WILL SELMAN

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

AFFILIATION: Planning Analyst, Lancaster County Pennsylvania Planning Commission, and Principal, Town Planning and Design Associates

AREA OF EXPERTISE: New Urbanist town planning

BACKGROUND & EXPERIENCE: Will has an extensive background in New Urbanism and Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND). As a planning analyst for the Lancaster County Planning Commission, he assists local governments and the development industry in the creation of ordinances and designs based on the principles of livable communities. As a consultant, his focus is exclusively on New Urbanist work and he has been involved in over fifteen projects, including both greenfield TND design and historic town center revitalization. He also serves his community as chair of the Lancaster City Planning Commission.

 Additionally, he is a founding board member of the Association for the New Urbanism in Pennsylvania (ANUPA). As president, he has guided the organization to become one of the first chapters of the Congress for the New Urbanism. ANUPA will act as host committee for CNU XV, to be held in Philadelphia in June 2007. 

RESEARCH INTEREST: Will’s research will involve the development of a Cross-Parcel Development Agreement (CPDA). This is a method for the development of rural crossroad hamlets and villages in a phased and coordinated fashion, emphasizing coordination among multiple landowners. The issue to be resolved is that regional planning efforts are limited in their effectiveness because land is developed randomly, on a parcel-by-parcel basis, resulting in a scatter-shot pattern of growth that is rarely predictable.  To gain a greater understanding of issues on a regional basis, and act as more responsible stewards of the land, a community’s citizens and landowners must also understand how to coordinate with their adjacent neighbors.

 As a purely voluntary process, a CPDA might be initiated by a group of landowners, but a township also may target a region for such development and request a group of landowners to participate.  CPDAs function as an agreement among a group of landowners to develop their respective properties in a coordinated fashion, according to an overall New Urbanist site plan created through a charrette process. A CPDA also acts as an overlay ordinance adopted by the local government, and would also include deed restrictions, ensuring that the land be developed in the particular pattern and design cooperatively agreed upon by the landowners and local government.

E-MAIL: Will@tpda.ws