Special thanks to the City of Collinsville for welcoming Gateway CEO students. Travis Taylor, Caitlin Rice and Cole Filges, all of the Planning and Zoning Division provided students with a high level view of how municipalities and businesses work together to bring the best potential for our communities through proper code and planning.

With a brief history of planning for housing that was geared toward public health, Travis shared the steps today being taken to update the Comprehensive plan for the new Plan 2045 to consider the future land use map. These plans help the city work with developers to know which areas might be best whether building residential, commercial, industrial or municipal. This allows the city to provide recommendations that work well with the codes and design guidelines. Travis also spent a few minutes sharing how unique design guidelines can be dependent upon what the goal from the community and their leaders. A great example is the city of Sedona that doesn't allow any structures to be built at more than two stories to protect the beautiful views that this city is known for.

The City Planners provide assistance with building permits and site plans and interacts with the public. With this foundation, Caitlin offered students an opportunity to brainstorm development areas for a few parcels that sits close to the new Collinsville Area Vocational building going up across from Collinsville high school. Students had to map out the options and then present to their peers. From a new Target, Chipotle and nail shop to considering pickleball courts with a walking trail and consideration for a swimming pool, it was a lot of fun to see the students creativity at work. They designed where the parking would be, whether on the perimeter, or the interior with the buildings lining the roads, to how to enter and best way to solve the local intersection with more traffic. It really was a fantastic hands-on learning model for our students.

Thank you City of Collinsville for connecting the dots with building relationships with our local business and municipalities. We appreciate you!