The Virginia chapter of the American Planning Association (APA Virginia) recognized three plans, within Coastal Virginia cities, at its annual conference. Norfolk’s Old Huntersville community, the City of Virginia Beach and Newport News’ Denbigh-Warwick all received awards at virtual event, held virtually Oct. 12–16.
Norfolk’s Old Huntersville community’s collaborative work with the City of Norfolk staff on the Olde Huntersville Plan Book has been awarded the Dogwood Award – Virginia’s Citizen Planners of the Year Award. The Dogwood Award honors an outstanding group of citizens, civic leaders, or similar community groups that exemplify all citizen planners by being dedicated, objective, open, moral, balanced and knowledgeable of the framework of planning in Virginia.
The Plan Book is a thorough, detailed design book intended to make it easy for potential homeowners to build their dream home in the beautiful, historic Olde Huntersville neighborhood, a historic African American community.
The Olde Huntersville Plan Book provides an example for reinvesting in struggling neighborhoods that can be replicated in other communities. George Homewood, FAICP CFM, Norfolk’s Director of Planning and Community Development describes the award-winning Olde Huntersville Plan Book as “creating the tools to build affordable and well-designed homes.”
The City of Virginia Beach has been named the Resilient Virginia Community of the Year for its Sea Level Wise planning project.
Virginia Beach has set an exemplary example for how to plan for sea level rise and recurrent flooding. The data gathering, modeling and analysis would be a major undertaking for any locality, but Virginia Beach’s sheer geographic size made for a daunting task. Undeterred, Virginia Beach successfully undertook an aggressive campaign of weather and climate data collection to serve as the foundation for Sea Level Wise.
The Sea Level Wise project also recommended where and how these strategies could be implemented in the different watersheds. As localities across the country slowly begin the process of quantifying, analyzing, and evaluating the impacts of climate change, they would be well advised to look to the work Virginia Beach has done through Sea Level Wise as a model for good planning.
The Denbigh-Warwick Area Plan was awarded the Commonwealth Plan of the Year Award.
The City of Newport News has won this statewide recognition for its recently adopted Denbigh-Warwick Area Plan, which is a thorough, detailed small-area plan for the revitalization of an auto-oriented suburban corridor in the City. Through the work of both Newport News staff and consultants Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT) Planning and Design, the plan reflects the hard work of City departments, neighborhood meetings, surveys and public stakeholders.
The Plan includes maps, illustrations, reference images and case studies for five targeted strategies – Placemaking, Health and Safety, Connectivity, Economic Revitalization and Natural Systems – identified to reshape the character and experience of people living and working in Denbigh-Warwick. In addition, the Plan focuses on implementation by “identifying pedestrian-friendly, mixed-used village centers at strategic points along Warwick Boulevard,” explained Stacey Humphreys Blankin, associate with WRT.
To read more about the awards, visit, APAVirginia.com
