APA Delaware receives the 2012 Karen B. Smith Overall Chapter Achievement Award from APA’s Chapter President’s Council
May 3, 2012
Contributed by David Edgell, AICP, President, APA Delaware
APA Delaware members:
I am pleased to announce that our chapter has received the 2012 Karen B. Smith Overall Chapter Achievement Award from APA’s Chapter President’s Council. Vice President Bill Swiatek and I received the award in person on April 17th at the National Conference in Los Angeles. Bill and I received the award from Steve Villavaso, FAICP, the Chair of the Chapter President’s Council. Looking back, we have accomplished a lot in a very short time, including:
- A detailed membership survey
- A strategic plan, the first since 2004
- An upgraded website using new, more easily updated software
- The publication of the newsletter, for the first time since the late 1990s
- Expanded CM training opportunities through the free webcast series
I would like to thank all APA Delaware Chapter members who have participated in, and been a part of these initiatives. This award is well deserved by all of us. I would like to especially thank the members of the Executive Committee for their dedication and support, and specifically thank Bill Swiatek for drafting the award submission and compiling the attachments.
David L. Edgell, AICP
President
APA Delaware
New Web Series on School Siting Offered by DelDOT’s Sarah Coakley
October 21, 2011
Contributed by David Edgell, AICP, President, APA Delaware
APA Delaware Members:
Here is information about some webinars about school siting.
Sarah Coakley, AICP, is DelDOT’s Safe Routes to School Coordinator. She is hosting these webinars at the DelDOT administration building. If you are interested in joining Sarah and some other planners for these webinars please contact her at sarah.coakley@state.de.us or (302) 760-2236.
Thank you for hosting, Sarah!!
Best regards,
David L. Edgell, AICP
President
APA Delaware
Expanding the School Siting Conversation: A Webinar Series
To encourage healthy, sustainable schools and communities, the
Council for Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI), the
National Center for Safe Routes to School, the National Trust for
Historic Preservation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to
Prevent Childhood Obesity, and EPA are offering a series of
educational webinars, including a live chat with experts. The
first-ever federal school siting guidelines will be featured
throughout the series.
Who Should Join? Local education agencies, tribes, legislators, state
agencies (health, transportation, education, environment, and
historic preservation), and others interested in policies and
practices that lead to healthier citizens and sustainable communities
across the United States.
Save the dates:
October 18
State Strategies for School Siting; Locating Schools for Better Health, Environmental, and Fiscal
2:00pm eastern/11:00am pacific
October 25
School Siting – Advancing Environmental Justice and Preservation Through Siting |
2:00pm eastern/11:00am pacific
November 1
A Live Chat on School Siting and Community-Centered Schools
2:00pm eastern/11:00am pacific
All sessions run for 1 hour. For more information and to register, please visit:
http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/historic-schools/webinar-series.html
APA Delaware Hosts Annual Meeting with Guest Speaker U.S. Senator Tom Carper!
October 21, 2011
Contributed by APA Delaware
You are invited to attend the:
Delaware Chapter of the American Planning Association
Annual Meeting
November 9, 2011
Featuring keynote speaker
U.S. Senator Tom Carper
DATE: November 9, 2011
PLACE: Clarion Hotel, 1612 N. DuPont Highway, New Castle, DE
AGENDA: 4:00pm optional APA Web Conference “Social Media and Ethics” (1.5 CM E)
5:30pm Registration and Social Hour
6:30pm Dinner and Meeting
Cost: $35 (includes cash bar and dinner)
Contact Chapter President David Edgell at (302) 739-3090 if you have any questions or if you need assistance registering.
NOTICE: The Chapter’s annual business meeting will be held during this event. At this business meeting membership will have an opportunity to vote on our revised Chapter By-Laws. To review the revised By-Laws visit our website, www.delawareapa.org. The By-Laws will be posted on October 26. Contact Chapter President David Edgell at (302) 739-3090 if you have any questions or if you would like a hard copy of the by-laws mailed to you.
Dover/Kent County Metropolitan Planning Organization Releases Regional Bike Plan
October 6, 2011
Contributed by Kate Layton, Public Liaison, Dover/Kent County Metropolitan Planning Organization
Please take a look at the new Dover/Kent County MPO Regional Bicycle Plan adopted in September 2011. The Plan identifies crucial policies and recommendations that will lead to improved bicycling in Kent County. Stakeholders from the local, county, state, and federal level were involved in the development of this Plan. The Plan identifies six key objectives:
Objective 1: Create an effective and safe bicycle transportation system
Objective 2: Create an environment where all bicyclists and motorists follow the rules of the road.
Objective 3: Increase the number of local utility trips made by bicycle
Objective 4: Increase the number of students riding their bicycles to school
Objective 5: Increase the number of people choosing to bicycle to work
Objective 6: Increase recreational and fitness riding
Learn more about the Dover/Kent County MPO at http://doverkentmpo.delaware.gov
Read the entire Dover/Kent County MPO Regional Bicycle Plan by clicking the image above or by clicking here.
Sustainable Delaware 2011: Greening the Community
September 12, 2011
Contributed by AIA Delaware
Date: October 20, 2011, 1:00-5:00pm
Location: University of Delaware
Marine Cannon Laboratory, Room 104
Lewes, Delaware
CE: 3.25 AIA-CES Learning Units anticipated
Cost: $35.00 per person, seminar
$15.00 per person, optional buffet lunch (served at 12:00)
Register today, seating is very limited
A professional seminar for the Delaware design, governance, ecology, and public health communities and will focus on connecting the varied sustainability issues for efficient policy and practice at the local, county and state levels.
Three distinct sectors of sustainability will be considered for integration into comprehensive, holistic practice, policy and funding to address multiple design goals or public constituencies at once.
- Human Health – Sustainability of fitness and health will be considered in terms of the design environment for livability and walkability.
- Nature – Sustainability of biodiversity and the integrity of nature for its own moral value, as well as for its pragmatic, economic value as ‘free services’ or ‘natural resources’.
- Built Environment – Sustainability of the design environment in terms of climate, energy, water, materials and toxicity.
Presenters:
Dennis A. Andrejko, FAIA, Vice President of the American Institute of Architects and Associate Professor of Architecture, University of Buffalo, Department of Architecture, with four decades of specialization in sustainability will discuss how the AIA is working at the state and local levels for a holistic approach to sustainability. Andrejko regularly represents the AIA at national and international sustainability events. He was a member of the team that developed the new International Green Construction Code.
José M. Almiñana. FASLA, Principal of Andropogon Associates, Ecological Design and Planning, will discuss the greening of the landscape architecture profession. Almiñana represented the American Society of Landscape Architects on the team that developed the new SITE sustainability guidelines.
Andropogon Associates, the pioneering landscape architecture firm conceived in collaboration with Ian McHarg to put ecological ‘design with nature’ back into the profession of landscape architecture, is known internationally as a leader in ecological design and planning. The firm designed the new Canalfront Park in Lewes for which they and the citizens and City of Lewes will be presented with the 2011 AIA Delaware Sustainability Project Award during the seminar.
Participating in the four-hour roundtable will be leaders of the Delaware design community and elected officials at the community, county and state levels together with professional staffs of governments and sustainability-related organizations including the public health, seniors and religious communities.
The event is cosponsored by:
- University of Delaware, Sustainable Coastal Communities Initiative and Sea Grant Program
- American Planning Association, Delaware Chapter
- Delaware Center for the Inland Bays
- The City of Lewes
- French & Ryan Architects, Architectural Alliance, and Tevebaugh Associates Architects
2011 Delaware Legislative Update
July 29, 2011
Contributed by Herb Inden, Principal Planner, Office of State Planning Coordination
Contact Phone: 302-739-3090
Senate Bill 126 with Senate Amendment 1.
Title: An Act to amend Titles 9, 22, and 29 of the Delaware Code relating to the review and certification of comprehensive plans and the role of the Cabinet Committee on State Planning Issues and the Office of State Planning Coordination.
Passed by the146th session of General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Markell on July 5, 2011
This bill clarifies the process by which the state shall review and certify county and municipal comprehensive plans. It also corrects several inconsistencies in the Code that have been created over the years as the state’s land use laws have changed and evolved. The bill would eliminate the Governor’s Advisory Council on Planning Coordination and transfer its responsibilities to the Cabinet Committee on State Planning Issues and the Office of State Planning Coordination. In addition, the bill would (1) require counties and municipalities to provide annual reports to OSPC by July 1 of each year, so that information can be included in the Cabinet Committee’s annual report prepared in October; (2) permit (but not require) the Cabinet Committee to develop guidelines for such annual reports; (3) authorize the Cabinet Committee to extend the deadline for counties and municipalities to submit comprehensive plans; and (4) explicitly authorizes OSPC to prepare the State Strategies for Policies and Spending document and maps.
Senate Bill 138 with Senate Amendment 1.
Title: An Act to amend Title 9 Relating to Comprehensive Land Plans.
Passed by the 146th session of the General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Markell on July 13, 2011.
This Bill would increase the maximum time between comprehensive plan updates from 5 to 10 years. Nothing prohibits a county from acting more often, but experience has shown that five years is too short an amount of time between updates, leaving little time to implement a plan before starting the whole cycle over.
Senate Bill 9 with Senate Amendment 1 and House Amendment 1.
Title: An Act to amend Title 17 of the Delaware Code relating to roads within communities restricted to residents who are 55 years of age or older.
Passed by the 146th session of the General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Markell on May 19, 2011.
This Bill prohibits the Department of Transportation from accepting as dedicated a road that makes a connection to a dedicated road within a 55 or over community. It also directs the Department not to permit a connection to a dedicated road within a 55 or over community.
