Planning and Design Staff
Spach Trahan, AICP, PP
Ms. Trahan, an Associate Principal with the firm, is a community planning consultant who is driven to achieve the best planning outcomes for the communities she serves. Ms. Trahan supports municipal clients with a range of services, including development review for land use boards, preparation of redevelopment studies and plans, affordable housing planning and compliance, facilitation of public forums and visioning workshops, and development of forward-looking master plans and reexamination reports. For private clients, Ms. Trahan reliably provides expert planning testimony before land use boards to gain approval of residential, commercial, and large-scale development applications.
Prior to joining Phillips Preiss in 2019, Ms. Trahan worked throughout the tri-state region on land use planning, environmental analysis, transportation planning, grant writing, and community and economic development.
Nikhil Ramachandran, AICP, PP
Mr. Ramachandran strives to establish vibrant, walkable, and resilient communities through collaborative planning processes that achieve equitable outcomes. At Phillips Preiss, he supports leadership in numerous projects including preparing master plans and reexamination reports, affordable housing planning and compliance, redevelopment plans/studies, development applications and review, fiscal impact studies, and urban design/visualization concepts. Nikhil works on projects in urban, suburban and rural communities in New Jersey and supports both public and private clients through the provision of expert planning testimony before land use boards.
Prior to completing his graduate degree in City and Regional Planning, Nikhil gained experience as a land use and transportation engineer, focused on improving multi-modal traffic safety conditions and evaluating transportation accessibility. His combined background in urban planning and engineering provides him with critical insight into the relationship that transportation and land use have in shaping the built environment.
Accounting Management
Deborah van Renterghem
Ms. van Renterghem has been with Phillips Preiss since 2003, and currently provides the firm with business management, accounting, marketing and administrative support. Ms. van Renterghem also is an accomplished opera singer who has performed in professional productions throughout the United States and Europe.