By: DENISE M.HARRIS,AICP

Out with the old, in with the new! VAPA is once again undergoing a transition to a new board accompanied by a new look. The new logo is part of a national effort by APA to create a unified brand of all APA publications, chapters, and divisions. In the coming months you will notice that all the organizations affiliated with APA are immediately identifiable. This is being done as part of a larger communications strategy to raise the awareness of the planning profession. ...read more

By: Trip Pollard, Southern Environmental Law Center

Virginia is being transformed by rapid growth that has brought significant benefits, as well as enormous challenges. From jammed highways to record fuel bills, from the loss of farmland and natural areas to choking air pollution and rising taxpayer expenditures to serve far-flung development, development and transportation patterns and policies are taking a toll on our budgets, our communities, our health, and our environment. On top of these problems, transportation and sprawl are leading sources of greenhouse gases that threaten even more serious and long-lasting damage. A new report from the Southern Environmental Law Center provides the first comprehensive examination of the links between development, transportation, energy, and climate change in the Commonwealth. ...read more

By: Jeryl Rose Phillips, AICP

Report on the 2008 General Assembly Session Now Available Online - The Chapter’s legislative consultant, Eldon James & Associates, has again prepared an excellent summary report for our members of all legislation tracked during the 2008 Session. The summary report is available at http://www.eldonjamesassociates.com/client/vapa/ . New laws and changes to existing law will be incorporated into the next edition of Managing Growth and Development in Virginia: Tools Available to Localities, to be released later this year. ...read more

By: Liz Via, Editor

Eric Walberg, Principal Planner with the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC) spoke on June 17th at a meeting of the Governor’s Commission on Climate Change on the connection between climate change and development patterns. Walberg shared the topic with John V. Thomas, PhD from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Commission was established in 2007 by Governor Timothy M. Kaine to prepare a Climate Change Action Plan for Virginia that identifies steps that must be taken to achieve the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2025 as outlined in the Virginia Energy Plan, released by the Commonwealth in September 2007. ...read more

By: Mike Collins, AICP CZA, Town of Orange, VA

Along with most other Towns and Counties, the Town of Orange and Orange County share a common dilemma; what to do about residentially-zoned land in the County and around the Town? This is a dilemma for several reasons. First, although the Town has agreed to provide site plan review for County projects requiring water and sewer (the Town owns the water and sewer plants), what exactly is the Town’s authority in this context? Second, the Town has a stated Vision to construct traditional neighborhood development. This focus on urban design is, at the moment, a more important matter to the Town than the County. Should there be coordination for parcels just outside of the Town? Third, what about exactions? ...read more

By: Glenn Larson, AICP Virginia Chapter Professional Development Officer

Certification Maintenance Update AICP Certification Maintenance (CM) was on the minds of many who attended VAPA’s 2008 Annual Planning Conference, March 26-28. All of the sessions qualified for CM credits, and more than 150 attended Friday’s Planning Ethics session. VAPA is working towards compiling a lending library of American Planning Association self-study CD-ROMs that can be borrowed by Virginia Chapter members. AICP members who complete these self-study courses can qualify for CM credits. The CDs will hopefully be available later this summer. If you would like to be added to VAPA’s CM update e-mail list to receive more information about this planned lending library, please contact me at pdo@vaplanning.org. ...read more

Next year, VAPA tackles the subject of green communities and climate change with the 2009 Annual Planning Conference - Green Communities Virginia: Planning for Environmental, Economic and Cultural Sustainability in the Commonwealth. The conference will explore ways in which planners can provide new directions for their communities. Do you have any ideas? ...read more

“Community Planner Leaves Town” – that was the local headline in the LEESBURG TODAY newspaper when urban designer JASON BESKE, AICP announced his acceptance of a similar position with the City of Overland Park in Kansas. While the headline conjures up images of a middle of the night departure, Jason leaves the Town of Leesburg well on the way to become one of a handful of Virginia communities embracing form based codes and fully integrating urban design into their planning functions. Jason is moving closer to family in the Midwest but since he is the Chair-Elect of the APA’s Urban Design and Preservation Division, we fully expect to see him at the annual conference happy hour! ...read more