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How It Works
Wondering how Planning Advisory Service can work for you?
Find out how it works for Jane Planner.
Jane works in a city where commercial development is booming — and
the signs advertising all those businesses are popping up all over
the place.
She'd like to do something to keep those signs from getting out of control.
She wants to preserve the character of the community and ensure the signs
remain legible and effective.
Fortunately, Jane's planning department subscribes to Planning Advisory Service.
One day, Jane receives a new PAS Report about street graphics in the mail.
After reading it, she decides to write new sign regulations for the city. The
report answers many questions about how to do this, but she still has a few
more.
Jane contacts her PAS researcher at the Inquiry Answer Service, who tells
her she can find the answers to some of her questions in a back issue of PAS
Memo on the PAS Subscriber Only website. He also offers to do some research
on her questions.
While the PAS researcher looks into her questions, Jane checks out the PAS
Memo. It mentions a community dealing with the same issues Jane's community
is. On a hunch, Jane looks up the community in the PAS Subscriber Directory.
The community is also a PAS subscriber.
Jane uses the contact information in the directory to call the community's
planner, who gives her some ideas about how to tackle new sign regulations.
A few days later, Jane receives a research packet from her PAS researcher.
It contains articles, web resources, sample ordinances, and contact information for other
planners who have dealt with similar issues.
Jane gets down to work writing her regulations. Halfway through, she realizes she needs
more information about moving-image signs.
She logs on to PAS Subscribers Only and finds an Essential PAS Info Packet on
this topic.
 Then Jane e-mails her PAS researcher for more information on content neutrality
and legal defensibility.
Jane's PAS researcher consults with other members of APA's research staff.
One of them has been in touch with a community doing some really innovative
work on sign regulations. Another has heard of two other cities who've found
effective ways to enforce sign regulations without hurting businesses.
The PAS researcher e-mails Jane information
on all three communities.
 Jane's
regulations are finally done — and the planning commission decides to
try to get media coverage of the new regulations.
So, Jane logs on to PAS Subscribers Only to download an issue of
PAS QuickNotes on how planners can build effective
relationships with the media. She makes enough copies of the
QuickNote and list of references for the whole commission and puts the accompanying
QuickNote PowerPoint presentation on her laptop.
After watching the PowerPoint presentation and reading their copies of PAS
QuickNotes, the commissioners feel confident about approaching the
local news media to get the word out about the new sign regulations.
 Two years
later, Jane's legally defensible, content-neutral sign regulations
are so successful that Jane sends a copy to PAS
Partners in Practice, so they can share it with other subscribers.
Make PAS work for you: Subscribe
today
Learn more about PAS subscriber benefits
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