 VOLUME XX, ISSUE 11 NOVEMBER 2007
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
By all accounts, the Chapter annual conference last month was a huge success. Over 700 planners from Washington, Oregon, other states, and even other countries, gathered for three days in Tacoma. This was one of the largest planning conferences in the country. Dozens of breakout sessions ranged across a half dozen tracks, mobile workshops showcased amazing planning success stories in Tacoma and Pierce County, and we heard several excellent keynotes. Check out the photos from the conference on the Chapter’s website www.washington-apa.org. Also posted to the website are a number of the MS PowerPoint presentations from breakout sessions. I was most impressed by Anthony Flint from ULI whose keynote at lunch on Thursday provided both a national context for, and a global urgency to, the work that planners in the Northwest have been doing for years. As Flint said, whether we know it or not, we are ALL ‘climate change planners.’ Virtually everything we do locally, from development to conservation to transportation, has an impact on global health, for good or for bad, in large measure or small. This is an important message to convey to our communities and decision-makers at all levels. As with all APA efforts, the success of the conference is directly proportional to the creativity and dedicated hard work invested by our many volunteers. We all owe a huge debt of thanks to the dozens of people who made the conference a roaring success. I particularly want to thank Conference Chair Peter Huffman, Host Committee Chair Joe Scorcio, and Program Chair Linda Bentley for their leadership and enthusiasm. A special thanks also to Michael Kattermann, Chair of the Sponsorship Committee, which exceeded our $50,000 sponsorship target by $5,000. Great job, everyone! It was my pleasure in Tacoma to present three awards to Chapter members whose contributions to their communities, the planning profession and our organization merit special recognition. First is Owen Dennison, senior planner for the City of Snohomish, who received the Barbara Grace Award. The Barbara Grace Award goes to a mid-level planner who has distinguished themselves with dedication to public service and professional accomplishment. Keep up the good work, Owen! This year’s recipient of the Meyer Wolfe Award for Professional Achievement is Nancy Eklund, senior planner for the City of Puyallup and the Chapter’s Professional Development Officer (PDO) for several years. Nancy’s career has spanned both rural and urban planning in the Rocky Mountain and Northwest regions, including work in both the private and public sectors. She has exhibited the highest standards of professional practice, commitment to the profession and service to the Chapter. Thanks, Nancy, for all that you have done and continue to do to advance the state of the art of planning in Washington. Finally, the President’s Award for Distinguished Service went to Steven Davenport, senior planner for Spokane County. Steve served for two terms as our Chapter Treasurer, and our strong financial position is due in no small part to his careful stewardship of our finances. Steve also distinguished himself last year as one of the Chapter’s most thoughtful and outspoken voices raised against Initiative 933. On his own time and with his own resources, Steve carried the Chapter’s strong No on 933 message to the Inland Empire. He wrote letters to the editor, attended organizational meetings in Spokane, and contributed Spokane area examples to the Chapter’s analysis of the practical impacts of 933. I also saw him drive away from Yakima with 300 No campaign yard signs in his trunk! Because Steve couldn’t make the trip to Tacoma, I will present his award to him at an Inland Empire event in the coming months. Congratulations, Steve! Speaking of Inland Empire, our 2008 Chapter conference will be at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane on October 13-14-15. We are considering having the newly formed Idaho Chapter of APA meet jointly with us in Spokane next year. I spoke briefly with Patricia Nilsson, the Idaho Chapter president, about this and she reports that her Board is very enthusiastic. Anyone who is interested in serving on the host, program, or sponsorship committees, please contact me. I have already heard from several veterans of the successful Tacoma conference who are interested in helping, including Linda Bentley who did a stellar job as program committee chair for Tacoma, and Michael Cardwell who would like us to resurrect the Scholarship Auction. Anyone interested in working with Michael on that? If I looked jet-lagged in Tacoma, it was because I had just arrived after spending four days in Washington D.C. at the annual APA National fall leadership conference. As a member of the Chapter Presidents Council, I heard the latest about AICP Certification Maintenance (CM), and National and Chapter branding efforts. Needless to say, CM is a huge topic and it dominated discussions in DC. By the time you read this, all members of AICP should have received an email from APA National describing the program and explaining how to log CM credits online. Those of you who attended the Tacoma conference will be able to log credits for those sessions, even though the CM requirement doesn’t actually kick in until January of 2008. I have been working with our PDO Nancy Eklund, and the members of our Continuing Education Committee to design an informational campaign about the new CM requirement program. Just as we need to make sure that CM opportunities are available throughout the state, we also need to start off by providing opportunities to explain and understand the program across the state. Keep an eye out (figuratively, of course) for discussions on CM offered by Section or CTED events in the coming months. It will take some time to shakeout the bugs in the system and make appropriate adjustments to the program – please bear with us. Last, many of you have heard about the new CTED effort to update the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) of procedural criteria for Growth Management Act planning. Dave Anderson of CTED has invited the Chapter to formally participate in the scoping process for this effort and to provide substantive review and suggestions as it evolves in the coming year. I have appointed Reid Shockey to serve as one of two co-chairs of this Chapter task force. Other chapter members of the task force include Michael Booth, Marlin Gabbert, Laura Hudson, Keith Maw, Brad Medrud, Michael Paine, and Sharon Wright. Other interested chapter members interested in serving, contact Reid at rshockey@shockeybrent.com. More to come next month! 
PLANNING NORTHWEST FOCUS ON: BURIEN
Burien is a relatively young city located between SeaTac International Airport and Puget Sound. As a community, Burien’s roots go back to the 1870s when it was known as Sunnydale. Later, the general area became known as Highline and boasted a nine-mile privately owned railroad affectionately known as the "Toonerville Trolley," serving White Center and Burien’s Seahurst neighborhood, with connections to Seattle lines, until 1929. Proposals for the new third runway at SeaTac Airport as well as cross-sound bridges and a proliferation of cheap apartment buildings were catalysts for several incorporation drives beginning in 1954. After incorporation in 1993, the new city began planning for its future.
The community strongly shared a vision as "a friendly community with well-established neighborhoods and a small town atmosphere." Burien’s traditional downtown – which had been negatively impacted by Southcenter Mall in Tukwila – was floundering but the city’s early leaders saw a better future. Downtown Burien is blessed with an existing street grid, easy access to Seattle and the airport, and a busy transit center. Building on these assets, city leaders wanted to create "a thriving, attractive, and customer-friendly city center." Over the past five years, a lot has changed in Burien. Our most significant projects are highlighted below:
Burien Town Square Using money set aside for more than a decade, as well as other state, federal and local dollars, Burien purchased 10 acres of land in the center of the downtown for a mixed-use project, known as Burien Town Square. Now under construction, the $204 million Town Square will contain up to 70,000 s.f. of retail space, 400 condominium units, a new 15,000 s.f. City Hall and 30,000 s.f. regional library, a one-acre public park and new streets. The City offered several incentives, including a 10-year multi-family property tax abatement and streamlined permitting using the recently adopted SEPA urban infill exemption. The first housing/retail building is scheduled to open in late 2008 while the new City Hall/Library will open in 2009.
SW 152nd Street Town Square would not have occurred without the initial $6 million public investment in SW 152nd Street – Burien’s "Main Street." The new design incorporated widened sidewalks, fewer traffic lanes, angle parking, new lighting and landscaping. The street is now alive at night with popular restaurants and shops, especially the western end of the street, called "Old Burien." While Town Square is expected to be the catalyst for future downtown redevelopment, several other projects are on the boards:
Burien has come a long way in its 14-year existence. Our success stems from many sources: Strong leadership that embraced a vision, keeping the community involved during all steps in moving forward, and sometimes being in the right place at the right time (a little luck). As we grow and change, Burien remains committed to our cultural diversity, open government, environmental stewardship and overall excellence.
OCTOBER BOARD MEETING SUMMARY The Washington Chapter Board met in Tacoma on October 3 for its regular quarterly meeting. The following is a brief summary of the meeting:
APA'S 2008 NATIONAL PLANNING CONFERENCE Las Vegas • Sunday, April 27 – Thursday, May 1, 2008 Las Vegas plays host to the American Planning Association's 100th National Planning Conference, Sunday, April 27, through Thursday, May 1, 2008. More than 5,500 planners, students, and citizens are expected to enjoy sessions, mobile workshops, training seminars, and networking opportunities. Check the APA national website www.planning.org in December for registration information.
UPCOMING AUDIO/WEB CONFERENCE Click here to register. Staying Out of Court by Avoiding Pitfalls
Co-Sponsor: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Conflicts of interest are an ever-present concern for planning commissioners, board members, and their staff. Not understanding the law can lead to trouble. But what constitutes a conflict? What is an acceptable way to obtain necessary information? How should commissioners interact (or not interact) with developers, home owners, concerned citizens, staff, and other public officials? Find out what the legal requirements for planning commissions are in various states. Master the rules concerning ex parte communication. Pick up tips on meeting management and the review process and learn how other commissions use administrative rules of procedure to keep themselves out of court. In addition to the live program, attendees have access to a special website with reading materials, technical briefs on the topic, PowerPoint note sheets, and a downloadable PowerPoint presentation. All attendees may ask questions of the speakers. Registered sites can also choose to receive the program on CD-ROM (Option B). The Inland Empire Section is sponsoring a session for this audio/web conference at Spokane City Hall. Contact Jo Anne Wright (509) 625-6017 for more information.
REMINDER Last year the board approved a new chapter-only group membership opportunity. This membership is available to planning commissions, city councils and commissions, tribal councils, and board members of non-profit organizations and other professional associations. Up to 10 members may be included in a group membership. The group rate is $150 and is administered by the chapter office. To obtain a group membership form or learn more about the benefits of this membership, contact Anna Nelson, AICP, Membership Committee chair, at (206) 382-9540 or anelson@GordonDerr.com.
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER Have a project you want to highlight for planners across the state? An issue you think more planners need information on? Planning Northwest is always looking to highlight projects and research of our members. If you are interested in having an article published feel free to contact the editor. The deadline for the newsletter is the fifteenth of every month, preceding the publication month. Please submit all newsletter articles to newsletter@washington-apa.org. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Burien Town Square - View from above, Looking Northwest
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