The Arizona Planning Association has awarded the City of Avondale top honors this year for Best General Plan. The award was presented to Avondale’s Development Services staff on November 6 at the AzAPA conference held in Yuma, Ariz.
The Arizona Planning Association, through its annual Awards Committee and Awards Program, recognizes excellence in the planning profession and amongst its members. City of Avondale General Plan 2030 was named by the Arizona Chapter of the American Planning Association as a winner in the Best Regional/General/Comprehensive Plan category. The Avondale General Plan impressed the judges with its clear, well thought out presentation that was designed to appeal to professionals and the general public, and illustrated a clear theme throughout the document of growing a healthy, sustainable community. Public engagement was a key aspect of this planning document; the project captured input from the Planning Commission, neighborhood associations throughout the community, and the residents of Avondale. The General Plan 2030 is product of a two-year collaborative effort between the City, residents, business owners, land owners, school officials, and other agencies who volunteered and shared their time, aspirations, and vision for Avondale.
In 2012, Avondale voters put their stamp of approval on the General Plan, which was on the ballot, receiving 82% of the votes.
Said Tracy Stevens, Avondale’s Development and Engineering Services Director: “This award from the Arizona Planning Association is a recognition of the tremendous amount of work that the Avondale City Council, city staff and the community put into making this one of the best General Plans in the entire state. This is an achievement we are very proud of.”. This was a fantastic recognition for the City from our peers and showcases the outstanding efforts that the General Plan Advisory Committee and staff put into drafting the 10-year update to the General Plan.
For more information about the City of Avondale General Plan, visit the Development and Engineering Services Department Planning Division pages at www.avondale.org/planning .
The Arizona Planning Association is an official chapter of the American Planning Association. The American Planning Association, Arizona Chapter is a 1,200-plus member organization of professional planners and planning officials who serve Arizona’s communities in many ways, at all levels of government, the private sector and not-for-profit organizations.