City planners have applied to a federal “smart growth” organization for help in crafting policies to guide Lawrence’s future.

If the application is successful, the Smart Growth Leadership Institute would help Lawrence review its development codes and approval processes, identify potential locations for smart growth projects and create new design standards for development.

The application comes after the April election of a smart growth majority to the Lawrence City Commission.

“Sounds like good stuff,” Mayor David Dunfield said Friday. “Certainly we’ve been moving in that direction. I think it would be useful to have that outside viewpoint, to look over our shoulders and see what they see.”

According to the city’s application to the institute — which is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency — Lawrence officials are seeking advice for:

• Integrating strip developments along highways with adjacent neighborhoods.
• Developing pedestrian and bicycle connections to reduce dependence on motor vehicles.
• Creating landscape standards to offer better transitions between commercial and neighborhood development.

“The community is interested in seeing a return to ‘neighborhood’ development,” the city’s application said.

Assistant Planning Director Sheila Stogsdill said the institute also could help craft ways to redevelop older areas of Lawrence.

“One of the criticisms we end up discussing a lot is that trying to apply today’s standards to old developments is unfeasible,” she said. “We end up discouraging people to improve their properties.”

City officials have been laboring in recent years to develop new zoning and development codes, and recently have cast an eye toward requiring design guidelines to govern how new developments look.

“It’s not like we’re starting at zero on this,” City Manager Mike Wildgen said. “But there could be some help.”

Officials did not know when the institute would decide on the application.