Planners in Private Practice

Planners in Private Practice (PIPP) is a division of the Michigan Chapter, American Planning Association. PIPP is a collective of private planning consulting firms that provide fee-for-service or contract based services for planning, zoning, development and site plan review, economic and community development, placemaking and myriad other municipal functions.

Michigan has dozens of planning firms, large and small, to meet the unique planning and zoning needs in your community. A planning consultant might be hired to update your zoning ordinance, or to lead a master planning process. Smaller communities might retain planning consultants for day to day planning and zoning administration.

MAP has developed a resource to answer your questions about using private practice planners. Follow this link to learn more about private practice planning in Michigan, including these important topics:

Why Use a Planning Consultant
How to Select a Planning Consultant
The Competitive Selection Process
Interview and Selection
Ten Reasons to Look to Michigan’s Private Practice Community Planning Consultants FIRST

In 2022, Michigan's Planners in Private Practice presented a 90 minute webinar: Writing a Better RFP.

DIRECTORY OF MICHIGAN CONSULTING FIRMS

(Members Of Planners In Private Practice)

Aligned Planning Lynee Wells, AICP Grand Rapids, MI (616) 648-3534 [email protected] Aligned Planning is a woman-owned (WBE certified) planning firm specializing in planning, zoning, public policy, design, transportation, and community engagement. We look forward to working together to make Michigan communities great places to live, work, shop and recreate.	Beckett & Raeder, Inc. Sara Kopriva, AICP 535 West William Ann Arbor, MI 48161 734-663-2622 [email protected] Beckett & Raeder, Inc. is a Michigan Corporation headquartered in Ann Arbor with additional offices in Petoskey, Traverse City, and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Major areas of practice include master planning, placemaking, downtown revitalization and redevelopment, community planning and urban design, economic development, and RRC technical assistance.	Carlisle \| Wortman Associates, Inc. John L. Enos, AICP Vice President 117 N 1st Street, Ste. 70 Ann Arbor, MI 48104 (734) 662-2200 [email protected] More than 75 Michigan communities have chosen Carlisle/Wortman Associates as their comprehensive planning firm with expertise in every area of planning, zoning, community development, recreation and building services.
Community Image Builders CIB Planning Carmine P. Avantini, AICP 17195 Silver Parkway, #309 Fenton, MI 48430 (810) 335-3800 [email protected]	Community Planning and Land Use Consulting Rob Larrea, AICP Principal \| Community Planner Traverse City, MI (231) 944-3031 [email protected]	Giffels Webster Jill Bahm, AICP 28 West Adams, Suite 1200 Detroit, MI 48226 (313) 962-4442 [email protected] www.giffelswebster.com www.clearzoning.com Giffels Webster is a multi-disciplinary firm specializing in community planning, GIS, civil engineering, landscape architecture, and surveying. Our experienced planning team offers a full range of planning consulting services, including zoning, long range planning, ongoing services, and development review.
HNTB Michigan, Inc. Carly Mitchell, AICP Detroit, MIchigan 48226 (313) 230-0966 [email protected] For more than a century, HNTB has helped create infrastructure solutions that best meets the unique demands of its environment. HNTB Corporation leads the way in delivering infrastructure solutions to the state of Michigan in transportation, urban and regional planning, bridges and structures, transit/rail, intelligent transportation systems, construction services, and program management.	Horizon Community Planning David M. Jirousek, MCP, AICP Grand Rapids, MI (616) 540-1794 [email protected] Established in 2018, Horizon Community Planning works with citizens, officials, and stakeholders to develop community plans. We write local zoning and development regulations to achieve the vision of the plans. Horizon Community Planning is also in the business of solutions for local governments, as we offer regular and on-call development plan review, zoning administration, and code enforcement services.
livingLAB: A collaborative design studio 1274 Library Street, Suite 1D Detroit, MI 48226 (313) 974-7602 [email protected]	MainStreet Planning Company Janis Norman Johnson, AICP Grand Rapids, MI 49515 (616) 690-5039 [email protected] For 30 years, MainStreet Planning Company has been providing expert planning and zoning services to Michigan communities adhering to the highest standards of professionalism and ethics. Thorough knowledge and practical application of Michigan planning and zoning law.	Mannik Smith Group Lucie Fortin, AICP 1771 North Dixie Highway Monroe, Michigan 48162 (734) 289-2200 [email protected]
McKenna 235 East Main Street, Suite 105 Northville, Michigan 48167 (248) 596-0920 (toll free) (888) 226-4326 Kalamazoo (269) 382-4443 [email protected] McKenna is a planning and building services firm headquartered in Northville, Michigan with branch offices in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. For more than 40 years, McKenna has been a trailblazer in innovative community planning practices. With an unwavering dedication to providing workable, solid planning, the team at McKenna provides solutions that begin with listening to its clients. McKenna also is recognized for its building services division, which began in 2009, and currently provides professional building services to nearly two dozen Michigan communities.		Midwestern Consulting Tom Covert, AICP, RLA, LEED AP 3815 Plaza Drive Ann Arbor, MI 48108 (734) 995-0200 [email protected] Midwestern Consulting is an award-winning professional consulting ﬁrm providing land planning, civil engineering, land surveying, landscape architecture, and transportation engineering services since 1967. We assist our clients in navigating and developing zoning and permitting strategy while providing thoughtful design solutions. Markets served include municipal, institutional, wireless communications, land development, and land survey with expertise in feasibility and due diligence review; project and infrastructure design; and entitlement strategy and management.
Mission North, LLC Rob Bacigalupi, AICP 627 Sixth Street Traverse City, MI 49684 (231) 883-7266 [email protected]	MKSK Studios Ann Marie Kerby, AICP 4219 Woodward Ave #305 Detroit, MI 48201 (248) 867-8942 [email protected] MKSK is a collective of Planners, Urban Designers and Landscape Architects passionate about the interaction between people and place. Key Services include community planning, downtown design, streetscapes, multimodal transportation planning and design, parking studies, and public engagement.	OHM Advisors Eric Dryer, AICP 1145 Griswold Street, Suite 200 Detroit, MI 48226 (313) 481-1263 [email protected]
Quantifly Adrianna Jordan, AICP, Manager Detroit, MI (734) 846-7015 [email protected]	Progressive AE Suzanne M. Schulz, AICP Urban Planning Practice Leader cell 616.822.1020 office 616.988.4809 [email protected] Progressive AE’s multidisciplinary team is focused on implementation, changing the status quo, and placemaking. We take on special projects in public policy, zoning reform, corridors, redevelopment, tailored engagement, mobility, street design, and development entitlements. We purposely bridge the public and private sectors to build thriving and equitable communities.	Proxima Collective Landon Bartley, AICP 40 Pearl St. NW #200 Grand Rapids, MI 49503 616-649-5385 [email protected]
Rowe Professional Services Company Jason Ball, AICP, Senior Planner Flint, MI 48502 (810) 341-7500 [email protected] ROWE Professional Services Company is a full-service professional consulting firm specializing in community planning, civil engineering, surveying, aerial photography/mapping, landscape architecture, and land development. We offer large-firm resources with the personal attention you require.	SmithGroup Kathleen Duffy, AICP Ann Arbor and Detroit (734) 669-2745 [email protected] SmithGroup is an award-winning, multinational, integrated design firm bringing bold ideas and driving change for over a century. No matter the scale of your planning or urban design project, we work with our clients to gain a deep understanding of their communities and their needs, specializing in equitable and resilient solutions for cities, neighborhoods, districts, mobility, street design, and urban redevelopment.	Spalding DeDecker Cassi Meitl, AICP 15 East Baltimore Detroit, MI 48202 (313) 305-9120 [email protected] An award-winning land surveying, civil engineering, and urban planning firm, Spalding DeDecker has offices in Detroit, Rochester Hills, Novi, Grand Rapids, and Lansing. Key planning services include master and strategic planning, stormwater management plans and studies, streetscape and multimodal transportation planning and design, site planning and development feasibility studies, grant writing, and municipal engineering.
Spicer Group Cynthia Todd 230 S. Washington Avenue Saginaw, MI 48607 (toll free) (800) 833-0062 [email protected]	Wade Trim 500 Griswold Avenue, Suite 2500 Detroit, MI 48226 (313) 961-3650 [email protected]	William & Works, Inc. Andrew Moore, AICP, Senior Planner 549 Ottawa Avenue, NW Grand Rapids, MI 49503 (616) 224-1500 [email protected]

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

Most professional planners practicing in Michigan are certified and/or registered. The American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) is the national professional institute within the American Planning Association (APA). AICP's central mission is the professional development and certification of its members as a means to the ongoing improvement of the practice of planning. AICP membership includes about 10,000 of the 30,000 APA members.

We hope these recommendations help. Please contact any members of the Planners in Private Practice group for more information about selecting a planning consultant.

Planners in Private Practice

DIRECTORY OF MICHIGAN CONSULTING FIRMS

(Members Of Planners In Private Practice)

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