All proposals shall be submitted by 5:00 P.M. on Friday, February 3, 2017 to the Planning Department at the above address, attention: Christian K. Miller, City Planner, Tel: (914) 967-7167, cmiller@ryeny.gov.

I. Project Rationale and Context:

1. The City of Rye's Master Plan was completed in 1985. Rye is an established community and has not witnessed significant overall population growth or other traditional dramatic changes in land use that can often be a trigger for communities to consider re-evaluating current planning policies in a comprehensive way. Many objectives and goals identified in the current plan remain relevant and representative of the communities' guiding desires for the future. When specific needs or issues have arisen for which the Master Plan lacked relevant guidance, the City has engaged interested members of the community to adopt plans or studies which has resulted in a series of supplemental studies including those addressing the central and neighborhood business districts, hazard mitigation, flooding, house scale, recreation plans, traffic calming, complete streets, environmental sustainability plans, annual capital improvement programs, safe routes to school and pedestrian improvement plans and other planning studies or documents. An important part of this new City's master plan is to review, coordinate and update these plans and studies and adopt a comprehensive and integrated master plan based on more current community needs and values.
2. Generally, Rye embraces its history and values historic preservation but the community is not static. While the overall population of the City has remained essentially unchanged at approximately 15,000 residents for the last three decennial censuses, increasing numbers of families with children have moved to the City and the City has seen significant redevelopment of high-value single-family properties (i.e. "tear downs"). This has resulted in demographic shifts with growth in the youngest and oldest age cohorts. The community has expressed concerns about how this redevelopment impacts neighborhood character, landscape preservation, fiscal sustainability, housing affordability, stormwater runoff, resiliency to natural hazards and environmental sustainability. Additionally, this redevelopment has caused a need to evaluate the adequacy of community facilities including schools and infrastructure.
3. Changes in how people in Rye live and work also have impacted the physical landscape and the policies needed for the future. Rye remains largely a residential suburb of New York City where many of its residents depend on the 45-minute express train ride to Manhattan for employment, however, increasing numbers of residents are commuting to work in Greenwich and Stamford, CT. The 1985 Master Plan envisioned increasing demand for office space in Rye and the community has several areas zoned for office space. Rye has not become a major employment center and there is insufficient demand for office space. Increasing vacancy rates and new land use needs warrants a re-examination of the appropriateness of the amount of office business district and other zoning in the City. Additionally, there are challenges and opportunities in Rye's mixed-use neighborhood and central business districts that should be examined more fully in light of a changing retail and service business environment.
4. All segments of the community have more active lifestyles than anticipated in the 1985 Master Plan resulting in more demands on the City to have safer streets, more places to walk and bike, more recreational facilities at public and semi-public institutions and more needs to accommodate or regulate new and emerging uses to serve changing lifestyles.
5. Rye's community is engaged, active and involved. There are a great number of institutions that are supported by the community including churches, schools, as well as community-based institutions that support the arts, the environment, recreation, youth and education. An engaged community is something to strive for, but can present divisions that make difficult to evaluate community priorities in light of competing interests. A new Master Plan should help guide community decision-making. It should develop community consensus around goals and objectives to provide guidance when the community addresses competing priorities.
6. There are increasing external influences on the City that require a greater examination by the community than envisioned in the 1985 Master Plan. An updated plan would provide the City with a response to evolving regional impacts and trends associated with issues such as flooding, regional transportation, housing affordability, retail and office market trends, connectivity needs in an expanding digital environment and growing regulatory demands to address stormwater runoff, sanitary sewer requirements and other environmental needs.

The intent of the City's comprehensive update is to identify current and future trends and how they may impact the City across a wide range of areas including housing, environment, business, transportation, historic preservation, community facilities, lifestyle and other areas as identified as chapters in the current Master Plan. A comprehensive planning process should capture the community vision with inclusive engagement to create a plan document that identifies actionable goals, policies and strategies for the next 20 years.

II. Planning Process and Consultant Work Plan

The consultant in its proposal for services shall prepare for the City's consideration a detailed planning process that includes a timeline, cost and deliverable for each task required for the completion of the Master Plan document. The City will rely on the expertise and experience of the consultant's recommended process. The City will value a consultant approach that demonstrates a creative but practical work plan that facilitates and anticipates pitfalls to plan adoption. The City desires a document that can be relied upon by local decision-makers and regional stakeholders to identify, advance and coordinate physical planning and land use policy needs. The process and work plan should include the following elements:

• Community Engagement. The City understands that the plans most embraced by the community are those that encourage and solicit throughout the process public input and provide for a variety of venues and forums to facilitate public participation. The consultant shall identify what community outreach methods it will use to identify community goals and objectives and provide continued public involvement during the planning process. Public meetings alone should not be considered adequate but included in the planning and community engagement process. Use of public input surveys (both traditional mail and online), website updates, social media and other technology driven methods are encouraged. The consultant can expect to interface with a Master Plan Committee and City Planner, which will provide input and guidance throughout the process. Plan adoption is anticipated within 12-18 months after the project is initiated.
• Background Studies. An effective plan must be rooted in the reality of past and existing conditions and future anticipated trends. The consultant's proposal shall include what background information it will provide as a foundation for the plan. The intent is not to use background information as plan filler, but to use qualitative and quantitative data to develop meaningful and practical action strategies. This would include, but not limited to information and trend analysis for the City and surrounding areas including demographic characteristics, housing characteristics, economic conditions, utilities and community facilities, historic resources, land use composition, traffic, transportation and pedestrian characteristics and other elements included in the City's current Master Plan as well as those typical of "traditional" comprehensive plan updates. Information should be presented with appropriate table, charts, maps and other supporting graphics. In addition, the consultant shall review relevant studies and plans completed since the 1985 Master Plan and evaluate these plans in light of today's community needs and consider integrating substance from those plans into the comprehensive plan.
• Plan Content. The consultant's proposal shall include a detailed outline proposing the plan content. The outline should properly convey the organization, extent of background information, structure for the presentation of goals and policies and depth of analysis expected for the presentation of action strategies that advance plan implementation. The proposal must properly and clearly convey what deliverable can be expected. Examples of work products completed for other communities having similar planning processes and budgets is encouraged.
• Plan Adoption. The consultant's proposal shall include a work plan identifying a time frame and budget for each task in the planning process. Work to be completed by the consultant, sub-consultant, City staff or City Master Plan Committee should be identified in the work plan. The work plan shall integrate the public engagement process and identify at appropriate increments throughout the process the involvement of the City Master Plan Committee to review and comment on draft work product or to provide strategic direction throughout the planning process. It is expected that that the adoption of the document will be subject to state environmental review. The cost and timing to complete State Environmental Quality Review should be included in the work plan as a separate item depending on whether a more extensive environmental review (i.e. positive declaration) is required.

The consultant should include in its work plan its planning principles, unique process mechanisms or measures that will help ensure the long-term utility of the planning document. The consultant should provide specific examples of similar comprehensive plan initiatives it has undertaken that demonstrate continued future reliance on the plan document by community decision-makers.

IV. Proposal Submission Requirements

The contents of the proposal shall become contractual obligations, if a contract ensues. Proposals shall contain the following information:

1. The proposals shall be submitted marked on the outside envelope "Proposals for City of Rye Master Plan Update". The outside envelope shall also list the name of the consultant and the date of delivery of said proposal.
2. The consultants shall submit one (1) original, seven (7) copies and one PDF version of the proposal. Proposals shall be typewritten (single-spaced) with pages numbered and signed in ink by an official authorized to bind the company to its provisions.
3. Proposals submitted in response to this request should be prepared simply and economically, and contain the following information:
   1. A cover letter of interest and general description of recommended approaches, scope of work, processes and deliverables.
   2. Name, address, telephone number and contact person for each consultant
   3. References – a minimum of three (3) professional references for whom a similar project has been completed in the last five (5) years.
   4. Documentation that the consultant fulfills the experience requirements referenced in this document.
   5. List of consultants and/or subcontractors including qualifications and bios of key team members referenced in the proposal.
   6. Project Approach. Include a discussion of the distinguishing features of your team and approach to this project. The discussion should include specifics regarding public participation and outreach, committee responsibilities and facilitation of planning process as discussed in the Section III of this RFP "planning process and Consultant work plan.
   7. Schedule. Scope of Work including a breakdown of tasks, time line, deliverables and task responsibility.
   8. Conflict of Interest. The consultant shall submit a conflict of interest form (provided upon request).
   9. Deliverables. The proposal shall identify the format and number of final deliverable (i.e. plan document). The proposal shall also identify interim documents to be delivered at various phases of the planning process.
4. Budget. Provide a detailed budget broken down by task. Include overhead and hourly rates of individuals involved. Also, provide an estimated budget with staff hours for completing each phase of the proposed scope of work.

V. Selection Process: The City of Rye will review and evaluate all proposals based on each firm's qualifications, references, relevant experience, and cost, among other considerations. The City reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and waive any formality to the extent that is in the best interest of the City. After proposal submission the City may elect at its sole discretion to conduct interviews of potential consultant candidates before selecting the desired consultant.