James City County surrounds the city of Williamsburg, VA and contains some of the nation’s most important historic sites. As the County continues to grow, new residential and service sector development has created pressure on existing transportation infrastructure, rural lands, important environmental assets, and other public facilities. The County’s Comprehensive Plan is one tool for managing growth to preserve local character while promoting local prosperity.

EPR worked with a range of interests to update James City County’s Comprehensive Plan for the next 25 years. EPR brought a multi-disciplinary approach to this project, combining land use, transportation, urban design, and environmental analysis, while leading a team of sub-consultants with special expertise in transportation modeling, fiscal impact analysis, and innovative community engagement to produce a highly detail and comprehensive strategy for an engaged community.

The James City County 2045 Comprehensive Plan, Our County, Our Shared Future, was honored with   an Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties (NACo).

Community Engagement

EPR worked closely with planning staff, elected leaders, and local committees to engage residents of James City County is planning for the future of their community. The engagement process was grounded in a public engagement strategy document, driven by the goal to reach at least twice as many residents as previous plans, and guided by a Citizen Participation Team of leading residents. Engagement activities included opinion surveys, visual preference exercises, interactive online mapping, and live polling during simulcast public open houses in each of the County’s magisterial districts to inform a plan that meets the vision of County residents at every step.

Scenario Modeling

In addition to best practices in growth management and long-range strategic planning, EPR brought data-driven scenario modeling to James City County for the first time. Using a variety of local and national data sources, along with the CommunityViz modeling system, EPR planners tested the future impacts of growth and development levels, trends, and strategies on land consumption, traffic, pedestrianism, emissions, and the County’s fiscal balance. This scenario modeling is one more way that EPR is helping community leaders to make informed and rational decisions about community issues.