2019 / November/Volume 2
Above: Planners Supporting the Climate Strike at the 2019 State Conference in Snowmass Village
2019 APA Colorado Chapter Awards
{{page}} Planning Matters/APA Colorado
Hi, Fall is in the air, winter has stopped by for a visit before settling-in, and the frenetic pace that surrounds the state planning conference has calmed. 2020 is almost here and with it the beginning of a new decade. Have you stopped to pause and reflect on the last 10 or even 20 years? What initiatives, plans, and projects have you contributed to? Where are they now? Should you revisit them and provide your community an update? If you decide to reflect on those initiatives, plans, or projects, please consider sharing your reflections with our Colorado planning community by sending your stories to the Chapter Administrator at admin@apacolorado.org. We may share these on our blog and social media channels, as our planning community, this professional network, relies on each other for ideas, innovation, and support. Your reflections and lessons-learned could be the motivation that one of our peers needs in order to gather buy-in and resources, to build consensus, or to avoid making an avoidable mistake. Our ability to share with each another and learn from each another continues to be one of the top reasons our members join APA. I look forward to reading your stories, including your successes and challenges. Continuing in the vein of sharing is caring, this quarter’s edition of Planning Matters, the Chapter’s newsletter, is dedicated to our 2019 Chapter Award winners. The awards were presented as part of our Chapter Conference, held in Snowmass in September, where approximately 500 of our members and friends joined us. This year was special for me, as we awarded our inaugural Great Places in Colorado Award to Olde Town Arvada. The Great Places in Colorado Award Committee was formed less than 18-months ago and in that time they established award criteria, submittal and review processes, held the first call for nominations, and awarded the first designee. Well done! (As a side note, if you’re interested in getting involved with the Awards or Great Places in Colorado review committees, please contact the Chapter Administrator at admin@apacolorado.org. Our Chapter only performs as well as our volunteers, so raise your hand and get involved!) In addition to the state planning conference, the Chapter also hosts or co-hosts a variety of events throughout the state, with many coming up in the next few months, including: 2019 Chapter Holiday Party with Downtown Colorado, Inc. (DCI): November 19th, 1420 N Ogden Street, Denver 80218; RSVP at https://bit.ly/2Wv4TnP Legislator of the Year Award Celebration: Come celebrate our 2019 Legislator of the Year, Representative Jeni Arndt. The event is planned for December in Fort Collins. Check the website for event details. Area Holiday parties: Our Area Representatives are planning the 2019 Holiday Parties. Look for yours on the events calendar or reach out to your Area Representative for information. Town Hall & Annual Board Meeting: Mark your calendar for February 7th! The 2020 Town Hall and Annual Board meeting will be held in Denver and hosted by DRCOG. Join us for and stay for a happy hour. As always, if you have ideas, questions, or just need to say something about the organization, please reach out to me at president@apacolorado.org. Take Care, Michelle N. Stephens, AICP Chapter President
Michelle and her son Dexter enjoying the Gridics sponsored happy hour during the conference.
President's Message
APA Colorado & Downtown Colorado, Inc Holiday Party
Date: Tuesday, November 19th Time: 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Location: 1420 N. Ogden Street, Denver, CO 80218 RSVP: https://bit.ly/2Wv4TnP
The City of Arvada is a rapidly growing suburban community of 119,000 people. The story of Olde Town, from its founding, to its decline, and its recent revitalization is the story of Arvada itself: once an independent farming community and small town, to a bedroom community and commuter suburb, to a destination City in its own right. As one of the only communities in the Denver Metro Area with an original downtown (Olde Town), Arvada takes pride in standing out above the rest in having a truly original urban place. The Olde Town area includes three districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) that embody the city's past heritage, current culture, and emerging future. The Arvada Downtown Historic District, The Reno Park Addition Historic District, and the Stocke-Walter Historic Addition. Most contributing structures were built in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Arvada Downtown Historic District contains a wide range of building types including some of the most significant residences, the largest concentration of historic business buildings in the City, the Oldest Grange Hall in the state, and three historic churches. While The Reno Park Addition and Stocke-Walter Historic Districts contain predominantly single-family homes that showcase Arvada’s historic residential patterns and architecture. As the center of civic life in Arvada, Olde Town is the result of decades of successful planning. Guiding policy documents including the Arvada Comprehensive Plan, and the Arvada Transit Station Framework among them. The Comprehensive Plan was recently revised in 2014 to include goals for the continuedredevelopment and revitalization of Olde Town. The plan specifically focuses on its future as a TOD-Hub around the G-Line’s Olde Town Station, with higher density, mixed-use and pedestrian oriented areas. Olde Town Arvada is the result of decades of collaborative activity. The City and local partners include the Chamber of Commerce, the Arvada Economic Development Association, the Arvada Urban Renewal Authority, The Arvada Historical Society, the Olde Town Business Improvement District, and numerous others. The transit infrastructure that forms the Olde Town Transit Hub is the result of regional collaboration between the local community and regional organizations including the Regional Transportation District (RTD), the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), property developers, and the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG). Current planning efforts include a major update to the Arvada Land Development Code which will provide new preservation tools and regulations, mixed-use zoning on nearby properties to the Downtown District, Complete Streets guidelines, and small urban parks with new development. As the twenty-first century swiftly descends upon us, the preservation of this place coupled with the adaptation to the changing times is of most importance in order to ensure that this great place remains vibrant and resilient.
By Jeremiah Bebo, AICP and Allison Trembly, Communications for the City of Arvada
The Great Places in Colorado program builds off of the American Planning Association’s national flagship program Great Places in America, by drawing attention to the exemplary communities, neighborhoods, streets, and planning efforts here in the state that demonstrate exceptional character, quality, and planning — attributes that enrich communities, facilitate economic growth, and inspire others. “We introduced this program to highlight places that represent the gold standard in terms of having a true sense of place, cultural and historical interest, community involvement, and a vision for tomorrow. This year, we are excited to make the Great Places program a local program and identify our inaugural designee, Olde Town Arvada as a Great Neighborhood!” said Michelle Stephens, AICP, Chapter President of APA Colorado. Nominations will open again in 2020 for more designations!
Olde Town Arvada: Great Neighborhood 2019
Great Place in Colorado
OUTSTANDING CHAPTER VOLUNTEER HADLEY PETERSON
president's awards
Since arriving in Colorado a little over a year and a half-ago, Hadley Peterson has raised her hand for every APA Colorado volunteer activity that has come across her plate. Her list of Chapter-volunteer accomplishments include chairing the Emerging Planning Professional (EPP) Events Committee and serving on the Youth in Planning, Communications and Outreach, and Sustainability committees for the Chapter. Her leadership of events for EPP include the: Hosting and design of a parklet with the Denver Metro Area, associated with the Greater and Greener Conference; Creation and organization of the Bourbon Sprawl events; Coordination with the Legislative Committee to organize a policy event with DRCOG, Bicycle Colorado, and other speakers; Partnering with WalkDenver on a neighborhood VisionZero demonstration; Representing the Chapter and participating in event planning for Denver Does Design, Young Industry Professionals event;¬ and Drafting a Mentorship Program Proposal. “Hadley is an exceptional volunteer! She brings ideas to the table, is always willing to help, and will bring any project she’s involved with to the finish line,” said Michelle Stephens, Chapter President. As part of her support of the Youth in Planning Committee, Hadley was part of the Curriculum Development Steering Committee for the creation of a K-12 Colorado Core Curriculum Toolkit. She also co-wrote an article for the Colorado Municipal League Magazine that highlights the importance of great city planning to keeping and attracting families. Additionally, in 2020, Hadley will join the Board of APA Colorado as one of the Denver Metro Area Representatives. As an Area Rep, Hadley will be responsible for representing the Denver Metro Area planners and for organizing and hosting events in the Denver Metro Area.
Hadley Peterson is this year’s recipient of the Outstanding Chapter Volunteer award due to her unyielding commitment to the Chapter. APA members who volunteer on committees and task forces and in other activities play an important part in advancing the planning movement and enhancing the credibility of the profession and the AICP credential.
Bill’s planning career in the state of Colorado is extensive. He was the Director of the Graduate School of Urban and Regional Planning from 1974-1975. As the Planning Director of Boulder from 1967-1974, he forged the open space program and took charge of the Pearl Street Mall. He was the Planning Director for the City of Denver, working for Mayor Pena Imagining a Great City. He and his team crafted the Lower Downtown Plan, envisioned DIA, and wrote master plans for every neighborhood in Denver. In private practice, Briscoe, Maphis, Murray and Lamont developed the Action Handbook for communities grappling with the boom/bust cycle of resource extraction. Now, in retirement, Bill continues to serve his community. Post retirement accomplishments include the formation of the Garfield County Library District which renovated three libraries and constructed three new libraries in Garfield County. He served on the RE-1 school district board, and was a pre-collegiate mentor to 15 first-generation college students guiding them from 7th grade through 12th grade. All graduated high school and are currently enrolled in college. Currently, Bill is championing a Regional Affordable Housing Authority for the Roaring Fork Valley. His team has successfully rallied three counties and four municipalities to conduct a study and evaluate the potential for a regional authority that can address the Valley’s affordable housing predicament. Such an amazing example of a life well live in the planning profession!
PLANNING PIONEER WILLIAM "BILL" LAMONT, JR.
Bill served as the President of the Colorado Chapter of the APA 1998-1999. In 1997-1998, Bill led the statewide initiative for the Responsible Growth Act which unfortunately was not passed, but gained a lot of recognition throughout the state.
An innovative public/private partnership has created a 15-acre Google-like campus for outdoor recreation-related businesses, restaurants and retail establishments, incorporated into the community Las Colonias Park. The Park already includes botanical gardens and an amphitheater and will soon have a zip line across the Colorado River and a recreation area in an enhanced side channel of the River.
Honor Award: Innovative/Creative Partnerships & Collaborations
The Riverfront at Las Colonias Park is a 140-acre mixed use development along the Colorado River, located in the River District of the Greater Downtown area in the heart of Grand Junction. The site has a diverse and rich history, first as an area for sugar beet processing and migrant farm housing in the 1920’s and 30’s and later as a uranium mill in the 1950’s and 60’s, which produced 2.2 million tons of radioactive tailings. After clean-up of the site by the Department of Energy Legacy project, the property was deeded to the City in 1997 for public use. The initial master plan for the park was completed in 1998, with revisions made in 2017. Recreational amenities in the Park include the Botanic Gardens, hard and soft surface trails, disc golf course, picnic shelter/restrooms, play area, amphitheater complex, festival area, a butterfly shaped lake, a dog park and boat launch. In addition, the Colorado Riverfront Trail extends through this area, connecting the valley from Fruita to Palisade, for a total of over 30 miles. Through a public/private partnership, the City of Grand Junction is developing a Business Park at the east end of Las Colonias Park, integrating it into the community park. The Business Park includes the development of approximately 15-acres as a high fit and finish campus, including 10 pad sites to attract outdoor recreation related businesses and 4 pad sites along the riverfront trail for retail/restaurant use. The plan also includes a zip line across the River and a river recreation area through an enhanced side channel of the River. The City partnered with the Downtown Development Authority to build the Business Park for an overall public/private investment of $30 million ($10 million public and $20 million private). Anchor tenants are Bonsai Design, a local company that designs and builds aerial adventure courses, and RockyMounts, a company that produces bike, ski and cargo racks. Most of the Park infrastructure was completed in the summer of 2019 and the anchor businesses anticipate completion of their facilities in 2020. The ambitious project restores and enhances the banks of the Colorado River, celebrates the history of the area, provides access for trail use and recreation and creates a unique outdoor events venue with a regional draw. The Riverfront at Las Colonias Business Park provides a desirable setting for the attraction and retention of outdoor recreation industries that will strengthen the Valley’s economic growth and diversification. The public investment is also a catalyst for private reinvestment and revitalization of the River and Rail Districts envisioned in the Greater Downtown Plan. This project would not have been possible without the support of the City’s economic development partners, specifically, Grand Junction Economic Partnership, which is coordinating the recruitment of businesses and the Downtown Development Authority, which has provided the debt financing mechanism for the project. In addition, the City has been successful in leveraging a variety of other funding sources, including the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, Great Outdoors Colorado, Grand Junction Lions Club, Colorado Riverfront Foundation, and a number of other private foundations.
by Tamra Allen, AICP - Community Development Directory, City of Grand Junction
The Riverfront at las colonias
Andy Hill
Andy Hill has received APA Colorado’s 2019 Planning Leadership Award in recognition of her devotion to improving land use planning and governance throughout the State of Colorado. As Program Manager of the Community Development Office of the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, she has focused on the technical assistance and training needs of local government, particularly in smaller and rural communities. After finishing her undergraduate degree at Colorado State University and a Master’s Degree from the University of Colorado at Denver, Andy joined the Colorado Division of Emergency Management, where she worked for three years as a Hazard Mitigation Planner. She then moved on the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, where she has spent the last 23 years strengthening all aspects of the Division of Local Government. She is most known for her extraordinary success in implementing training programs for local planners and appointed and elected officials. Perhaps no single person has influenced more Colorado’s planners, simply because Andy has been training for so many years. In addition to her personal involvement, she has strengthened the training skills of a generation of staff at the Division of Local Government in a wide range of topics, including land planning, fair and affordable housing, transportation, land use law and procedures, and growth management. While the state’s biggest cities often draw the most planning attention, it is Colorado’s smaller counties and towns that often face the most daunting challenges and can contribute most to preserving our natural beauty and Western heritage. Throughout her career, Andy has focused on responding to the technically and politically complex problems facing small town planners, and her efforts have brought them the kinds of quality resources, handbooks, newsletters, and white papers they need to make and sustain great communities. In addition, Andy Hill has a history of leadership in helping smaller communities implement Main Street programs to revitalize downtown areas. Her knowledge of available resources and her thoughtful, patient approach to facilitate local consensus on how best to use those resources, are unmatched in Colorado. Finally, Andy is well known for her knowledge of hazard mitigation planning and her development of tools and handbooks to enable even smaller communities to reduce risks to their citizens. Following the disastrous Colorado floods of 2013, Andy led DOLA efforts to coordinate flood recovery planning and financing of disaster recovery programs. Although already well appreciated, her quarter century of work in this field will bear even richer fruit in the years ahead as climate change brings stronger and more frequent storms with greater risks to Colorado’s citizens. For all these reasons, APA Colorado was proud to honor Andy Hill with this year’s Planning Leadership Award.
2019 planning leadership award
Honor Award: Community Engagement
By -Samantha Lasher, Sustainability Planning Intern, City of Lakewood
When you look at the City of Lakewood’s Sustainability website, you will see two plans. One is the 2015 Sustainability Plan, written by staff and one is the Kid’s Sustainability Plan, written by 32 middle school students. Lakewood’s first Kids’ Sustainability Plan received the 2019 APA Honor Award in the category of Community Engagement at this year’s state conference in Snowmass Village. “The whole idea behind this plan was to make important sustainability topics more relevant to the generation who has the most at stake and ensure they are part of the conversation and decision-making process” said Jonathan Wachtel, Sustainability Manager at the City of Lakewood. In fall 2018, 32 Dunstan Middle School students (6-8th graders) wrote a kid’s version of the City’s 2015 Sustainability Plan for a sustainability elective class taught by science teacher, Audrey Hoffa. “As an educator, this project offered a unique experience. It was amazing to watch the student transformation from this perspective” said Hoffa. This innovative idea was made possible by the partnership between the City of Lakewood and Dunstan Middle School. “One of the things that made this project successful is letting students come up with their own solutions to problems. That is the way education is going today,” said Hoffa. The result was a kid-friendly 36-page plan, complete with photographs, artwork, goals, and action steps. For example, to go zero waste, students suggested to “Ask teachers for more online assignments and fewer paper assignments.” The students stayed involved long after the elective class ended. Students presented their plan at a spring 2019 City Council meeting, won the 2019 Lakewood Sustainability Awards “Defender of the Planet Youth Award”, and hosted a booth at the City of Lakewood’s 2019 Earth Day Celebration educating the community about their plan. On May 9, 2019 the students presented the Kids’ Sustainability Plan at the Denver Metro Environmental Youth Summit, hosted by Earth Force and Generation Wild, which celebrates youth-driven environmental action projects and leadership in Denver communities. “What I expected before the class started was for it to be boring and lots of work, and I didn’t think it was a very good idea for a class. What actually happened was that it was my favorite class. It was REALLY FUN, engaging, and I learned real life skills,” said one middle school student during the summit. Kids are often underrepresented in planning, and this project was a strategic way to engage some of the youngest members of Lakewood. This project can be modeled and scaled for use by other cities in Colorado and across the country to engage youth of all ages. So, what is next? “Our next step in youth engagement is visiting extracurricular environmental and sustainability clubs at local elementary, middle, and high schools to offer resources and advice, and show students how their actions fit into the bigger picture,” said Christy Cerrone, who works for the City of Lakewood in the Sustainability Division. “We want to provide connections to existing programs, continue to build partnerships, and, ultimately, demonstrate to the community that we are still listening.”
Above Left : Three Dunstan Middle School students present their plan at the 2019 Earth Day event. Right: Students reduce their carbon footprint by taking the bus on a field trip.
c
I literally just returned from taking a mid-afternoon break from work to hear two renowned female scientists present their perspectives on a host of topics including the importance of a liberal arts and science education. During the program, one was asked what scientists and academics should do to better communicate and promote what they know and are learning about science in general, and about climate change (and related ocean impacts) in particular. In a nutshell, her responses were: “use images” “establish relationships” “acknowledge values”, and “build trust”. I got to thinking...Hey that’s kind of what we did with PlanCOS----- and it worked pretty well. Any comprehensive plan worth beans has always been heavy on public process. The 2001 Comprehensive Plan PlanCOS replaced certainly was. Nowadays, -, social media and the internet are routinely a bigger part of the mix. Finally, the “go to your audience” approach toward public engagement is now fairly standard practice. However, what truly distinguished the PlanCOS engagement effort was how creative and relentless we were---and the ways we established genuine partnerships. On the relentlessness side, we developed a dispersion map to identify gaps in input and spur creativity in how to fill them. We prided ourselves in taking our process out to places planners seldom venture. For example, we went to our rescue mission/ homeless shelter and asked folks there what was important to them. Many of our events were creative and full-on partnerships, and several were also fun. We partnered with our local photographer’s club for a scavenger hunt. We rode fat tire bikes in and down the middle of a creek to celebrate our “Complete Creeks” Big Idea. We teamed up with almost everybody, including the arts community, homebuilders, students and young professionals. Check out Appendix C of PlanCOS for more on how we did this. We decided to not use traditional chapter headings like “land use” and “transportation” and instead organized our plan around themes like “Majestic Landscapes”, “Vibrant Neighborhoods” and “Renowned Culture”. Our primary goals are presented as big ideas such as “Everybody is in a Neighborhood”, and “Be a City of Places”. We backed away from a traditional land use map and instead went with typologies that graphically depict actual places and talk about how to move the needle in a desired direction. Although our partners in the development community scrutinized and provided feedback on every word of our plan, its foundation is established by the public process and ultimately is written for and about a broader audience beyond traditional users like boards and commissions, public and private planning professionals, developers and seasoned activists. PlanCOS is unapologetically branded and marketed to positively resonate with and have meaning for our whole community. For more on PlanCOS go to https://coloradosprings.gov/plancos/page/plancos If you are an APA member and want to see and hear more about how Colorado Springs, Centennial and Aurora have all re-invented how they create, design and use their comprehensive plans, also check out “Cutting Edge Comprehensive Plans” at http://www.apacolorado.org/ article/2019-conference-presentations
By Carl Schueler, AICP - Comprehensive Planning Manager, City of Colorado Springs
PLanCOs comprehensive plan
Honor Award: General Planning Project
PlanCOS is Colorado Springs’ first new Comprehensive Plan since 2001. This plan, and the efforts behind it, were recognized with Colorado APA’s 2019 Honor Award in the General Planning category. Colorado Springs recently teamed up Aurora and Centennial at the 2019 COAPA Conference to talk about how each of our award winning and innovative comprehensive plans are changing the face of how we create, design and use our plans. This article highlights how we did things differently, and why.
November 25-29 Happy Thanksgiving
command district development plan: peterson air force base
Merit Award: General Planning Project
HB&A, a Colorado Springs-based planning and architecture firm, was awarded the 2019 Merit Award: General Planning Project for the Peterson Air Force Base Command District Development Plan in part because of its innovative charrette process of using 3D-printed physical models of the base to stimulate creative, ambitious concept development. During the charrette, the stakeholders used these models in a rapid-fire tabletop exercise to create development concepts for two areas of the base’s central core, generating 17 unique scenarios in just a few hours. This method gave participants an immediate understanding of how facility massing created well-connected public spaces and enabled stakeholders to visualize important planning principles like pedestrian scale, walkability, the relationships of facilities to streets, and appropriate parking solutions. In charrette situations, lay participants are sometimes hesitant to put pen to paper out of fear that they lack the artistic skill. HB&A’s technique removed those barriers, allowing participants to freely and quickly illustrate creative and thoughtful ideas. “This document was not only produced through a process that worked very well for us organizationally, but it still sits on the desks of our senior leadership and is actively referenced on a regular basis to inform crucial decision-making tied to our national defense strategies,” said 21st Civil Engineer Squadron Lieutenant Colonel D. Landon Phillips of the plan. Peterson Air Force Base’s centrally located Command District, which comprises the Command Complex and the Triangle Area, is home to several high-profile Air Force and Army command headquarters, including NORAD; NORTHCOM; U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command; and the U.S. Air Force Space Command; as well as critical operational, educational, and community support facilities. The plan provides a 20-year blueprint for development of the base’s core areas and charts a phased path for livability, density, and smart investment. The plan adds pedestrian and user connections between new administrative and office uses and an attractive, connected, and useful “town center” that houses mixed-use retail, commercial, and civic functions. HB&A was also awarded the 2018 Federal Planning Division (FPD) Honor Award: Outstanding Area/Site Development Plan for the Peterson Air Force Base Triangle Area Development Plan at the FPD national workshop in San Francisco in April.
By Tess Ahern - Planner, HB&A
By Susan A Wood, AICP - Legislative Committee Chair
The Legislator of the Year Award is given to those who through their acts exercise, encourage, or provide tools for good planning and in doing so provide a foundation to create great communities and plan for their future. This award is not given each year. Rather it is presented when warranted and deserved. For only the third time since 2003, this year APA CO is awarding the Legislator of the Year award to Jeni Arndt, State of Colorado Representative, house district 53, Larimer County. Representative Arndt is a friend of planning. She understands the importance of planning and recognizes the tools and skills needed to do it right. Twice she has sponsored legislation that would emphasize the importance of planning for our future water needs by linking land use planning to the Colorado Water Plan through the Colorado Revised Statutes regarding Master Plans (aka Comprehensive Plans) and she has agreed to do so again in 2020. This is just one of her many accomplishments. She is a champion for water, education, and more. When she takes on a task, she is tenacious. We, as planners, are fortunate to have Representative Arndt in our corner and we look forward to our work together in the future.
Jeni James Arndt House District 53
Legislator of the year
EL PASO COUNTY WATER MASTER PLAN
As one of the fastest growing counties in Colorado, El Paso County is proactively planning for future water supply needs. The county expects to see around 400,000 additional residents by 2060. Both the WMP and The Colorado Water Plan identify a potential water supply gap in the future. The County is focused on evaluating water supply with proposed land use applications to ensure residents of El Paso County have sufficient supplies well into its future. Within El Paso County there are approximately 70 central water providers (municipality or a special districts organized under Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 32) and over 21,300 permitted groundwater wells. Rural subdivisions in El Paso County generally rely on individual domestic or household wells for their water, while suburban and urban developments are typically served by centralized water and sewer services. Several different types of water supplies are being used by water providers in the County, including: native renewable water, imported renewable water, designated basin groundwater, and Denver Basin groundwater. The majority of water providers in unincorporated areas rely heavily on Denver Basin aquifers for their supply, which are generally nonrenewable sources. El Paso County is not a water provider but felt it necessary to develop this plan, in addition to its more stringent subdivision water supply regulations. Based upon the data collected from the water providers regarding water supply and demand it was determined that additional supply sources will be needed to meet those demands. As discussed throughout this WMP, many water providers will need to incorporate or increase renewable water sources in their portfolios and some have already initiated the process of bringing renewable water from outside their service areas to meet their growing demands. In addition to seeking input from the water providers in the County, the County and Forsgren also reached out to the public through multiple methods, including a web-based program, MetroQuest. Through MetroQuest, the public shared their ideas and concerns regarding water supply strategies and other water-related concerns. The website had over 1,000 visits with a total of 378 responses, providing important feedback from the public regarding water issues in the County. A Steering Committee was established to guide the development of the WMP and to ensure it addressed the broad interests of all those within El Paso County. The WMP was approved December 2018 and the County has already begun to implement the WMP by developing and adopting regulatory mechanisms that support the policies of the plan . Furthermore, the ongoing County Master Plan Update will be informed by the findings and recommendations of the WMP. The WMP should also be used to promote cooperative water planning efforts among water supply entities in the County. Implementing this WMP will help ensure that land use decisions are based on balancing efficient use of limited water supplies with the water needs of current and future residents.
By Craig Dossey, Executive Director, El Paso County Planning and Community Development; Mark Gebhart, El Paso County Planning and Community Development; and Will Koger, Forsgren Associates, Inc.
El Paso County has developed a Water Master Plan (WMP) that serves as an element of their overall Master Plan and it will be utilized to evaluate development proposals as the county experiences significant growth.
Awards Committee Diversity Committee Emerging Planning Professionals Great Places in Colorado Committee Healthy Communities Committee Legislative Committee Membership Committee Outreach & Communication Committee Professional Development Committee Sustainability Committee Youth in Planning Committee For information on any of these, contact: Info@apacolorado.org
join a committee!!
http://www.apacolorado.org/committee-home
By Waverly Klaw, AICP - Associate Director, Sonoran Institute
Water-Wise Community Development
Honor Award: Sustainability & Environmental Planning
Above: Colorado Growing Water Smart workshop participants and subject matter experts in Estes Park, Colorado (2019).
Water is essential to our survival, and to the sustainability of our communities’ economic, social, and ecological health. In an era where climate impacts and growth are straining already limited water supplies, planning for water is critical. The Colorado Water Plan estimates that the state’s municipal and industrial users could experience a gap between water supply and demand of as much as 750,000 acre-feet by 2050, which could impact over 1 million Coloradans. Planners must play a role in ensuring that water is available for future generations.
Historically, water resource and land use planning have been conducted separately. Yet land use decisions around zoning, subdivision, landscaping, and building design have profound impacts on the quantity of water consumed as well as the quantity and quality of the water that enters our ecosystems and replenishes our water supplies. It is paramount that local governments assume new leadership roles and fundamentally rethink how they manage water demand, adapt to growth, and remain resilient in the face of longer drought and more frequent and severe wildfires. Using our limited water resources more wisely will require being more deliberate about how and where we build, how much water development uses, and how to best integrate ecosystem services to achieve multiple benefits. In 2017, the Sonoran Institute and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy launched the Growing Water Smart program to address the disconnect between water resource management and land use planning. The cornerstone of the program is a 3-day Growing Water Smart workshop in which communities form a diverse team of planners, water providers, elected officials, and other subject matter experts to tackle local water concerns. Teams that participate in the workshops are then provided with technical assistance support to carry their work forward. As a result of the workshop, projects to better integrate water conservation and efficiency into land use planning are now underway across the state. Elbert County is working to build public understanding of the implications of their Rural Water Supply Study and develop an action plan to link water and land use. Ft. Collins convened multiple water providers to explore growth scenarios and identify opportunities for regional collaboration around water conservation and efficiency. Jefferson County is working with the Colorado Geological Survey on how to best ensure reliable water supply in areas of the County that use groundwater. Archuleta County and Pagosa Springs established a working group to clarify water and population projections so they can coordinate their planning efforts. And Grand County is launching a community dialogue to inform the development of a county Drought Management Plan. To date, the Growing Water Smart workshops have worked with communities that provide services to 50% of the state’s population. While there is still much work to be done, this moves Colorado a little closer to the Colorado Water Plan goal of 75% of Coloradans living in communities that are integrating their water and land use by 2025. We continue to seek communities that are motivated to explore and develop solutions to these water concerns. Does your community have those who work on water and land use issues talking to one another? Do you have the data and forecasting to understand your current and future water supply and demand? Are you ready to evaluate and update the ways in which you address water in your development regulations? If so, apply to the Spring 2020 Growing Water Smart workshop, to be held May 6-8, 2020 in Estes Park, Colorado. The RFP is available at resilientwest.org. The Growing Water Smart program is supported by numerous partners and resource experts including the Department of Local Affairs, Western Resource Advocates, Keystone Policy Center, Northwest Colorado Council of Governments, Denver Water, Northern Water, and Terra Firma Planning, with consultant support from Del Corazon Consulting. The project is generously funded by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, the Colorado Water Conservation Board, and the Gates Family Foundation.
GROWING WATER SMART
Above: : A Growing Water Smart community team hard at work during a workshop at the Keystone Policy Center (2019).
Left : Map of Colorado counties and municipalities that have participated in the Growing Water Smart Program, representing the population of 50% of the state (2019).
The City of Aurora’s newly adopted Aurora Places Comprehensive Plan sets out a vision for the state’s third largest city: a community of distinctive, diverse, and inclusive places built around shared community principles. The plan ties together vision, values, policy and placemaking.
By Daniel Krzyzanowski, AICP - Principal Planner, City of Aurora – Planning and Development Services Department
aurora places comprehensive plan
The Aurora Places Comprehensive Plan, adopted unanimously by City Council in Fall 2018, articulates and illustrates Aurora’s vision and values for future growth and development and establishes policies and practices to realize that desired future. Aurora Places is built around community-supported vision and principles and offers a strong policy base for decision-makers and others. Traditional planning topics, like land use, transportation, parks and open space, and infrastructure are addressed thoroughly. Economic development is broadly defined and addressed throughout the plan, through the development of placetypes and specific policies and action strategies. By using traditional, innovative, and online methods, the project team was able to execute a broad and inclusive public engagement campaign. The project team conducted a variety of interactive public meetings and focus groups, but also deployed a “do-it-yourself” meeting kit and trained a “local outreach team” of community volunteers that empowered stakeholders to conduct workshops with diverse groups in the settings and languages of their choice. Community input was conducted in at least 6 languages in over 80 staff-led, 55 volunteer-led meetings, and 5 online survey or activities, extending the reach of using city staff alone, reaching an unprecedented breadth and diversity of Aurora stakeholders. The result of multiple rounds of public input was seven guiding community principles: a strong economy; a diverse and equitable city; housing for all; a healthy community; a thriving environment; easy mobility and active transportation; and an authentic Aurora. These principles shape all parts of the plan and are fully integrated throughout the physical planning, policies, and recommended implementation actions. The plan expands on the traditional future land use map by instead using a “placetypes” approach. Ten placetypes help define Aurora by creating unique places with their own characteristics, including development character, scale, form, and function. This approach provides a more comprehensive vision for different types of neighborhoods, mixed-use activity centers, and other distinctive districts, and offers a great deal of flexibility and potential for innovation. The city has already initiated several of the recommended action items contained Aurora Places. Small area planning projects, a citywide housing study, and a complete streets policy and guidelines are in progress, just months after adoption. The placetypes defined in Aurora Places are helping to shape zoning and development standards contained in the city’s draft Unified Development Code. The placetypes map is already frequently cited in discussions with prospective developers. The Aurora Places Comprehensive Plan can be found on the city’s website at AuroraGov.org.
2019 APA Colorado State Conference Elevated Planning!
In 2017, the Gunnison County Commissioners convened the Sustainable Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Committee as a direct outcome of the One Valley Prosperity Project. The One Valley Prosperity Project (OVPP) is a community-driven effort focused on achieving a more prosperous and successful future for the residents of Gunnison County. OVPP was a year-long public process that reached out to community members throughout the Gunnison Valley, representing a variety of individuals from second homeowners to youth to immigrants. The OVPP was awarded a 2017 Honor Award for General Planning Project by the Colorado chapter of APA. In 2016, the OVPP convened a working group on sustainable tourism and outdoor recreation. That working group developed a strategic plan for sustainable tourism and outdoor recreation and determined that a long-term committee be established to implement the strategic plan; the STOR Committee is the result of this planning effort. The STOR Committee is composed of thirteen representatives from land management agencies, governments, local nonprofit groups and eight “at-large” stakeholder groups. Its mission is to address the challenges and impacts from Gunnison County’s growing recreational tourism economy. This community coalition works to “improve and sustain tourism and outdoor recreation in a manner that is sustainable (environmentally, socially and financially) and aligns with our community values.” The STOR Committee is a unique collaborative in the State because of its diverse representation and innovative approach to management, maintenance, enhancement and development of our natural resources and recreation assets in Gunnison County. Over the last year the STOR Committee has proved an effective model of collaborative decision-making. This model provides a platform for collaboration that identifies priorities and challenges and helps us to leverage our resources together more effectively. The population of the State of Colorado is growing every year and with that growth we have seen a significant increase in the numbers of visitors to our public lands and recreation areas. There have been numerous articles about the negative impacts of heavy use of our public lands and natural resources. Gunnison County is no exception. This trend, paired with the reality of decreased federal funding for federal lands, and increased annual visitation numbers calls for a new and collaborative stewardship model. As a result, we believe that it is up to us to develop a structure, program, and collaborative effort that addresses our stewardship needs locally. The Gunnison County STOR Committee is this program. The STOR Committee focuses on enhancing stewardship in three main areas: outreach and education; restoration and maintenance; and recreation infrastructure. The STOR Committee has created a strategic plan, established a funding mechanism and developed a project prioritization list. These developments have enabled our community to leverage greater resources through collaborative funding, partnerships and cooperation.
Merit Award: Innovative/Creative Partnerships & Collaborations
By Cathie Pagano, AICP CEP -
Gunnison county sustainable Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Committee
Merit Award: Community Resiliency
mill street neighborhood plan
An interstate, two homeless shelters, a coal-fired power plant, a park notorious for illicit activity, warehouses, a railroad, an upcoming soccer stadium and a wave of luxury housing. These are the tensions at play in the Mill Street neighborhood, a historic community just southwest of downtown Colorado Springs. The residents who remain and have fought against decades of public disinvestment, environmental conditions, and contentious land use decisions reached out and initiated the call for a plan to address their place in the downtown’s future. The City of Colorado Springs Community Development Division, whose focus is to assist low-income neighborhoods, preserve and create affordable housing, and address homelessness, was well positioned to respond to resident concerns. Using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, staff planners partnered with the Colorado-based firm Design Workshop to design an inclusive planning process that was not afraid to address past injustices and produce a practical plan that could immediately be implemented. Building community capacity beyond the few active neighborhood association members took time and is still an ongoing effort in the implementation phase. It was imperative that the team devise an outreach strategy explicitly mindful of the decades of neglect and broken promises that had caused disenfranchisement among longtime residents. The larger socio-economic profile of the neighborhood indicate barriers to traditional civic engagement (60% low-income, 65% renters, 50% live alone, 34% persons living with disabilities, 16% seniors), so the team embraced innovative engagement strategies, such as caroling for comments, that prioritized meeting residents where they are. This led to a successful outcome of more than 30% of residents and 50% of business owners providing input for the plan. The Mill Street Neighborhood Plan provides the framework, resources and policies for a more resilient future, for residents to survive and thrive in the face of dramatic change. The plan’s purpose is to be intentional about the future evolution of this neighborhood: encouraging redevelopment of vacant and underused properties in harmony with the neighborhood culture and empowering residents to affect change. The overarching goals of the plan address immediate safety and quality of life issues for residents and businesses as well as long-term holistic approaches to preservation and connectivity. Since receiving unanimous approvals by all reviewing entities in February 2019, the Mill Street Neighborhood Plan is being put to use. City staff and the planning commission have begun using the new project alignment tool and Community Development staff has gotten to work on implementing a number of the 79 actions outlined in the plan, including but not limited to: partnering with the area’s non-profits on regular cleanups; conducting a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design assessment of the public spaces; installation of new lighting and replacement of old lighting heads; building relationships between residents, businesses and shelter managers; and coming up in 2020: accessory dwelling unit grant program; housing rehabilitation initiative; public art collaboration with the City’s Water Resources Engineering Division; street tree planting; and capacity building assistance for neighborhood association and local businesses.
By Catherine Duarte, AICP
Platted in 1870 to house industrial and service workers, Mill Street is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Colorado Springs. It has retained its sense of pride and history while remaining one of the last affordable neighborhoods in the city. Through inclusive participation, the plan creates practical, actionable ways to empower and support a neighborhood dealing with old wounds and fears of displacement.
Jefferson County is located on the western edge of the Denver Metro area with diverse geography and land uses. The County’s Comprehensive Master Plan is evaluated every 5-10 years for the need to update, with the goal of keeping a current and dynamic plan. The most recent evaluation was unique to the county and received a 2019 Merit Award for Comprehensive Planning on a small budget.
By Heather Gutherless, AICP - Jefferson County
Merit Award: Small Budget Project
The Master Plan update project included analysis of five factors: areas of development pressure, community responses, age of area plan, upcoming projects by other agencies, and consistency of development proposals with the plan’s recommendations. This project also involved collaboration of several county divisions. Results of this analysis supported the update of two general elements of the plan, water and mixed use, based on community responses and opportunities for collaboration with other upcoming projects. After those updates, the South Plains area plan will be updated because it is the oldest, facing the most development pressure and has development proposals least consistent with the plan recommendations. This project was unique to the County because of the variety of factors used to determine what portion of the plan needed to be updated. In the recent past, the county mainly determined plan updates simply by the age of the plan, highest number of development cases, or most vocal community members. This project also included input from various agencies, consistency of development proposals with plan recommendations, and broader public outreach. Over 1400 people gave feedback either through the meetings or survey. Four public meetings were designed to appeal to citizens by involving a variety of County divisions. Citizens could get answers to questions related to planning, engineering, zoning enforcement, open space, drainage, and roads because subject experts from the Planning & Zoning, Open Space and Transportation & Engineering Divisions were available at each meeting. The county also used technology to guide the outcomes by using ArcGIS and ArcGIS Story Map. ArcGIS was used to determine “hot spots” for development in the county. ArcGIS Story Map interactively showed current projects juxtaposed with the current plan’s land use recommendations to show how they did or did not comply. In order to promote both the process and the outcome, the Jefferson County Planning & Zoning Division worked closely with the county’s Public Affairs team. Public Affairs was able to publicize the project, community meetings and survey through various social media outlets and this will be one of the pilot projects for a new on-line platform to promote community education and engagement. Many decision-makers look for data to make decisions about how to allocate their resources. This project gave decision-makers needed data by having information such as development hot spots and age of plans, along with human perception that was quantified though meeting and survey results. This project was both economical and provided solid information to determine what portion of the Comprehensive Master Plan to update. Thank you to the County staff involved in this project: Chris O’Keefe, AICP, Director of Planning & Zoning, Heather Gutherless, AICP, Paige Bankhead, Bonnie Benedik, John Buschmann, Carey Christianson, Dennis Dempsey, Regina Elsner, Roberta Espinosa, Jeremy Fleming, Brittany Gada, Josh Garcia, Rachael Garrett, Scot Grossman, Alicia Halberg, Doyle Harrison, Ross Klopf, Mike Madrid, AICP, Jenny McGinnis, Kate McIntire, Patricia Meagher, John Morris, Yelena Onnen, Nathan Seymour, Phil Taylor, Mike Vanatta, Lindsey Wire, and Nancy York.
jefferson county comprehensive master PLAN findings for 2019 update
The Town of Winter Park is one of the few Colorado ski towns not formed as a mining or railroad town. Instead, it has organically grown along with the Winter Park Ski Area into the eclectic and unpretentious resort community it is today. Slow and incremental growth built on this strong foundation has helped the Town to keep its small-town feel and unique character over time. In contrast to the past however, Winter Park has experienced substantial transformation in the past five years. Unfortunately, the Town’s previous Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 2006, was outdated and made it difficult to respond to the growing problems and stresses facing the community including attainable housing, water availability and healthy stream flow, transportation and mobility, and natural resource management. Knowing that the previous plan was not working to positively shape the future as the Town continued to grow and change, the Town pursued the creation of a new Comprehensive plan. The intent of this new Comprehensive Plan was to refocus planning efforts and policies to address both current issues and future opportunities to ensure that future generations can experience the same aspects of Winter Park that people love today. To accomplish this ambitious goal, the Town hired Logan Simpson in the spring of 2017 to assist in the development of a new Comprehensive Plan. After creating the tag line, “Imagine Winter Park,” the Town started a year-long initiative working with the community to create a common vision for the future that everyone could embrace. From the very first community event at one of our weekly free concerts, to the numerous workshops, public meetings, and steering committee meetings, people were at the heart of this plan. Food, games, concerts, and interactive events throughout the process promoted a lively public dialogue and resulted in thousands of comments, thoughts, and suggestions for the plan. This extensive community engagement resulted in an adaptive, visionary, and aspirational plan focused around four main themes: These Vision Themes create the structure and heart of the Plan, and are built around the community’s values to ensure that the community is reflected in every principal and strategy. This aspirational approach aligns the Town under one common vision and allows the plan to be flexible and adaptable to both present and future challenges. Since the plan adoption in January of 2019, the Town has already begun work on three catalytic projects that will help to bring the visions identified in Imagine Winter Park to life: a community informed Downtown Plan (assisted by Design Workshop), the development of a Unified Development Code (assisted by Kendig Keast) and the creation of a Sustainability Assessment (through a CU Denver MURP Capstone Project). This rapid implementation is the direct result of a plan that was modeled by the community and continues to have incredible community support. Focusing the community on identifying their ideal vision for the future instead of evaluating individual projects also helped to foster conversations that are not often possible when specific proposals are presented. Instead of evaluating the merits of a certain set of projects, this approach allows broader community conversations around what the ideal future should be. Then, all future projects can be built to fit that vision instead of the other way around. The success of this aspirational approach to comprehensive planning we hope will serve as a model for other communities that face rapid change and could benefit from an adaptive and flexible guiding plan.
By Community Development Team, Town of Winter Park
imagine winter park
Our Character and Our Culture Our Global and Local Connectivity Our World-Class Outdoor Recreation Our Healthy and Thriving Environment
Merit Award: Community Engagement
The AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct contains Principles to Which We Aspire, in particular: 1. e) We shall give people the opportunity to have a meaningful impact on the development of plans and programs that may affect them. Participation should be broad enough to include those who lack formal organization or influence. Involving the community meaningfully in planning decisions is one of the cornerstones of good planning. This becomes challenging when you are planning for a diverse community. Conventional community engagement techniques may be unsuitable for all community members, particularly for those groups with different cultural backgrounds whose primary language is not English. Encapsulate a wide breadth of responses through effective community engagement was an important goal for the City of Thornton’s recent Comprehensive Plan update. There was also a strong desire to actively engage two community groups that are traditionally hard to reach and previously unsuccessfully included – the city’s Hispanic/Latino community and teenagers. It should be noted that Hispanic/Latino community make up more than half of the population in the southern portion of the city and a third of the city as a whole. Thornton partnered with a locally based firm, Cultivando, which specializes in outreach with the Hispanic/Latino community for this project. Cultivando has extensive experience in Adams County using unique and effective engagement techniques. Approaching people personally and creating a comfortable response environment is important. To do this, Cultivando used “promotoras”, community members who receive specialized training, traditionally to provide basic health education but in this case to obtain input on broader community needs and desires. The promotoras facilitated gathering surveys from Hispanic/Latino community members, many of whom speak Spanish as their primary language. Other special outreach methods included one-on-one home visits, small group gatherings, Movies in the Park canvasing, and setting up kiosks around the city to gather input. In addition, all key project material, flyers, meeting notices, the “Community Vision Document” and the final Comprehensive Plan document itself, have been or plan to be translated into Spanish. In their efforts to engage teenagers, city staff coordinated with local school districts and attended classes at different high schools using an “idea card” exercise. Students were also invited to focus group meetings. Bringing the message about the Thornton Comprehensive Plan update to students in a formalized setting and interacting with them directly to collect their ideas, hopes, and desires for Thornton’s future enabled them to participate directly in the public engagement process. Connecting with the Thornton high school students had the added benefit of students better understanding the functions of local government and their role as citizens of the Thornton community. Input from these two targeted groups helped shape the Comprehensive Plan update document. While many themes were not original, new topics emerged, such as a desire for an equitable and inclusive Thornton. Overall this all-inclusive outreach allowed a solid foundation for the Comprehensive Plan and the assurance that the plan will reflect the whole community’s values.
Involving the community meaningfully in planning decisions is one of the cornerstones of good planning. This becomes challenging when you are planning for a diverse community. Conventional community engagement techniques may be unsuitable for all community members, particularly for those groups with different cultural backgrounds whose primary language is not English.
Above: : Outreach at Movies in the Park.
By Glenda Lainis AICP - Policy Planning Manager, City of Thornton
Thornton comprehensive plan Visioning outreach
Above: : Youth at a focus group meeting.
Below: : Engaging with the Latino community.
Above Booths outside stores.
Above Left: : Filling out surveys at booths outside stores. Above Right: Booth at Movies in the Park.
Above Future land use categories in English and Spanish.
YiP awards
By Wade Broadhead, Youth in Planning Committee Chair
This year the Youth in Planning Committee gave out their first awards to two very different efforts that aimed to engage nontraditional audiences in city planning. The first award went to the Eastern Fremont Elementary School in Florence Colorado. Students from this school come from a small town urban area s well as a much wider rural area and with direction from the principal and school staff conducted a Project based Learning module where the entire school (K-5) worked on making the school more accessible for all students. Classes’ conducted age appropriate media to represent their ideas including arts and crafts as well as sophisticated computer modeling software. Students even engaged vendors for accessible playground equipment and others. They completed the project with a community wide open house with over 500 people attending as well as landscape architects working on another city project. The plans will immediately be put to use as the City works on a safe routes to school project with the district to increase ADA access at multiple points. The Second award wnet to Forged in Steel, a table top board game highlighting the period of 1890-1920 in Southern Colorado. FIS is based on a card driven strategy model where each turn is taken with a card that represents movements and inventions in US and Colorado history. Players then place little buildings and score points for position and the cards do actions reminiscent of what they represent. The game captures the turbulent Progressive Era where a labor issues at a large steel mill town cam efface to face with the City Beautiful movement and even captures the role of Woman’s auxiliary societies women, kindergartens and sidewalks. 1000 copies of the game were make and it was disturbed worldwide and is currently sold out. We feel both efforts this year expanded the traditional role of planning into new audiences in creative and engaging ways.
To recognize outstanding projects, plans, and people in the planning profession, that is the purpose of the Awards Committee. In 2019 the Committee received 24 applications. This is well above the average of 18 applications received in years prior. Categories include sustainability and environmental planning, community engagement, general planning project, projects with a small budget, innovative/creative partnerships, community resiliency, individual leadership, and student projects. The Awards Committee members convened to review the applications that exemplify excellence in innovation, transferability, quality of the images and writing, promoting community progress, effectiveness, and implementation. The Committee ultimately awarded eight Merit and five Honor recipients, and one Planning Leadership Award, which were celebrated at the annual APA CO conference in Snowmass this past September. The Awards Committee looks forwards to receiving new applications in March 2020 to continue the tradition of recognizing exceptional planning in Colorado.
Chapter Administrator Update by: Shelia Booth, AICP
Awards Committee Update by: Daniel Murray, AICP & Julia Puester, AICP
Board & Committee Updates
As our Chapter membership continues to grow, so does our responsibility to offer services to you. Throughout the year, our committees, board officers and representatives work to plan events and create resources for you. This year, we've activated partnerships with allied professional groups to expand our offerings throughout the state. We partnered with Downtown Colorado, Inc. on a regional event in Durango, with ASCE, WTS Colorado, SAME and ITE on events in the South Central Area and with ULI on events in the Metro area. We also partnered with Colorado Healthy Places Collaborative (CHPC) on the creation of the Creating Healthy Places Guidebook and GuideBox to Healthy Places, both of which are accessible from our Healthy Communities Committee resources page. I hope to continue this trend by expanding partnerships to more areas of the state and working with others to draft additional resource tools on topics needed to aid our communities. Partnerships allow us to expand our offerings so every member has an opportunity to attend an in-person event within a short drive or access a resource with a few clicks of the mouse. If you have connections to organizations or a suggestion for a partnership, contact me! If you weren't able to attend the 2019 Chapter conference, I hope you're making plans to attend next year's conference in Vail. Planning begins this fall/winter and we'll be looking to book inspiring and engaging speakers while planning entertaining networking opportunities. I know many of you wish our conference would be held around the state and showcase all our wonderful communities; however, the fact is - we're too big! And, that's a good thing. Because we attract 500 attendees, there are limited venues that can accommodate our conference. There simply are enough hotel rooms or meeting spaces for us. This is why we need to work as a Chapter to host local and regional events through our Area Representative and Committees. Contact your representative and schedule an event in your community. You'd be surprised how many planners want to come see what you're doing. Happy Holidays! Sincerely, Shelia Booth, AICP
VP External Affairs Update by: Nick VanderKwaak, AICP
It has been a great opportunity and honor to serve on the APA Colorado board for the last 3 years and also serve as co-chair on the Outreach & Communications Committee. I am now handing over the leadership reins to Julia Puester the new VP of External Affairs and co-chair of the committee. I might be a little less involved now, but I’m not going anywhere. I’ve learned the importance of continuity and will continue as an active member of Committee and the chapter. If you have been looking for a way to get more active with the chapter and want to inform and engage our members, joining the Outreach & Communications committee is a great way to get connected.
GuideBox for Healthy Places – is out and being used! A number of activities over the past few months have been held at which groups used the GuideBox for Healthy Places! September event: Get Out~Get Active Social - We're Blowing the Lid off the GuideBox to Healthy Places. Arranged by Cate Townley at CDPHE and held in Wheatridge – attendees (several local cities and health agencies) familiarized themselves with the GuideBox materials and conducted an informal evaluation session. The event was on the grounds of a former orchard, so fresh apples were collected off of the trees! Throughout the Fall: Lemonade Stand events in neighborhoods. Robin Kerns, AICP, has hit the streets with the GuideBox in several metro area neighborhoods, including: Sloan Lake, Jefferson Park, and C-470 Neighbors in Aurora Walsenburg (Huerfano, Las Animas counties): CU Denver folks are working with an “arts and health” project with local agencies in southern Colorado – applying the GuideBox ICLEI webinar on the GuideBox: Rocky Piro and Robin Kerns presented a walk-through of the GuideBox and on-the-ground experiences for a national audience of ICLEI partners. HDI & CHPC marketing materials: Content has been completed for 2 brochures, along with a PPT overview (adaptable for different audiences). Currently working with University Printing on finalizing the production. The focus will be on finding financial support to conduct workshops in communities along the F ront Range and throughout Colorado.
APA Colorado Board & committees
BOARD MEMBERS President Michelle Stephens, AICP President@APAColorado.org President Elect/Past - Vacant Vice President External Affairs Nick Vander Kwaak, AICP VPExAffairs@APAColorado.org Vice President Communications Sarah R Davis, AICP VPCommunications@APAColorado.org Secretary/Treasurer Leah Dawson, AICP Secretary@APAColorado.org Professional Development Officer Allison Crump, AICP PDO@APAColorado.org Central Mountain Representative Anna Laybourn, AICP CentralMountain@APAColorado.org Denver Metro Representatives Scott Bressler, AICP DenverMetro1@APAColorado.org Anne Miller AICP DenverMetro2@APAColorado.org North Central Representative Summer Frederick, AICP NorthCentral@APAColorado.org Northwest Representative Ethan Mobley, AICP Northwest@APAColorado.org South Central Representative Maureen Paz de Araujo, AICP, CEP CTP SouthCentral@APAColorado.org Southwest Representative Mark Williams Southwest@APAColorado.org Faculty Representative Manish Shirgaokar Faculty@APAColoraod.org Public Official Representative Anita Seitz PublicOfficial@APAColorado.org Western Planner Representative Brandon Cammarata, AICP WPRepresentative@APAColorado.org EPP Representatives Brenden Paradies & Emily Alvarez EPP@APAColorado.org Student Representative Rachel Nyart Student@APAColorado.org Legislative Committee Chair Susan Wood, AICP Legislative@APAColorado.org COMMITTEES: APAS APAS@APAColorado.org Awards Committee Daniel Murray & Julia Puester Awards@APAColorado.org Diversity Vacant Diversity@APAColorado.org Emerging Planning Professionals Brenden Paradies & Emily Alvarez EPP@APAColorado.org Great Places Colorado Robin Becker GreatPlaces@APAColorado.org Healthy Communities Bradyn Nicholson & Liz Young Winne Healthy@apacolorado.org Legislative Committee Susan Wood Legislative@APAColorado.org Membership Maureen Paz de Araujo Membership@APAColorado.org Outreach & Communications Nick Vander Kwaak & Sarah R Davis Outreach@APAColorado.org Professional Development Allison Crump PDO@APAColorado.org Sustainability Committee Connor Merrigan & Karl Barton Sustainability@APAColorado.org Youth in Planning Wade Broadhead YIP@APAColorado.o Chapter Administrator: Shelia Booth, AICP 303-495-6994 Admin@APAColorado.org APA Colorado Mailing Address PO Box 49573 Colorado Springs, CO 80949 www.APAColorado.org