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Frequently Asked Questions: Redevelopment Ready Communities
Information for Communities
Redevelopment Ready Communities® (RRC) is a voluntary technical assistance initiative available to communities across the state, which empowers communities to shape their future by building a solid foundation of planning, zoning, and economic development best practices and integrating them into their everyday functions.
RRC prepares communities to be development ready and competitive in today’s economy by actively engaging stakeholders and proactively planning, making them more attractive for projects that create places where people want to live, work, and invest. Redevelopment Ready Communities ® (RRC) supports the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s (MEDC) community vitality focus, supporting the growth of vibrant, diverse, and resilient communities across Michigan.
Developed by experts in the public and private sector, the RRC Best Practices are the standard for providing a community driven and predictable development review experience. As part of the RRC process, communities can choose between two pathways: Essentials or Certified. Communities can determine which path is most appropriate for their goals based on capacity, community objectives, and other local factors.
Working through and accomplishing the RRC Best Practices is beneficial to a community for several reasons:
RRC is a no cost, technical assistance program. While staff time is necessary to participate, meeting the Best Practices criteria can often save time in the long run by having clearly outlined processes with documented timelines.
Communities may request RRC technical assistance match grant funding to assist with the cost of some larger RRC-related projects like plan or zoning updates.
Formal engagement indicates your community's desire to work toward RRC Essentials or Certification by officially establishing contact with the RRC team and beginning to access customized guidance. Engagement consists of the following steps:
You can also find more information on the RRC Process webpage.
With two RRC designations (or paths) to choose from, you may be wondering which is the right fit for your community. You are never locked into only one path, but to help the RRC Team provide appropriate guidance and support, it is important that we know your intended goal. To help you determine this, consider the following factors:
RRC Essentials may be a good fit for your community if….
RRC Certification may be a good fit for your community if…
After formal engagement, communities will be placed in their RRC planner’s pipeline to be evaluated. Each community is evaluated in the order of their formal engagement date. While awaiting formal evaluation, communities can begin to update the plans, policies, and procedures that do not meet best practices expectations laid out in the RRC Handbook.
The community's RRC Community Planner will formally document their evaluation on the community's Trello Board, RRC's online project management system. Additionally, the community's RRC contact will be provided a 'Community Snapshot' detailing an overview of where the community is currently aligned with the RRC Best Practices and where criteria is missing.
Once the community has been formally evaluated, the RRC Community Planner will reach out to schedule a Trello onboarding session (if one has not already been completed). This session will also provide a chance for RRC to introduce the community to our resources, reaffirm the process, and answer any questions about the baseline evaluation.
Once the community has been formally evaluated, it will have a firmer understanding of which best practices are already in place and which may need some work to fully align with the community's desired RRC level. Now is the time to work to meet the best practices that have been identified as missing. Upload supporting documentation to Trello, RRC's online project management software.
As your community is in this phase, be sure to familiarize yourself with two main tools the RRC has built to provide direct assistance:
The “RRC Best Practices Training Series” is a self-guided online tool that can be completed at any time. This free system provides an up-to-date overview of RRC and in-depth courses on each of the best practices. This is an especially great opportunity for planning commissions, councils, and DDAs to obtain, flexible training. The more local officials and staff who are trained, the more effective RRC will be to the community over time as it leverages the best practices. Users can learn more and register for the system by going to www.miplace.org/rrctraining.
Additionally, RRC hosts an online Virtual Academy for local officials. The RRC Virtual Academy provides an opportunity to learn the basics about Redevelopment Ready Communities and how your community can benefit from being engaged in RRC and pursuing the Essentials or Certified path. This free training has six sessions that are presented by the RRC Community Planners one evening a week.
The RRC process is designed to be completed at the community’s own pace. Some communities have gone from baseline to Essentials or Certification in as little as nine months, while others have been working for several years. The RRC team works to provide resources and support within whichever context the community has capacity for.
Ultimately, RRC helps communities build capacity by streamlining and documenting processes, preserving, and sharing institutional knowledge and building partnerships. Participation in RRC is a long-term relationship between the RRC Team and your community. We are here to provide you with examples from other communities, resource guides and ongoing technical assistance. Communities can engage in RRC at any time.
Other things to keep in mind:
RRC is voluntary and communities must determine if the toolkit aligns with current community priorities.