Our Team
Cynthia A. Behan, RLA, Principal
Landscape Architect
Cynthia is a licensed Landscape Architect in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont. Over the years, Ms. Behan’s experience has included a diverse spectrum of practice from site master planning to designing residential and commercial projects, parks, trails, waterfront and other recreational planning and design commissions. More recently she has completed streetscape and park designs through the construction document phase. Cynthia has a special skill to envision the transformation of common sites into cherished places. She brings her background in biology and ecology and understanding of plant materials into her practice at the site, neighborhood, and community scale. She has found working with clients and communities to be most enjoyable and rewarding.
John J. Behan, AICP, Principal
Planning
John J. Behan has been a planner for over 35 years and has earned a reputation for the ability to guide a community from visioning to project development. Less well known is his ability to unravel complicated planning issues and resolve them, often thinking them through in an innovative approach. Mr. Behan’s creative collaborations with his clients and their constituencies have been recognized with several national awards. His practice emphasizes turning knowledge into action and includes public involvement as integral to successful project initiatives. His experience includes large project environmental impact review, transportation planning, public involvement programs, planning for complete streets, recreation and resource conservation planning, community revitalization and multi-disciplinary team management.
Cary Engle, RLA
Landscape Architect
Ms. Engle is a landscape architect licensed to practice in New York State with more than 10 years of professional experience. She has worked in the private sector for engineering and architecture firms, and in the public sector for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. Her experience includes streetscape and green infrastructure for stormwater management, park, trail, and recreational facility design and rehabilitation, zoning review and site planning for residential, commercial, and mixed-use developments, and the design of wayfinding systems including orientation maps and brochures. Her work is informed by her background in environmental science and her interest in sustainable, ecologically-based design. Cary’s technical skill in master planning is complemented with her artistic ability to add beauty to a site through place-making and planting design.
Amy Fitzgerald
Senior Planner
Ms. Fitzgerald is a community planner and designer with more than 14 years of professional experience in New York and California. Her experience includes municipal and regional planning with community outreach as a common thread in her work. Amy’s practice includes drinking water source protection planning, master planning, development plan and environmental impact review, transportation and land use studies, design guidelines and zoning text changes. As communities face increasing challenges in maintaining the quality environment, Amy enjoys helping stakeholders collaborate to find common ground and agree upon a plan of action. Amy’s background in design, art, planning and sustainability provides a solid foundation to guide placemaking, wayfinding and public art opportunities in community revitalization projects.
Dana Brady
Environmental Planner
Dana Brady’s professional practice is well-informed by her background in environmental science and sustainability planning. Dana’s experience includes assisting in the development of natural resource protection plans and sustainable land use projects. She has supported the planning, environmental impact review and development of public spaces such as recreational facilities and shared-use path and related complete streets construction projects as well as supporting site planning for institutional, commercial and mixed-use developments.
Michael B. Allen, AICP
Consulting Associate Planner
As a degreed architect, Mr. Allen has worked for noted international firms including Skidmore Owings Merrill, P.C. in London; Einhorn Yaffee Prescott, A/E, P.C. in Albany, N.Y.; as well as preservation architects Badger & Associates in Manchester, VT. With a strong personal interest in community revitalization and land use planning projects, Mr. Allen began his independent planning consulting practice in 2002 with the formation of Bailliere Consulting where he was Principal until joining Behan Planning and Design. His areas of expertise include land use planning, zoning code updates, development reviews and the creation of illustrated design standards and form-based zoning codes. Michael’s depth of design experience provides an excellent complement to his professional planning practice including his ability to develop design examples in three-dimensional models and renderings. Mr. Allen has an independent practice with his firm, ReGrowth Planning, yet also continues to collaborate as an associate of Behan Planning and Design.
Rebecca Nolan
Consulting Associate Landscape Architect
Rebecca Nolan is a landscape architect skilled at project management, research and program development. Ms. Nolan has 15 years of experience working with communities on government innovation, public outreach, planning strategy, design and construction management. Rebecca provides design services for community planning, public parks, streetscape, urban design and green infrastructure projects as well as public outreach and construction administration. Her knowledge of LEED requirements and interest in integrated design practices help her see projects through the design process from visioning to construction. As an associate consultant with Behan Planning and Design, Rebecca is engaged in our projects on an as-needed basis while she maintains her other career responsibilities with the Rhode Island School of Design.
Galina Tsvaygenbaum
Finance Manager
