The City of Lakewood is seeking qualified planning and zoning consultants, multi-disciplinary consultants, or teams to lead the preparation and adoption of an update to the City’s Planning and Zoning Code.
Lakewood, Ohio is an inner ring streetcar suburb of Cleveland with over 50,000 people residing within 5.53 square miles that makes it the state’s most densely populated city.
The City hosts two main commercial corridors (Detroit, Madison Avenues), a small industrial area (Berea Road), a distribution of neighborhood-based schools and parks, and a diverse housing stock that varies from single-family homes to a variety of multi-story, multi-family apartment and condominium structures.
The current zoning code was last comprehensively updated and adopted in 1996 with a variety of piecemeal additions and revisions made since that time. In 2012, the City released the Community Vision – which serves in place of a traditional Master Plan – providing an update last in 2019. The Community Vision centers upon six focus areas (commercial development, housing, community wellness, safety, mobility, and education and culture) with supporting objective statements for each.
The City’s overarching intent with this request is to identify a qualified consultant able to craft a comprehensive update to our zoning code that:
- Aligns with Vision, integrates contemporary best practices for a dense, historic, urban community, including a zoning and development framework that promotes sustainability and resiliency to climate change, and reflects the input and perspective gained through engagement with Lakewood residents, property owners, businesses, and other key stakeholders.
- Incorporates processes that are proportional and transparent with clear requirements and decision criteria.
- Is easy to read/navigate, understandable by the public, and enforceable by the City.
Over the coming weeks, the City will work through a selection process – starting with issuing a Request for Qualifications (RFQ). The selection process is anticipated to follow the below schedule (subject to change):
SELECTION SCHEDULE
| February 23 | RFQ Issued |
| March 11 (4pm) | Questions Submitted by Email |
| March 14 (5pm) | City Responses Posted |
| March 22 (4pm) | RFQ Submittal Deadline |
| March 25 – 29 | Short List Determination and Interviews (Estimated) |
| April 5 | Selection of Best Qualified Consultants (Estimated) |
