Story

Nederveld was hired as the lead planning firm to help create the new town of Laurent, located in South Dakota.  By utilizing the charrette process, during an intensive seven day event, Nederveld brought together the developers, future residents, stakeholders, county commissioners and other municipal officials to design a new town plan.

This charrette process led to a plan that met with the approval of all involved, including residents that were originally against the development.  The town plan incorporates a town center with a densely knit mix of retail and residential along with civic buildings and public squares.  As the town grows into the landscape, residential neighborhoods will be platted adjacent to this urban core. 

Nederveld led a team of nationally renowned new urban design firms in the creation of Laurent.  The design is inspired by the Transect, which is a planning tool that incorporates the entire spectrum of the human habitat, from the urban core to the rural preserve.  This transect based planning led the team to begin to craft a new zoning ordinance for the town.

This zoning was needed in McCook County to allow a town like Laurent to be built.  Nederveld worked closely with the McCook County planners, the Southeastern Council of Governments, and the public to create a form-based zoning code that was acceptable to all.  This code offers enough flexibility to allow a town like Laurent to be constructed, with a fine grain mix of uses, a traditional neighborhood pattern and numerous street types.