LARE LARE Master Planning and Design 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: During the programming phase of a master plan, which tool best captures stakeholder priorities across multiple user groups?
- Topographic survey
- Charrette workshop (Correct answer)
- Soil percolation test
- Traffic impact study
Correct answer: Charrette workshop
A charrette workshop brings diverse stakeholders together to collaboratively define priorities, conflicts, and shared goals during the programming phase.
Question 2: A master plan's 'carrying capacity' analysis primarily determines:
- Maximum vehicle parking spaces required
- The level of use a site can sustain without significant degradation (Correct answer)
- Total square footage of impervious surface allowed
- Number of restroom fixtures needed per user
Correct answer: The level of use a site can sustain without significant degradation
Carrying capacity defines the maximum intensity of use a landscape can accommodate before ecological or experiential quality declines.
Question 3: Which GIS layer would be MOST critical when siting a new community park within a flood-prone municipality?
- Parcel ownership boundaries
- FEMA 100-year floodplain maps (Correct answer)
- School district boundaries
- Historic aerial photography
Correct answer: FEMA 100-year floodplain maps
FEMA 100-year floodplain maps identify regulated flood hazard areas that directly constrain building placement, grading, and infrastructure.
Question 4: In land use planning, a 'buffer zone' between industrial and residential districts primarily serves to:
- Increase tax revenue for the municipality
- Mitigate noise, odor, and visual impacts through transitional land uses or vegetation (Correct answer)
- Provide additional parking for industrial facilities
- Maximize developable area in the residential zone
Correct answer: Mitigate noise, odor, and visual impacts through transitional land uses or vegetation
Buffer zones use transitional uses, berms, or dense planting to absorb and mitigate impacts before they reach sensitive adjacent land uses.
Question 5: Which master planning concept organizes uses along a linear corridor that intensifies toward a central node?
- Grid pattern
- Radial pattern
- Linear hierarchy (Correct answer)
- Cluster development
Correct answer: Linear hierarchy
A linear hierarchy places highest-intensity uses at a central point along a corridor and transitions to lower-intensity uses toward the periphery.
Question 6: A 'transect' in master planning refers to:
- A cross-sectional diagram showing topographic changes
- A gradient from rural to urban land use intensities organized into zones (Correct answer)
- A traffic flow analysis across an intersection
- A soil profile showing horizons from surface to bedrock
Correct answer: A gradient from rural to urban land use intensities organized into zones
The rural-to-urban transect, popularized by New Urbanism, organizes land use intensity from natural zones through suburban to urban core zones.
Question 7: When preparing a master plan phasing strategy, which factor should take HIGHEST priority in sequencing construction phases?
- Aesthetic appeal of early-phase improvements
- Infrastructure installation before dependent amenities (Correct answer)
- Minimizing public visibility of construction activity
- Completing the largest phase first to demonstrate commitment
Correct answer: Infrastructure installation before dependent amenities
Infrastructure (utilities, grading, stormwater) must precede dependent amenities to avoid costly retrofitting and ensure systems function correctly.
LARE LARE Master Planning and Design 2
During the programming phase of a master plan, which tool best captures stakeholder priorities across multiple user groups?