In 2022, voters of the Borough of Wheatland and the City of Hermitage approved the merger of the borough into the City. Hermitage contracted EHI to manage one of the merger’s most consequential tasks: applying the City’s zoning to Wheatland while disturbing the existing fabric of the borough as little as possible.

EHI’s approach started on the ground. The project team traveled Wheatland repeatedly, studied both communities’ zoning ordinances, conducted an existing land use inventory, and spoke directly with stakeholders to understand how the borough actually functions — not just how it looks on a map. Proposed zoning iterations were brought to the steering committee and key stakeholders and refined over time to best reflect Wheatland’s land use and the goals of the project.

Engagement was built into every step. EHI facilitated a steering committee that met regularly with the project team, conducted targeted stakeholder outreach — including large property owners, owners whose properties had no clear equivalent in Hermitage’s zoning districts, and owners in areas where zoning would intentionally change — and held public meetings to educate residents about the merger and what the zoning update meant for them. Meetings were deliberately scheduled within Wheatland itself, making the process as accessible as possible to the residents most affected.

The final deliverables included amended zoning district maps, final files, and engagement summaries — giving the newly unified city a clear, defensible zoning framework shaped by the community it governs.

Mergers are measured in ordinances and maps, but they succeed or fail on trust. EHI delivered both: a technically sound zoning update, and a process that respected the community absorbing the change.