New Software Allows for Easier and More Efficient Development of Planning Documents

Miami — The city of Atlanta has selected Limehouse Software, to help with the design and publication of a number of planning documents including the city’s comprehensive, subdivision regulation, transportation and zoning ordinance plans. The software allows city planners and administration staff to work simultaneously on documents online, making editing, formatting and printing easier.

With rapid growth and a population increase of more than 16 percent over the last eight years, the city of Atlanta was seeking a way to organize and create its 500-page comprehensive plan. Before using Limehouse, the plan was available online in multiple PDF formats and was inconvenient to download, print or read. The PDF format often required additional software and was not the simple solution that the city needed.

“Working on multiple documents within a plan was cumbersome and keeping consistent formatting was very difficult,” said Jessica Lavandier, principal urban planner at the city of Atlanta Bureau of Planning. “We were looking for a way to streamline that process and make our documents more accessible.”

Limehouse collaborative software allows team members to work on a single, large document through a Web-based interface and enables them to professionally format and print the document or upload it online, at the touch of a button.

“Now the documents are online and every one has the opportunity to review them ahead of time,” said Lavandier.

The city of Atlanta also plans to use Limehouse Software’s citizen engagement software suite which will allow the city to not only to publish its comprehensive plan and other large documents on easy-to-use Web sites, but also let the public comment and provide feedback. Citizens will be able to access entire documents or just relevant sections, view maps of affected neighborhoods and then write their opinions in related sections. Advanced features include participation in community surveys or online polls which enable planners to quickly determine the public’s thoughts on new ideas.

Lavandier emphasized how easy the new software will make it for the public to access appropriate documents.

“The process is simple to use and that gets people excited and more likely to comment,” she said. “Their feedback will ultimately help us create better plans and better communities.”

“ Limehouse Software was developed specifically to help government and other organizations collaborate on large public documents easily and at less cost and to facilitate citizen engagement and feedback,” said Des Shanahan of Limehouse Software U.S. “The software has had an excellent reception in the governmental sector, where the development and publishing of documents is crucial.”

The software is available online and requires nothing more than Internet access and a working email address. It can be used on a wide variety of Web browsers including Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari.