The City of Aspen earned national praise from the American
Planning Association’s Small Town and Rural Planning Division last week,
winning the “Outstanding Planning Initiative” award for its work with the Aspen
Area Community Plan public outreach process.
“Overall, we were impressed with the breadth of the
process,” said president of the Small Town and Rural Planning Division, Dave
Gattis, during the APA conference in New Orleans last week. “This is a model
project for other small towns. It was innovative, creative and most of all –
fun.”
The Outstanding Planning Initiative Award is given to an
outstanding initiative or program in public education, workshops, ordinances or
enforcement that promotes planning in small towns and rural areas.
The judges were also impressed with the sheer participation
numbers for the AACP update, especially given the relatively small number of
people in Aspen. To date, more than 1,000 community members have been engaged
in the process.
The award will be presented locally in Aspen at City Council
on Monday, April 26, at 5 p.m. For more information on the AACP, visit www.aspencommunityvision.com.