AICP American Institute of Certified Planners Exam Questions and Answers

Scenario

You are responsible for recommending contracts to the city council. Your immediate supervisor has asked you to prepare a recommendation for a large contract for an individual you know is a good friend of your supervisor. After reviewing the contract, you conclude that the contract amount is not commensurate with the scope of work provided. You believe the contract is a waste of taxpayer dollars if it were to be granted. What might you do if your supervisor pressures you for a favorable recommendation?

Scenario

A pro-development city manager tells you, the planner, that you must provide findings to support a shift in a natural resources boundary in order to accommodate a particular development. What might you do?

Who was the father of advocacy planning?

Which of the principles of the AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct are applicable to instances of sexual harassment?

I) A planner must not commit a deliberately wrongful act, which reflects adversely on the planner's professional fitness.

II) A planner must respect the rights of others and, must not improperly discriminate against persons.

III) A planner must have special concern for the long-range consequences of present action.

Where was the first historic preservation commission designated?

How many acres are in one hectacre?

You are the planning director in a small town. Your husband runs the local country club and is applying for construction of a new swimming pool. This application will be reviewed by the planning commission for approval. This situation clearly:

Scenario

You are a newly hired planner involved in the process of preparing a new recreation plan for your community. Your supervisor learns that the City Council is anxious to take action on a recreation plan, and therefore, you are instructed to prepare the plan without scheduling any time for public participation or public comment. What might you do first?

Who promoted a dream city “Radiant City”?

Scenario

An oil company is interested in building a refinery on several thousand acres of waterfront property that the company owns. The general plan classifies this area as recreational and residential. The oil company files a re-zoning application to change this area to a heavy industrial classification. The planning director opposes the rezoning amendment stating that the scenic area is a valuable natural resource. Assume that the planning agency acted legally in all respects (proper notice, etc.). However, the county commissioners approve the amendment.

A group of residents who live near the proposed refinery site take the case to court and subpoena the planning director to testify. The planning director provides some information to the citizens' group as they prepare their case and also testifies truthfully in court about the value of the property to the community. Under the AICP Code of Ethics, all the following are true about the behavior of the planning director EXCEPT:

Scenario: Public Decision-Making without Public Input

You are a new employee in the County Planning Department. Your assignment is to prepare the department's recommendations for the Capital Improvements Program (CIP). When you received the assignment, the Planning Director told you that all the city agencies submit their requests to the Planning Department where they are assembled. Your job is to review the requests for consistency with adopted plans and policies, and prepare a formal report listing the requests with recommendations. The report will then be sent from the Planning Department, to the Planning Commission, and finally to the County Supervisors for action. Although you have been given no explicit instructions regarding public comment you assume there will be public hearings before the Planning Commission.

You have been waiting for the list of projects for a couple of days now. While standing at the copy machine one morning, you overhear a conversation and suddenly become aware of an In-house informal review committee that "weeds our unnecessary requests. You are initially startled mostly because the Director never mentioned the procedure. On the other hand, you tell yourself, this committee must be doing a pretty good job. After all, the other departments aren't squawking. And it certainly gives the Board of Supervisors a more manageable list of projects. You ask how this system evolved and you are told that the Supervisors needed a streamlined process and this scheme was devised.

In a sense, you feel as if the job has been taken away from you and from the Planning Commission. You do wonder about it because there is no public input to the process. Is there a problem?

Ethical Issues: Has an important public planning process been subverted to gain efficiency? Are appropriate people make public policy?

Action Alternatives:

1 There is no problem. You can't have a public hearing on everything or nothing would ever be accomplished. You probably just didn't understand the assignment. You were expecting something to work like a textbook description rather than the real world

2. There may or may not be a problem Is the informal committee using reasonable planning standards or dividing the pie according to electoral districts? Find out if good planning rationale, consistent with adopted plans, is being followed.

3. There is a problem because the public and the Commission have been led to believe that the process allows them to comment on all the proposals, not a refined sub-list Write your report to advise the community that they are looking at an edited version of the original requests made by all the departments.

4. Decide that your director has a lack of confidence in you. Why else would you be given a meaningless task and not be told what you need to know? Consider resigning rather than serving as a "front" for a system in which you have no part

5. Other

Commentary: Public Decision-Making without Public Input

Code Citations;

A 3 A planner must strive to provide full, clear, and accurate information on planning issues to citizens and governmental decision-makers.

What does ZIP Code stand for?

What term is associated with development of a vacant urban or suburban site that was formerly developed but is now obsolete?

The American Community Survey will replace the _____________?

Where was the first urban growth boundary established in the US?

Scenario

You are a planner in a city that has recently opened a new shelter for homeless people. The shelter opens each evening during the winter and provides a place for people to sleep during the night in dormitory-style rooms with cots. Some community members would like the shelter closed because they feel that the large number of people who congregate on the sidewalks near the shelter as they wait for it to open pose a threat to public safety. Your planning director decides to address these concerns by classifying the shelter as a hotel. The planning director knows that the zoning ordinance specifies that a hotel must provide private sleeping quarters, which the shelter does not. By classifying the shelter as a hotel, the planning director is taking steps to close the shelter based on the ground that it is in violation of the zoning ordinance. Suppose you believe that the planning director has assumed a position that is not politically feasible and consequently will be reversed. What might you do?

Scenario

You are a planner in a community with a new sign ordinance that prohibits banners from being strung across the road. The ordinance was adopted in response to several unattractive advertising banners that had frequently been strung across local roads and often become entangled with electrical wires. On your way to work one morning, you see that a community group has strung a banner across the main street that advertises an upcoming charity event that will generate thousands of dollars for needy families. You know that the money is greatly needed and that local officials and residents support the event. What might be your first reaction?