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Ottawa County housing team preparing open-source small-footprint plan sets with legal disclaimers and download tracking
Summary
Staff and developers told the Housing Commission they will release open-source housing plan sets and site-design materials, add legal language and IP credits, and track basic download metrics; the team plans outreach to local planning commissions and developers after a mid-October strategy meeting.
Ottawa County staff and project partners told the Housing Commission they are preparing to release open-source small-footprint housing plan sets and accompanying site-design guidance.
The plan sets have been reviewed by staff and will be edited before an official launch, Paul (staff member) said. Project presenters said they will meet with members of the county’s DSI team to discuss logistics and to set up a mechanism to track who downloads the plans.
"So in regard to our our plan sets, Nick and I reviewed all of those, and we're working towards releasing those for process," Matt (staff member) said, describing next steps including a strategy meeting in mid-October. He and other presenters said the materials will carry legal language and design credits and that the county’s legal counsel, Scott Corbett, has given guidance on wording.
The legal language discussed is intended "to protect the county, and the the plan sets themselves that and just an acknowledgment that they're open source," Matt said, adding that some responsibility for adapting a plan to a specific site will fall on whoever pursues local permitting.
Staff said they expect the launch package to include: (1) downloadable plan sets with design credits to Matt and Nick; (2) a short online form or minimal data-collection step so staff can capture basic download metrics; and (3) disclaimers about the plans’ intended uses and limits. The team also wants to prepare outreach materials to share the design narrative with local planning commissions and development partners.
Presenters named several developers and sites already engaged with the concept, including nonprofit developers working with Doors of Hope and a project near Holland; Robinson Township landowners also have shown interest, staff said. The presenters said some initial site-specific work is already underway and that the plan sets are intended to be both educational and a practical matchmaker between landowners and developers.
The group discussed staging outreach, including a possible post-New Year roadshow to planning commissions and other local bodies. Staff said they will bring back details on metrics, the mid-October strategy meeting, and plans for crediting intellectual property on the documents.
