In an era of increasing complexity, the majority of local land-use decisions in the United States are made by volunteer citizen planners. Often these elected or appointed volunteers enter their positions with a passion for their communities but without appropriate background training. The Michigan Citizen Planner Program was developed to address…

Author presents a case-study showing how Delaware Extension Service launched an effort to reach the goal of better planned communities through making land-use controls become guidelines for zoning ordinances. He discusses how segments of the community were approached and the positive results of fifteen years of work. (Editor/LF)