Yavapai County staff, Board of Supervisors, and Comprehensive Plan Committee members celebrate with Upfront Planning & Entitlements Founder and Owner (center) Jessica Sarkissian and Planner Amber Knapp.

     MESA, ARIZONA (May 16, 2023) – Upfront Planning & Entitlements, Inc., a woman-owned firm that provides consulting services to both public and private sector clients, is celebrating its latest achievement – the successful adoption of the Yavapai County Comprehensive Plan 2032.

Upfront Planning employees celebrated with the Comprehensive Plan Committee, Development Services Department staff, and citizens as the Board of Supervisors approved the Yavapai County Comprehensive Plan 2032 in March.

Since 2021, Upfront Planning has been working alongside the Yavapai County team, Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee (CPAC), and citizens to make this Comprehensive Plan as up-to-date and forward-thinking as possible.

“The Comprehensive Plan is a living document that will be utilized to implement the vision of the county and its citizens through future improvements, growth, and development,” said Jessica Sarkissian, AICP, LEED AP, founder and owner of Upfront Planning & Entitlements.

Throughout the process, the team kept equity at the forefront to make sure all residents in the county were represented. With a county bigger than the state of New Jersey and a population of 246,191 (an average of 21 residents per square mile), serious public outreach and boots on the ground were required to ensure all areas were visited and represented.

The Comprehensive Plan outreach team participated in more than 45 in-person outreach meetings and traveled more than 2,500 miles focusing on public outreach. A total of 14 open houses in libraries and town halls in all areas of the county including rural communities insured the document was a well representation.

“This type of in-person specialized meetings was the most rewarding and provided our team with the best information possible helping us to better provide a document that provided information and goals aiding the entire county,” Sarkisian said.

This outreach and thorough detail into the 2032 update was rewarded as the Yavapai Board of Supervisors approved the plan unanimously on March 1.

 

About Upfront Planning & Entitlements

Based in Mesa, Arizona, and founded in 2019 by Jessica Sarkissian, AICP, LEED AP, Upfront Planning & Entitlements is a woman-owned firm that provides consulting services to both public and private sector clients. Its diverse project background includes expertise in commercial, residential, and industrial sectors. It boasts a wide municipal understanding within the state, buoyed by its technical design knowledge. Sarkissian possesses more than 20 years of experience in Arizona as a land-planning specialist. For more information visit upfrontplanning.com.

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