Much of what needs to be done is still depending on this and other legislative sessions in Annapolis. Replenishing the Transportation Trust Fund (gas tax!) and curbing sprawl through a strong restriction on the proliferation of septic tanks will be thorny issues. The battle over the now enacted PlanMaryland state planning document was just a warm up for what we can expect in Annapolis this season.
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Governor
O'Malley to receive national award for planning
leadership
Recognition
for Chesapeake Bay focus, transit-oriented development, PlanMaryland
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BALTIMORE,
MD (Tuesday, January 10, 2012)
- The American Planning Association today named Maryland Governor
Martin O'Malley as the recipient of its 2012 National Planning Leadership Award for his advocacy of
environmental planning issues. The association, which represents the
field of city and regional planning in the United States, made the
announcement at its Washington, D.C. headquarters. The Planning Advocate
award recognizes an individual who has advanced or promoted the cause of
planning in the public arena.
"Governor
O'Malley has been a powerful catalyst for smart growth from the day he took
office," said Marie L. York, FAICP, an APA board director and 2012
awards jury co-chair. "He has worked tirelessly to bring a multi-faceted
approach to planning - one that proves smart growth doesn't mean 'no growth'
if done right." APA's national awards program was established a
half-century ago to recognize outstanding community plans, planning programs
and initiatives, public education efforts and individuals for leadership on
planning issues.
"As
a long-time member of the APA, I am delighted that the nation's preeminent
planning organization has seen fit to recognize Governor O'Malley's efforts
among the highest honors bestowed by the profession," said Maryland
Planning Secretary Richard Eberhart Hall, AICP. "The governor is the
first individual from Maryland to receive the award in more than a decade.
Baltimore County's pioneering 1960s-Plan for the Valleys and Enterprise
Community Partners Inc. of Columbia were honored in 2010."
The
award will be presented at APA's national conference in Los Angeles on April
16, 2012. The association noted that Governor O'Malley adapted for planning
some of the statistical tools he had used as mayor of Baltimore to combat
crime and other problems. In 2007, the governor created a rigorous accounting
program called BayStat for state agencies to ensure progress toward restoring
the Chesapeake Bay. His departments of planning, natural resources and
agriculture developed web-based tools called AgPrint, GreenPrint and
GrowthPrint to better identify areas for growth and preservation. A proponent
of Transit-Oriented Development, he has championed two light rail projects in
the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. areas. His administration also recently
created Maryland's first statewide growth plan, PlanMaryland.
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