Awards & Recognition - Recent Awards
At the 2009 VPA Annual Meeting we announced the following awards.
Outstanding Citizen Planner of the Year
Scott Mapes
Scott Mapes, of Burlington, Vermont, is recognized as the 2009 Outstanding Citizen Planner, for his dedication to his community. As a member of the Burlington Conservation Board for eight years, Scott has consistently served above and beyond the call of duty, pushing for improved stormwater management practices in the city, on both the municipal and private fronts. He has been instrumental in articulating Burlington’s contributions to Lake Champlain’s water quality issues, identifying two major opportunities to address these issues: controlling stormwater management at the source, with on-site performance standards, rather than at the end of the pipe with water treatment; and implementing municipal standards. Mapes has helped implement a two-tiered erosion control standard for small and large construction projects. He also worked with Mayor Kiss to establish a Stormwater Task Force to assess current regulations and practices as they pertain to stormwater management, and to develop solutions for deficiencies, which led to complete overhaul of the City’s Chapter 26. Mapes is the type of volunteer that planners throughout Vermont would love to have on their conservation boards.
Outstanding Citizen Board of the Year
Town of Bennington Planning Commission
The 2009 Outstanding Citizen Board award has been awarded to the Town of Bennington’s Planning Commission. This board is exemplary in their commitment, process and success: dedicated to planning principals; striving to implement the state’s land use goals; reaching out to successfully engage and educate the public in their work and vision; gaining the respect and acceptance of their ideas from the public and select board; connected to their community -- empathic to the diversity of opinion and need, yet moving, in a steadfast manner, to implement the goals of their town plan through innovative bylaws; selflessly and generously giving of their time and expertise over many years and literally thousands of volunteer hours. The members are very thorough in their deliberations, considering all sides of an issue, and recognize the importance of engaging the public and educating the larger community about their ideas.
The Bennington Planning Commission has undertaken an impressive number of planning projects and regulatory changes in the last 10 years to implement their planning goals, including (but not limited to) Downtown Bennington Historic District Design Guidelines, Scenic Resource Protection Regulations, Large Scale Retail Bylaw, Growth Center Designation, Fluvial Erosion Hazard Regulations and a major Town Plan Update. The sustained dedication and record of achievement of the Bennington Planning Commission are exemplary, demonstrating a commitment to planning principles, and effective application of these principles to the betterment and improvement of the Bennington community.
Outstanding Plan of the Year
Neshobe Farm Planned Community Development of Brandon
The award for 2009 Outstanding Plan Award was given to the Neshobe Farm Planned Community Development of Brandon. The Neshobe Farm Plan is a sustainable-oriented community designed to integrate housing, open space, natural features, organic agriculture, alternative energy production, and innovative business models within a single community. It incorporates a network of pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods, located within walking distance of goods and services scattered among open space, wildlands and agricultural areas. The Neshobe Farm Planned Community promotes agricultural use and respects the natural resources base. It has been dubbed “New Ruralist” by planners because of its embodiment of the rural values of agricultural production, natural beauty, small-scale economics, and community-based self-sufficiency. This planned community supports the growth center concept by developing available land adjacent to the Historic Village Center. There is a strong public participation aspect to the development of the plan, with the developer hosting several community meetings, which resulted in the stronger emphasis on a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) component. The innovative way that this plan addresses issues currently being faced by many other communities in Vermont is an important factor in making this award. Other factors taken into consideration were how it relates to the existing community, how it does not blur the line between village and farm, how close to implementation it is. All in all, the plan for this community was found to be exemplary and worthy as a model for other communities.
Outstanding Planning Project of the Year
Manchester Youth Engagement Project
The Town of Manchester is the recipient of VPA’s 2009 Outstanding Project Award for their Youth Engagement project. This project is innovative in creating tangible, meaningful, lasting ways to involve youth in civic affairs. This process and project, which resulted in appointing high school students to all Town boards, gives youth a real voice in municipal policymaking and decision-making, while helping everyone learn from each other in ways that would not otherwise occur. Students are appointed to the seven town boards through the same application and interview process that the Select Board uses to appoint adult board members. Serving as full voting members, the students attend meetings, read up on the issues, comment on proposals and make their voices heard. The success of this project has many dimensions: the interest and willingness of the boards to listen to the town’s youth, take their advice, and apply it to both policy and projects; the interest and motivation of these students to participate actively, and to take the initiative to encourage their peers to apply for these positions; the lessons learned by the students themselves (as in many aspects of life, many of them unanticipated); and the very positive receptions received from adults. The quality of the students’ contributions is also evident in the work of the boards themselves. In numerous cases, youth opinions have shaped proposals, influenced plans and priorities, and convinced adult board members to change their votes. This project embodies the best of expanded public participation, by creating the opportunity for continued, meaningful participation by youth (whose future lives and communities we are shaping by our present actions) and serves as a model to all other Vermont municipalities.
Outstanding Professional Planner of the Year
Dana Farley
Dana Farley, Community Development Director for the City of South Burlington, is the 2009 Outstanding Professional Planner of the Year. Farley’s career has spanned over two decades and includes both planning, as a community planner, and regulation, as a former Act 250 District Commissioner and District Coordinator. She co-authored the book Site Plan and Development Review: A Guide for Northern New England (2004). Along with John Ewing and Beth Humstone, she was instrumental in founding Vermont Forum on Sprawl (Smart Growth Vermont), serving as both Associate Director and Vice President and oversaw several projects and publications. She also developed the Forum’s On-line Community Planning Course (2003) and associated community outreach program. Farley’s collaborative approach extends to her work with other planning and design professionals through the Vermont Design Institute, her recent tenure as a trustee on the board of the Vermont Land Trust, her public advocacy in support of the Housing Conservation Trust Fund and statewide land conservation initiatives − and her leadership as VPA’s current president. She also volunteers on behalf her hometown of Charlotte, where she has served as a planning commissioner, as the former director of the Charlotte Land Trust and, most recently, as the chair of the “Burns Parcel Committee,” which is studying and planning for the development of 55 acres of meadowland next to the village. Farley is capable of directing major planning projects, but she’s also quick to lend a hand in of others’ work and is well-respected by regulators, officials, citizens, and friends alike. The variety, breadth, and success of Dana’s experience, as well as the high quality of her work, are the major factors in naming Dana as the Planner of the Year.