NAVAJO NATION COMPREHENSIVE
PLANNING GUIDELINES
James Gardner
Gardner Planning Associates, LLC
www.gardnerplanningservices.com
8/4/14
OVERVIEW
Navajo Nation Planning Framework
Recommended Guidelines
 Nation-wide Planning Efforts
 Agency Level Planning Efforts
 Community Based Land Use Plans
 Mapping/Land Suitability
Development of Planning Guidelines
 Demography
 The process
 Visioning sessions
 Focus Groups
 Interviews
 LGA Framework
 Community vs. Comprehensive Planning
 Public Participation and Pre-Planning
 Land Withdrawal, Eminent Domain, and Zoning
 Housing
 Regional Planning
 Implementation
Barboncito, Navajo Leader
1821-1871
NAVAJO NATION PLANNING FRAMEWORK
• Nationwide
• Local Governance Support
Centers (Agency-wide)
• Community Based Land Use
Planning (Chapter Wide)
The Division of Community Development
(DCD) is a cabinet-level Division in the
Navajo Nation.
Five Departments report to the DCD
 Capitol Improvement Office
 Community Housing and Infrastructure
Department
 Design and Engineering Services
 Local Governance Support Centers (LGSCs)
 Solid Waste Management Program
The DCD was the lead agency in
coordinating this planning effort
Tasked with implementing the Local
Governance Act (LGA) of 1998 – the
seminal act in nation-wide planning in
the Navajo Nation
NATIONWIDE PLANNING
EFFORTS
LOCAL GOVERNANCE SUPPORT CENTERS (AGENCIES)
The LGSCs are a relatively new
phenomenon.
These are offices that employ planners
and support specialists.
They serve as regional conduits for
communication between Chapters and
Navajo Nation depts.
LGSCs have been integral to the
implementation of certain projects as
well as the development of Community
Based Land Use Plans (CBLUPs)
COMMUNITY BASED LAND USE PLANS (CHAPTERS)
Chapters are the smallest jurisdictions in
the Navajo Nation
110 Chapters
98 completed CBLUPs since LGA of
1998
35 Certified Chapters
Chinle, one of our case studies, is
certified and pursuing AFOG status
Certification of Chapters
 Must meet the five criteria in order to become
certified
 Certification affords more autonomy from
national government, but is difficult to attain
without proper training
 Certification also allows for the formation of
Alternative Forms of Government (AFOG)
PROBLEMS WITH CBLUPS
1. Community assessment (often based
solely on Census data)
2. Land suitability analysis (unsuccessful
in IDing suitable land for commercial
projects)
3. Mapping (mapping is not used in a
systematic way, leading to many
problems)
4. Scope (the scope is limited to housing)
5. Economic development (economic
development must be undertaken in
order to increase tax revenue, even if
it is at the cost of grazing land).
Economic development can be
regional to save costs.
6. Regional Planning (tied to economic
development) – should be
implemented to save money and
reduce redundancy
THE DEVELOPMENT OF PLANNING
GUIDELINES
• Process
• LGA Framework
• Community vs. Comprehensive
THE PROCESS (PUBLIC PARTICIPATION)
Visioning Sessions (Case Studies)
Focus Groups and Interviews
 Black Mesa (uncertified, extremely rural)
 Focus groups included LGSC members, Chapter
Delegates, and NNDCD staff
 Interviews were conducted with members of 10
different Chapters, evenly distributed
throughout the 5 agencies
 Takeaways:
 Few in attendance, informal, and focus was on inadequate
infrastructure, housing, and lack of funding for
planning/design/build process
 Chinle (certified, relatively urban)
 Many in attendance, comprised of Chapter staff and
leadership, and focused heavily on development of new
Justice Center, formation of AFOG, and future strategic
and land use planning efforts
 Training needed for capacity building
 Land withdrawal is a cumbersome, legally challenging
process
 Certification is especially difficult because of a lack of
training
 Land suitability analysis, as required by the LGA for all
CBLUPs, is difficult, ill-defined, and can hold up many
projects
LOCAL GOVERNANCE ACT FRAMEWORK
The LGA was adopted in 1998 and has guided
planning efforts in Chapters since then.
Shonto Chapter was one of the first to prepare
a CBLUP and become certified
Since, 35 Chapters have become certified by
preparing a CBLUP and meeting other
requirements which are beyond the scope of
land use planning
Requirements of LGA for CBLUPs:
Include projections of future community land
needs, shown by location and extent
Identify areas for residential, commercial,
industrial and public purposes
Be based upon the guiding principles and
vision as articulated by the community
Include information revealed in inventories
and assessments of the natural, cultural,
human resources, and community
infrastructure as well as consideration for
land-carrying capacity.
COMMUNITY VS. COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING
Community-Based Planning
•The Navajo Nation’s current model of
planning, which includes as many members of
the community as possible.
•Developed under the LGA, and requires a
quorum of Chapter members
•Community involvement is integral to the
process
Comprehensive Planning
•The standard in planning in America.
•Several required components:
 There should be only one official
comprehensive plan
 The plan should be formally adopted by the
legislative body
 There should be a lengthy period of public
debate prior to adoption
 The plan should be available and
understandable to the public
 The plan should be formulated so as to
capitalize on its educational potential
RECOMMENDED GUIDELINES
Mapping/Land Suitability
Public Participation and Pre-Planning
Land Withdrawal, Eminent Domain, and
Zoning
Housing
Demography
Regional Planning
Implementation
MAPPING/ LAND SUITABILITY
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Train employees at all levels of the
Navajo Nation (national, LGSC, and
Chapter)
2. Create a centralized network for
quick dissemination of geographic
data in order to streamline the
process of data collection for the
Chapters and LGSCs.
3. Emulate successful approaches
elsewhere
4. Perform Land Suitability on all sites
5. Use land suitability as a basis for
your community-based land use plans
6. Once land-use planning is completed,
you can begin to master plan –
mapping is a major tool in both
phases
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND PRE-PLANNING
1. Develop a list of requires for
public participation in CBLUP
process
2. Implement pre-planning
processes such as decision
analysis, community education,
and identification of institutional
constraints
Adapted from (Creighton, 2005)
LAND WITHDRAWAL, ZONING, AND EMINENT
DOMAIN
1. Mechanize the land withdrawal process by creating a clause allowing for
automatic withdrawal upon approval of CBLUP.
2. Remove the “soft requirement” of consensus from the land withdrawal process by
implementing eminent domain
3. Allow eminent domain to be carried out by Chapters that are uncertified, given
direct supervision by the NNDCD
4. Exercise the use of zoning for all housing and economic development projects
HOUSING
1. Focus on assessing future housing
needs through demographic analysis
2. Take stock of existing housing
3. Determine future housing needs by
comparing existing stock to population
trends
4. Consider culturally appropriate
housing typologies and settlement
patterns to provide housing that will
be used long-term
A clan-cluster near Black Mesa. Source: Google Maps, 2014
DEMOGRAPHY
1. Perform demographic analysis using
census data and surveys
2. Employ Navajo Nation resources such
as the Chapter Images 2004 book
3. Make use of widely-used
methodology for population
projection
Source: (Wang & Hofe, 2007)
REGIONAL PLANNING
1. Based on resounding support from
Chapter membership as well as LGSC
staff, implement a regional planning
model
2. Base planning regions on established
geographical/cultural regions in
order to encourage participation
among all Chapters
3. Focus on regional projects rather than
Chapter-level projects in order to
increase the chance of
implementation and provide for a
larger population
IMPLEMENTATION
An implementation plan should be
integrated into every CBLUP. This will
ensure that the plan is not just another
document collecting dust on a shelf.
Implementation should be prioritized by
authorizing funding for staff members
and by developing a timeline
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?
Thank you!