Bringing out the Best in our Communities.
When it comes to the Summit Planning department, our primary goal first and foremost is to listen. Communities know what they want; it’s our job to translate their vision into reality. Our team creates the foundation of our plans by combining inclusive and innovative engagement processes with thorough data analysis. In this way, our department is able to capture the needs, desires, and goals of each and every municipality we work with.
Our practical understanding of local government and multi-disciplinary expertise is leveraged with each plan to produce actionable recommendations that help communities shape a resilient future. Together with our clients, we can create better, brighter communities—ones that will benefit us now and will continue to thrive long into the future.

Cape Carteret Unified Development Ordinance
Capabilities
- Comprehensive Planning/Master Planning
- Zoning Ordinance Updates
- Downtown Revitalization
- Grant Preparation & Management
- Site Suitability
- Feasibility Studies
- Development Scenario Modeling
- Public Participation
- GIS Analysis
- Davis-Bacon Labor Compliance
- Small Area Planning
Featured Project
Tappahannock Downtown Revitalization
The Town of Tappahannock selected Summit’s Planning department to assist with planning the Tappahannock Downtown Revitalization as part of Virginia’s Main Street Program. This plan, meant to address the community’s needs and assist with further economic development, was funded by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development in collaboration with Tappahannock Main Street.
To properly understand the needs of the Town, Summit’s Planning department took inventory of existing businesses and conditions, reviewed and analyzed survey data, held stakeholder meetings, and conducted further surveying in service to the project. The Summit Planning team then developed a strategy for revitalizing Tappahannock’s Downtown. The overall “Downtown Revitalization Plan” was organized into two parts: the “Economic Restructuring Plan” and the “Branding + Marketing Plan.” These two plans involved different aspects of revitalization and contained their own recommendations.
The Tappahannock Downtown Revitalization Plan document also included two other components: the Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) and Environmental Record Review (ERR). Each included detailed information about proposed physical improvements that the Town could pursue pending additional funding.
Service Contact

Anne Darby, AICP
Planning Department Manager