San Felasco: Spring 2012

Alachua ▫ Bradford ▫ Columbia ▫ Dixie ▫ Gilchrist ▫ Hamilton ▫ Lafayette ▫ Levy ▫ Marion ▫ Suwannee ▫ Union

Spring 2012 In This Issue Air Potato Roundup…………..2 Professional Development Opportunities………………….2 Section Lines………………….3 Feiss Lecture….………………3 Student Update….……………3 UF URP Reaccreditation….…4 Ride America….………………5 Call for Articles….…………….5

Upcoming Events

Introducing Our New Section Newsletter I hope you all are as excited as I am about the release of our section newsletter. A special thanks to all of the Section officers and members who contributed to our first publication. We intend to use the newsletter to recognize the people, places, projects and proceedings that shape and strengthen our section. We plan to release a newsletter to observe each season, so be thinking about articles and events that you would like to share with all of us during the summer newsletter or in the future.

Please join me in congratulating Mr. Justin Tabor, a planner from the City of Alachua, who passed the AICP exam this past November. If you or someone you know is planning to take the AICP exam, please contact Leslie McLendon, our Professional Development Officer, to learn about the Section’s study group and other efforts to assist members in passing the exam and maintaining their Certificate afterward. Did you know that you can earn certificate maintenance credits for sharing your knowledge? Presenting to our section members during brown bag lunches or similar forums allows both the presenter and the attendees an opportunity to earn CM credits; it is also a great opportunity to sharpen your presentation skills, meet new planners, share ideas and stay informed.

March 14 - Urban Agriculture and Food Systems Planning webinar, NFRPC 22 – UF Professional Speaker Series, Rich Doty 30 – UF Planning Day

Since our annual meeting in December, our section officers have been scheduling events, assembling the newsletter, organizing AICP study groups, and attending events such as the APA legislative workshop, the Caroline Feiss lecture and the University of Florida Urban & Regional Planning reaccreditation site visit. Through these events and efforts, it is clear that we could improve section member participation. We are planning some new events and thinking about how we can improve existing ones to attract more members. As we endeavor to improve section events, we hope that you all can join us…

Take the time to let us know what types of changes we can make to serve you better.

April 12 – UF Professional Speaker Series, Doug Robinson

May 11/12 – Host Reception for APA Chapter Executive Committee (exact date and location TBD) For more events, please visit our website: http://www.floridaplanning.org/sanf elasco/index.asp

In sum, after meeting and talking to many of you, I expect great things to come from our many talented and experienced planning professionals and I believe that we have great potential to offer further guidance on local, regional and state level decisions as we move forward. I look forward to working with you all to make the San Felasco Section, the “Original Florida” section, truly exceptional. An opportunity to make an exceptional evening for all of us will happen on the evening of either May 11 or 12th when the APA Florida Executive Committee holds its bi-annual retreat in Gainesville. Please keep an eye out for more details regarding a host reception in Gainesville.

Doug Doug Robinson Chair, San Felasco Section

SAN FELASCO NEWSLETTER Spring 2012

Members Volunteer for Air Potato Roundup

Professional Development Opportunities Expanding Spring 2012

By Dean Mimms, AICP Chair-Elect

By Leslie McLendon, AICP Professional Development Officer

The San Felasco Section was well represented at the City of Gainesville’s 13th Annual Great Air Potato Roundup on Saturday, January 28th, 2012.

This popular annual event was once again a big success.

The AICP Prep Study Group had its first session February 8.

There are currently nine people participating: two are scheduled to take the exam in May and the rest in November. The group will continue to meet twice a month (the first Monday and third Tuesday) at 6:30 pm at the Florida Community Design Center. There is still time to join the group if you are interested.

Alachua ▫ Bradford ▫ Columbia ▫ Dixie ▫ Gilchrist ▫ Hamilton ▫ Lafayette ▫ Levy ▫ Marion ▫ Suwannee ▫ Union

For current members who have not earned the required 32 Certification Maintenance (CM) credits for the last reporting period, you have until April 30 to do so. All AICP members have an automatic four monthgrace period without penalty (reinstatement requirements waived during this period). During this time you are able to continue to earn and log credits to fulfill their reporting period. There are several free online opportunities on the APA website as well as through the APA Utah Chapter at http://www.utahapa.org/webcast-archive.

There are also several upcoming free webinars at http://www.utahapa.org/webcasts.

Image courtesy of Merald Clark, City of Gainesville Department of Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs.

Volunteers gathered more than two tons of air potatoes (Discorea bulbifera, an invasive, exotic vine), more than one ton of other exotic plants, and trash that filled a 20-yard dumpster.

Over 988 community volunteers made the event possible.

Five section members (Tina D’Auria, Adam Hall, Josephine Medina, Leslie McLendon, and Dean Mimms) helped City staff with event festivities at Morningside Park. Other section members were also in attendance with other organizations. The Section was publicly thanked for its support by the event’s organizers from the City’s Department of Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs during the closing ceremonies at Morningside.

One part of the CM process that members may not be aware of is the option of self-reporting 8 credits. For every two-year CM reporting period, you may selfreport up to 8 credits from professional development activities that are not registered with APA by the provider. This can include conferences or speaker events.

More information is available at http://www.planning.org/cm/log/selfreport.htm.

It was good community exposure for the Section, and it was fun! The popularity of volunteering for this event is such that early sign-up is recommended for any organization that wishes to participate in next year’s Roundup prior to the December 1, 2012 opening of registration.

The Section is planning on hosting “Lunch and Learn” sessions throughout the year in which speakers on a variety of topics are invited to share ideas with the local planning community. Watch your inbox for announcements coming soon!

If you have any questions or ideas regarding professional development, please contact me at lmclendon@alachuacounty.us.

If you are interested in participating in next year’s event, please contact me at mimmsdl@cityofgainesville.org.

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SAN FELASCO NEWSLETTER Spring 2012

chief planner of the U.S. Department of Housing and Caroline Feiss Speaks at UF about Urban Development (HUD) in 1950, and also headed the her Father, Carl Feiss’, Legacy Planning Committee, Preservation Committee, and the Alachua ▫ Bradford ▫ Columbia ▫ Dixie ▫ Gilchrist ▫ Hamilton ▫ Lafayette ▫ Levy ▫ Marion ▫ Suwannee ▫ Union Education Committee for the American Institute Spring 2012 of Architects. He co-authored Section 701 of the 1954 Federal Housing Act, which provided federal support for comprehensive planning, and led the campaign to pass the Federal Historic Preservation Act of 1966, which created the structure of historic preservation in America at the local level. Feiss was also integral to the historic preservation of such cities as Savannah, Georgia; Annapolis, Maryland; and Charleston, South Carolina.

He ended his career teaching at the University of Florida, where he helped found UF’s urban and regional planning program.

By Kristin Larsen, AICP Chair, UF Department of Urban and Regional Planning On the evening of Tuesday, February 7, Caroline Feiss, daughter of Carl Feiss, presented a lecture on her father, Carl Feiss, documenting his fascinating 60-year planning career, which included founding the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at UF. Herself an accomplished planner, with expertise in transportation and regional networks, Caroline Feiss recounted key events that she examined in the biography, Remaking American Places: The Vision of Carl Feiss, Architect, Planner, Preservationist.

Student Update

A graduate in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, and urban planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carl Feiss was a great champion of public housing, historic preservation, and sustainable development. He was appointed the

By Caitlin White President, UF Student Planning Association This spring semester, the Student Planning Association (SPA) at the University of Florida has been involved in a number of social and academic activities. On the social side, SPA’s softball and volleyball teams, the Sprawlbusters, have been in action in UF’s intramural sports league. SPA also sponsored a going-away party for Dr. Dawn Jourdan and Dr. Andres Blanco, who will be leaving the Department this semester to pursue other employment opportunities.

Both professors are extremely popular among the student body, and we will be sad to see them go!

Section Lines Andrew Persons joined the City of Gainesville in February 2012 as a Senior Planner. He was most recently a Senior Planner for Marion County.

Congratulations to Justin Tabor, Planner at the City of Alachua, who passed the AICP exam in November 2011.

To submit a Section Line, email Jacob Kain at kainji@cityofgainesville.org.

On the academic side, SPA asked a handful of local planning practitioners to visit the Department and present a planning-related lecture to interested students, faculty, and staff. We were lucky to have our first lecturer, Sandra Whitehead, present her talk, “What planners need to know about public health, and why it matters”, on February 16. Sandra is a public health planner at the Florida Department of Health and an adjunct professor teaching “Health and the Built Environment” at UF, and she provided a fascinating perspective on the intersection of health and planning in practice. The speaker series will continue on March 22 with a talk by Rich Doty, a UF alumnus and co-founder and vice president of Gainesville-based GIS Associates, CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

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SAN FELASCO NEWSLETTER Spring 2012

(PAB), which consists of representatives from the Inc., and it will finish on April 12 with a lecture by the City Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, the of Gainesville’s Chief Transit Planner and Section Chair, American Planning Association, and the American Alachua ▫ Bradford ▫ Columbia ▫ Dixie ▫ Gilchrist ▫ Hamilton ▫ Lafayette ▫ Levy ▫ Marion ▫ Suwannee ▫ Union Doug Robinson. If you are interested in attending any of Institute of Certified Planners. In the words of the PAB, Spring 2012 these upcoming lectures, please e-mail me at “Accreditation is a system for recognizing educational caitlinwhite@ufl.edu for more information. institutions and professional programs for performance, integrity and quality.” The program at UF has been accredited since 1978, the first year it was eligible to be reviewed.

With Spring Break rapidly approaching, we are looking forward to an equally fun and informative second half of the semester, and hope to see you all at the national APA conference in Los Angeles in April.

While the Site Visit Team, consisting of two planning academics from accredited schools and a planning professional, have left, the process continues through early November, when we receive the final determination from the PAB at the American Collegiate Schools of Planning conference. At this point, what we do know with certainty was the great impression that was made by our alumni, Advisory Council members, representatives of the San Felasco Section, and local employers. A big thanks to everyone who participated!

UF’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning Undergoes Reaccreditation Review

By Kristin Larsen, AICP Chair, UF Department of Urban and Regional Planning

Call for Presentations for 2012 Conference

From Monday, February 13 through Wednesday, February 15, the Department of Urban and Regional Planning’s graduate planning program was reviewed as part of a 5- to 7-year cycle of reaccreditation.

Are you charting a new course in the face of gale force winds, perfect storms, and attacks? Share your tales with your mates and colleagues! The APA Promised Lands Section invites you to answer the call for presentations for the 2012 Florida APA Conference, Charting a New Course!

The reaccreditation is part of a national process of review undertaken by the Planning Accreditation Board

Section Welcomes New Officers

The conference committee has created six blocks for which it welcomes presentation submissions:

th

On December 14 , 2011, members of the San Felasco Section gathered for the annual membership meeting and elected new officers who will serve in 2012 and 2013.

• Discovering

Buried

Treasure:

Redevelopment

and

Retrofitting Suburbia • Sail the High Seas: Transportation Opportunities • Clean Bill of Health: Health and the Built Environment

Chair: Douglas Robinson Chair-Elect: Dean Mimms Immediate Past Chair: Mike Escalante Treasurer: Martha Orthoefer Secretary: Jacob Kain Professional Development Officer: Leslie McLendon At Large: Laura Dedenbach At Large: Sandra Joseph At Large: Christian Popoli

• Beacons in the Night: Professional Development/Social Media and Technology • Sweet Trade: Economic Development • Land Ho!: Agriculture/Natural Environment/Food Security

Presentation proposals for the 2012 Annual Conference being held at the Waldorf Astoria Naples are due by 5:00 PM on March 23, 2012. The Call for Presentations and Conference Presentation Summary Form is available online at www.floridaplanning.org.

Thanks are extended to outgoing officers Jeff Bielling, Missy Daniels, and Sam Mutch for their service to the Section!

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SAN FELASCO NEWSLETTER Spring 2012

Alachua ▫ Bradford ▫ Columbia ▫ Dixie ▫ Gilchrist ▫ Hamilton ▫ Lafayette ▫ Levy ▫ Marion ▫ Suwannee ▫ Union

2012 Ride America for Safe Spring Routes Visits North Central Florida Four "Ride America for Safe Routes" bicyclists, raising awareness of Safe Routes to Schools, stopped in Alachua County on Feb. 14, 2012. The group took the Gainesville Hawthorne Trail, and traveled CR 346 along the Old Florida Heritage Highway (www.scenicus441.com) and stopped at the Mosswood Farm Store in Micanopy. A brief presentation

by Dekova Batey, staff to the MTPO Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Board, during citizen comments introduced the visitors at the evening County Commission meeting.

See http://www.rideforsaferoutes.com/ for more information.

Celebrate Original Florida in Around the Section

By Laura Dedenbach, AICP At Large Welcome to the launch of our newsletter dedicated to informing you about the activities of the San Felasco Section of the Florida American Planning Association. San Felasco covers an 11-county area known as the “Original Florida.” We are fortunate to have a section that is full of interesting places and talented people. In order to celebrate our unique and innovative section, we are asking for your contributions to the “Around the Section” portion of the newsletter.

We are looking for interesting articles on the great places, innovative projects, creative people, and community spotlights in the San Felasco section. Articles can cover a variety of topics geared toward planning with an emphasis on educational benefit for our members. Article length should be five to seven paragraphs. Submissions should also include photos!

We are looking for submissions to the Summer edition of the newsletter. Please submit your articles by May 14, 2012, to Jacob Kain at kainji@cityofgainesville.org.

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