Who We Are

Hansen Planning Group is a Utah-based planning and consulting firm. We advise local governments on legislative and administrative decisions by providing civic planning, research, ordinance drafting, and other professional services.

Our team is headed by Mike Hansen, AICP, who has over two decades of experience and has completed nearly 200 planning and ordinance projects in the last decade.

Mike Hansen

Qualifications: 

  • American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP)
  • Master’s of Political Economy, GWC
  • Master’s of Public Administration, University of Utah
  • B.S. Urban Planning, University of Utah

Mike has worked in strategy, land use, and organizational development for 20+ years. His career has been marked by successful leadership amidst progressively difficult challenges. Working in all levels of government, he has worn the hats of a strategic planner, demographer, administrator, and change leader. He has led small entrepreneurial teams, statewide initiatives, and even served in the Utah Governor’s Cabinet.

Among his many achievements, Mike’s optimization efforts led to Utah being recognized as the “Best Managed State.” In the private sector, Mike has orchestrated projects with citizen groups, special service districts, city staff, and engineers. Focusing on short-term implementation strategies and the long-term return on investment, Mike has drafted roadmaps for cities, counties, and the state with results seen in land use, industry investment, economic development, and state code compliance.

Jacob Hansen

Qualifications: 

  • Juris Doctorate, BYU Law School
  • B.S. Economics, BYU

Jacob graduated with honors from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU. During law school, Jacob worked for Judge Carolyn B. McHugh on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, for Chief Justice Durant on the Utah Supreme Court, and at Sidley Austin, one of the world’s top law firms. He was also an editor of the BYU Law Review and winner of the school’s appellate brief writing competition.

In the civic planning space, Jacob specializes in legislative ordinance drafting. He also enjoys researching, writing, and teaching about land use and economic development issues.

Isaac Hansen

Qualifications: 

  • B.S. Environmental Science and Ecological Restoration, Humboldt State University

Isaac has nearly 10 years of experience in environmental resource planning and conservation. He has worked with both local governments and private parties to draft ordinances, conduct feasibility studies, optimize property taxes, and make actionable plans.

Isaac has also coordinated land annexations and acquisitions, including a +20,000-acre carbon offset project in the Olympic Rainforest. His special skills include GIS mapping and engaging diverse stakeholders. Isaac loves the outdoors and is always ready to provide a literal boots-on-the-ground perspective. 

Projects

We’ve planned our way around the block. Here are just a few of the nearly 200 projects our team has worked on.

North Logan, UT, GP + Code Update (2025)

Focus: land use, growth planning
Development of an updated General Plan for the city and revision of existing land use ordinances.

Utah Ombudsman Land Use Training Materials (2022-25)

Focus: land use, city administration
Commissioned by the Utah Property Rights Ombudsman Office to create journal, modules, videos, and in-person presentations to train local government leaders in Utah on state land use law and related planning best practices.

Fairview, UT, Code Overhaul (2025)

Focus: modernization, plain language, powers & duties, land use
Created a new city code book (13 titles) to replace the city's original code from 1970s and integrate other stand-alone ordinances. Special attention was given to increasing ordinance effectiveness while removing unnecessary regulation.

State-wide Subdivision Code Update for 86 Municipalities (2024)

With special funding from the State of Utah, we revised or replaced the subdivision titles of 86 municipalities in Utah (a third of the state) to comply with recent changes in state subdivision law.

Alpine, UT, Code Update (2024)

Focus: subdivisions
Targeted ordinance update to revise the city's subdivision ordinances to comply with state law and streamline development while protecting the city's interests.

Plain City, UT, Code Update (2025)

Focus: development agreements and building codes
Creation of a development agreement chapter with edits to the building code to create a framework for handling development proposals in a high-growth area.

Ballard City, UT, Code Update (2023)

Focus: land use, plain language, state conformity
Land use code revisions to reflect innovative ordinances produced from the city's new General Plan and to prioritize user-friendliness and transparency.

Roosevelt City, UT, Code Update (2023)

Focus: local review convenience, subdivisions
Full codebook update, illustrated by "policy summary catalogs" to speed the review process. Notable emphases on tiny home subdivision policy and a unique approach to on-street parking regulation.

Lake Point City GP + Code Creation (2023)

Focus: new governance structure, annexation, codebook creation
Translated the vision of Utah's newest city into a general plan and accompanying land use regulations designed to set the course for future development and effective local leadership.

Blanding City, UT, GP + Code Update (2023)

Focus: land use, strategy, mapping, college town
Modernized the city's antiquated general plan and land use regulations, with a special emphasis on interactive mapping resources.

Emery County, UT, Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan (2022)

Focus: hazard mitigation, organization, environmental
Collaborated with all municipalities in the county on a deadline and analyzed substantial quantities of data to create a plan that prepares the region to bounce back after a natural disaster.

Richfield City, UT, Code Update (2023)

Focus: subdivision, land use, conditional use
Reworking land use and subdivision codes to respond to recent decline in community growth, with improved processes for conditional uses and an airport expansion.

Salina City, UT, GP + Code Update (2023)

Focus: economic transition, housing
Helped the city pivot its approach in response to major industry transition and incorporate redevelopment initiatives into its general plan and refined its development code.

Shoshoni Town, WY, Code Overhaul (2023)

Focus: land-use, state conformity
Comprehensive update of the town's land use regulations to align with the community's economic development and housing plan.

Hyde Park City, UT, GP + Code Update (2022)

Focus: housing, development agreements, mixed-use zoning
Responded to record housing demand and navigated controversial development requests while updating the city's general plan; rewrote land use ordinances into “plain language” and to be state compliant.

Juab County, UT, GP Update (2022)

Focus: environmental, transportation, land use
Crafted a new general plan for the county that expressed local desire to preserve the region's beautifully and wholesome character in the face of fast-moving development; developed a County Resource Management Plan.

Sanpete County, UT, Code Update (2021)

Focus: collaboration with the Planning Commission
Full codebook update, illustrated by "policy summary catalogs" to speed the review process. Notable emphases on tiny home subdivision policy and a unique approach to on-street parking regulation.

Box Elder City, SD, Code Update (2022)

Focus: land-use, military base, commercial zoning
Conducted to support the city's new General Plan. Project involved designing a consolidated land use / design standards table and to create special regulations related to noise and airspace issues.

Centerfield City, UT, Code Update (2022)

Focus: subdivision, building code, land use
Untangled the city's building, subdivision, and land use ordinances on an expedited timeline.

Monroe City, UT, Code Update (2022)

Focus: subdivisions, land-use, state compliance
Modernized the city's antiquated land use regulations, with a special emphasis on interactive mapping resources.

Weber County, UT, Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan (2022)

Focus: environmental, municipal coordination
Created an action plan to prepare for environmental threats using interactive story maps and a project-specific website; coordinated with 36 stakeholder entities.

Rich County, UT, GP Update (2021)

Focus: land-use, resource management
Synchronized county and municipal goals to create a general plan that provided for ongoing policy harmony in light of future development and resource management challenges.

Cedar City, UT, GP Update (2020)

Focus: community involvement, land use, healthcare, development
Produced an extensive general plan, including multiple unique chapters addressing issues of interest to the community such as downtown development, healthcare, and natural resources; conducted thorough public interaction and stakeholder coordination.

Davis County, UT, Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan (2020)

Focus: environmental, resiliency
Promoted sound public policy for reducing the the vulnerability of citizens, infrastructure, and property to natural disasters; shepherded the creation of a FEMA-approved mitigation plan for the region.