility, innovative smart growth strategies, and proactive community engagement to create livable community plans and projects.
Charlier Associates, Inc. will lead all transportation planning aspects of the Asarco/TOD Redevelopment Plans and Form-Based Codes, and will attend the on-site Charrette.
The Street Plans Collaborative (TSPC) is an urban planning, design, and advocacy firm. SPC thrives on working with clients, partners, and other likeminded organizations to improve the quality and function of the built environment. SPC seeks to create successful public spaces and increase the effectiveness of active transportation as a means to creating more competitive and sustainable 21st century towns and cities. SPC utilizes innovative web-based planning methodologies to help our clients and partners advocate, plan, and implement progressive planning and design solutions. Founded in Miami Beach in 2009, The Street Plans Collaborative maintains offices in New York City and Miami. Core technical services include: Comprehensive Bicycle Master Plans, Bicycle Action Plans, Bicycle Parking Solutions (Including New York City Bicycle Access Plans), Bikeway Network Audits, Livable Streets Event Planning, Web-Based Community Planning Tools, Safe Routes To Schools Plans, Greenway, Path, and Trail Plans, SmartCode Bicycle Module Calibration.
The Street Plans Collaborative will be responsible for creating and maintaining the project website for the Asarco/TOD process. They will serve as planners and designers at the Charrette, focusing on multi-modal transportation.
Economics and Market Analysis
Urban Advisors provides economic and financial analysis to support sustainable regional development, downtown redevelopment and smart growth projects. With training and experience in both design and economics, Urban Advisors is able to perceive the financial aspects as part of the planning process and guide projects toward pragmatic and effective approaches. Urban Advisors was founded in 2002 and serves clients nationwide, with offices in Portland, Oregon and Washington, DC. Urban Advisors has teamed with Dover, Kohl & Partners on numerous projects, including City Plan 2025: the Comprehensive Plan for Fayetteville, Arkansas and the Downtown Plan and SmartCode for Montgomery, Alabama.
Urban Advisors will produce an economic analysis of the City of El Paso, and will attend the initial site visit and the Charrette. Following the Charrette, Urban Advisors will lead the Economic Analysis of the Asarco/TOD Redevelopment Plans and Form-Based Codes.
Modeling efforts at IPED employ extensive national, regional and local data to generate static impact and dynamic forecast analyses to answer questions concerning the effect of policy initiatives on the region’s economy. The Institute houses multiple economic models and modeling capabilities including REMI, IMPLAN, RIMS II, Caffrey-Isaacs, and specialized econometric, input-output and industry cluster models. IPED’s international expertise includes research capabilities on U.S.-Mexico trade and border crossing flows, cross-border industry linkages using in-house harmonized industry correspondence tables and Mexico’s maquiladora manufacturing industry.
IPED will be responsible for updating the City of El Paso’s REMI projections as part of the Asarco/TOD Plans process and the Comprehensive Plan Update.
Matrix Environmental Services (MES) is a dynamic firm providing award-winning environmental consulting and program management services for remediation and redevelopment projects. MES is a wholly owned subsidiary of Matrix Design Group, Inc., a full-service consulting engineering firm. MES’s talented and dedicated staff include: environmental and civil engineers, geologists and hydrogeologists, geophysicists, chemists and data managers, environmental scientists and planners, explosive ordnance technicians, site unexploded ordnance safety officers, and health and safety experts. MES is committed to restoring the environment for beneficial reuse using creative solutions and innovative, streamlined processes. MES conducts projects nationwide for a wide range of public and private sector clients, and specialize in the investigation and remediation of munitions and explosives of concern (MEC) and conventional hazardous materials and wastes.
MES will serve as an advisor to the Dover Kohl team throughout the Asarco Redevelopment project. MES will serve as a liason between the Dover Kohl team and the Custodial Trustee and its chosen environmental consultant, and will interpret the environmental remediation studies to best advise Dover Kohl on appropriate redevelopment options.
Mathew McElroy, AICP, CNU-A, Deputy Director of the Planning and Economic Development Department. Mathew is a University of Texas at El Paso graduate of the English and American literature (BA) (1997), master in public administration (2000), and master of science in economics (2008) programs.McElroy oversees the planning division, and also serves as the military growth and expansion coordinator as part of a growth management plan (RGM P) funded by the Department of Defense’s Office of Economic Adjustment. Prior to joining the city of El Paso, he served as the associate director of the Institute for Policy and Economic Development (IPED) at the University of Texas at El Paso. In his work at IPED, Mathew oversaw research operations.His work extended from redevelopment studies and housing to econometric forecasting, input-output based economic impact analysis, and geographic information systems (GI S). In his final year at UTE P, he co-led the team that won the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER ) National Award for Excellence in Policy Analysis and Research for a binational industry cluster study.
Carlos Gallinar, Comprehensive Plan Manager, was recently hired to comanage the City’s Comprehensive Plan. Carlos was on the city’s plan commission for four years, serving as Chairman during his last year. His professional experience includes program officer at the El Paso Community Foundation and director for community and economic development at Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe. His planning experience extends to many city-wide and regional planning initiatives, most notable include the Plaza Theatre restoration, Wyler Aerial Tramway, and the Magoffin Park Villas, the first major housing development in downtown El Paso in the last 30 years. Carlos is a graduate of The University of Texas at El Paso where he majored in English literature and holds a Master’s in city and regional planning degree from Rutgers University.
Fred Lopez, CNU-A, AICP, Comprehensive Plan Manager. Fred has over 10 years of urban planning experience with the city of El Paso. Fred’s experience includes work in land use planning, zoning, subdivisions, master plan design, and geographic information systems (GI S). He has worked on numerous zoning and subdivision code amendments and has lead planning workshops throughout the city to inform residents about the urban planning process. Fred is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and has served on the Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association Board of Directors and as director of the West Texas Section of the American Planning Association.
In drafting the comprehensive plan, the project team and city planning staff will rely on the commentary and input of many stakeholders, from merchant groups to neighborhood associations. The current Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee is made of the following municipal departments, or organizations:
| City Plan Commission |
| Open Space Advisory Board |
| Parks and Recreation Advisory Board |
| Neighborhood Coalition |
| Housing Authority of the City of El Paso |
| El Paso Association of Builders |
| El Paso Association of Realtors |
| Paso Del Norte Health Foundation |
| American Institute of Architects – El Paso Chapter |
| Texas Council of Engineering Companies – El Paso Chapter |
| El Paso Chamber Infrastructure & Development Committee |
| Mass Transit Department |
| Public Health Department |
| Metropolitan Transportation Organization |
| Sustainability Manager |
| City Manager |
