Photo of the Hillsborough (FL) City-County Planning Commission by Dean Salls
CONNECT See how APA can help your commission build a better community.
Great commissions make great communities happen.
Photo: Courtesy of Detroit 300 Conservancy
Good planning isn’t easy. APA can help.
Benefit from our experience
The American Planning Association has been assisting local planning commissioners for more than three decades. Our publications, training opportunities, and nationwide network of engaged citizens and planning professionals have helped hundreds of commissions all over America work and plan better. We can help yours too.
Photo: Lynda Pfeifer
Plan on the community’s behalf The best commissioners are talented managers of growth and change. But they need context and coaching to succeed.
APA teaches commissioners how to serve their neighbors, friends, and business associates by developing and implementing plans that authentically represent local values and aspirations. Commissioners use their training to encourage fellow citizens to participate in planning that positions the community for economic development and protects precious cultural and environmental resources.
Make it fair and keep it legal
APA trains commissioners to listen carefully, communicate clearly, and act ethically. To conduct orderly and productive public meetings—even when debates get hot. To act in conformance with current federal and state laws, judicial decisions, and local ordinances. And to craft and carry out plans that offer good choices and advance the community’s vision for its future.
APA will help your commission build a better community. Connect with APA today!
Successful community planning depends on strong partnerships.
Partner first with APA. We’ll help your community anticipate and plan for tomorrow.
Everyone needs to know
Many new commissioners—whether elected or appointed—don’t know enough about planning. They enter the position engaged, motivated, and willing to work hard but lacking the specialized knowledge and tools they need to succeed. Even veteran commissioners may not be aware of new planning solutions to familiar problems, changes in planning law driven by recent legislation or judicial decisions, and looming challenges that soon might demand the commission’s attention. And all commissioners must master the basics of public outreach, active listening, legal decision making, ethical conduct, and open meetings.
Photos: Joe Szurszewski
PARTNER
Informed commissions work best
Commissioners who partner with APA quickly come to understand what planning can accomplish and how to use it to their community’s advantage. APA education and training develop capable, confident planning commissioners. Skilled commissioners translate their fellow citizens’ hopes and ideas into equitable, achievable plans—based on sound planning principles— to guide important decisions about community development.
Through APA, commissioners connect to a nationwide community dedicated to good planning.
Connect with APA today!
APA equips commissioners to make tough decisions.
INFORM
No matter what the topic, and whether the level is basic or advanced, APA publications cover contemporary planning in depth.
Essential reading
APA publications help prepare commissioners to make educated, politically viable decisions that serve their communities and withstand ethical and legal scrutiny.
Commissioners get Planning
Every APA Planning Board Member and Affiliate receives Planning, APA’s flagship magazine, the most current and complete resource about contemporary planning practice. Planning alerts commissioners to community development issues that are just over the horizon.
Photos: Joe Szurszewski
Photo: Courtesy of USDA Forest Service
PLANNING T H E M A G A Z I N E O F T H E A M E R I C A N P L A N N I N G A S S O C I AT I O N
J U LY 2 0 1 0
Tourism: Back to the Good Life God and the Mall The World Beyond GIS
Sign Control in Five Nations
Learning about other communities’ planning successes—and missteps—can help commissioners elsewhere fend off problems or jump-start solutions. Extensive illustrations help them visualize similar planning outcomes in their town. The online version of Planning offers extra content and links to related web resources. Photo: Larry Pierce
Connect with APA today!
“
APA is a great resource and an active participant. Thanks for supporting us!”
Pamela Myhre Growth Management & Planning Director, Mason City, Iowa
Writing with commissioners in mind
APA Planning Board Members and Affiliates also receive The Commissioner. Each quarterly issue is a self-contained instructional package and resource finder for local planning officials. Through in-depth reporting on essential planning topics, commission profiles, and features like “The Commissioner’s Voice,” The Commissioner reveals successful planning in communities of all sizes and in many locales. For many readers, merely discovering that commissions elsewhere share their challenges is eye-opening and encouraging.
Putting it all together
APA’s e-newsletter for commissioners, Planning Board Briefs, organizes and adds context to the information APA sends their way. Each issue highlights articles of particular interest in Planning or The Commissioner, lists upcoming local educational opportunities, and directs commissioners to resources on the APA website.
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T Issue 7: October 2010 FROM THE EDITOR OF PLANNING Hello Welcome to Planning Board Briefs.
Read October Planning Are you thinking of turning over your city’s parking garages — or jail or parking meters — to a private firm? Planning commissioners T he will learn how to avoid financial missteps when privatizing public holdings. Also: Plants and animals take center stage this month. Find out how the federal law on endangered species is affecting individual communities — and how that law is changing. Meet some invasive species, too, like the supersized Asian carp.
TOOLBOX
– Sylvia Lewis, Editor and Publisher, Planning
Check out APA's online collection of tools to help commissioners serve their communities better
Commissioner
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Planning in Prince George’s County
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Online Innovations for the Public Hearing
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Association
Federal Planning Funding
Fundamentals of Conditional Uses
Learn more
American
Commissioner’s Voice
Resource Finder
Savannah
NATIONAL EVENTS STATE AND LOCAL HAPPENINGS
Federal Planning Funding Jason Jordan One of the signature achievements of the Obama administration’s first months in office was the establishment of a formal interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities formed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the October is National Community Planning Month, a time to highlight the important Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency. President Obama further affirmed his administration’s focus on livable communities role of planning in your community. Often, community residents who enjoy a park or by establishing an Office of Urban Affairs in the White House and appointing an urban policy advisor to the Domestic Policy Council. neighborhood fail to connect those amenities to sound, long-term planning. continued on page 2 Throughout October, local communities will hold events to celebrate good planning and raise awareness about its importance to their quality of life. Get involved! Open houses, neighborhood tours, classroom visits, or meet-and-greets with planning commissioners are just a few ways you can help introduce planning to your fellow The coordination of federal townspeople. Celebrate planning
October 15–November 30 10/21–22:APA Oklahoma Chapter Conference (Norman) 10/27–29:APA Iowa Chapter Conference (Council Bluffs) 10/27–29:APA South Carolina Chapter Conference (Pawleys Island) 11/1–4:APA California Chapter Conference (Carlsbad) 11/3–5:APA Arizona Chapter Conference (Phoenix) 11/3–5:APA New Mexico Chapter Conference (Las Cruces)
programs to promote sustainability can help in the development of complex, transit-oriented plans. The goal is to create Don’t miss a chance to update your skills or learn new ones, and to tomake places similar this valuable professional and personal connections. Attend an APA chapter mixed useconference development this fall. Find a list of upcoming APA chapter events under State and Local Happenings in around a revitalized each issue of Planning Board Briefs. Between issues visit APA Chapters transitthe station in southwest webpage and follow the links to individual chapter websites Washington, for moreD.C. details about
Learn more
Fall chapter conference season: Part II
Carolyn Torma
local events.
Learn more 11/4–5:APA Mississippi Chapter Conference, Planning Commissioner Training (Ocean Springs) 11/4–5:APA New Jersey Chapter Conference (New Brunswick)
There’s even more online
APA Planning Board Members and Affiliates have their own place on our website at www.planning.org/commissioners. In addition to the online versions of Planning and The Commissioner and archived profiles of commissions and commissioners, this special section contains a wealth of information and resources relevant to the work of local commissioners.
RESOURCES Spread the word about good planning APA's CD-ROM, Great Plans, Great Communities, provides a striking introduction to planning and makes the case for the importance and wide-ranging benefits of planning. Watch a preview of the presentation at the In Your Community
APA publications open the world of community planning.
APA encourages commissioners to visit our entire website. It’s a comprehensive and reliable source of information about APA and the field of planning.
Connect with APA today!
“
The training and conferences provided by APA have been so helpful.” Victoria Walker Planning Manager Community Development Walnut Creek, California
PREPARE
Choose APA for training in best planning practices.
Put commissioners in APA’s hands
Few counties or towns have the time, staff, or budget to train and re-train a commission whose membership frequently changes. So hundreds of communities across America choose APA to train their commissioners at all levels of experience. APA and its chapters offer expert training in basic through advanced topics. Commissioners who start out with “Introduction to the Planning Commission” are well equipped to go on to learn about advanced topics like sustainability or food systems planning.
Photo: Edward Savaria
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A PA T R A I N I N G O P P O R T U N I T I E S F O R C O M M I S S I O N E R S
• Convenient chapter-level events geared to local planning issues and state and local laws • Affordable group or individual learning-on demand via streaming audio or CD-ROM • Interactive audio/web conferences on important community planning issues • Customized sessions and workshops at APA’s annual National Planning Conferences
Each component of APA’s integrated commissioner education program— publications, chapter events, audio/web conferences, training products, and special national conference workshops—plays a part in keeping commissioners informed and motivated.
With APA’s help, your commission can meet the challenges of growth and change.
Connect with APA today!
Joe Szurszewski
“
APA membership keeps us current and informed on a variety of national and local planning issues.”
Terry Croad, AICP Director of Planning Southfield, Michigan
APA prepares commissioners for leadership.
Keep up with law and policy
Federal policy decisions and legislation impact local communities. APA’s policy blog and e-newsletter, APA Advocate, give commissioners timely updates on developments on Capitol Hill and in executive agencies.
A stronger voice
Our policy and outreach staff offer commissioners expert advocacy training at APA national conferences. APA creates opportunities for commissioners to speak up for their communities in face-to-face meetings with legislators and key staff.
When commissioners talk, lawmakers listen
Informed, motivated commissioners are powerful advocates. Legislators and policy makers recognize that commissioners make frontline decisions that affect the daily life and future direction of their communities. So when local commissioners speak up, government and business leaders pay attention.
SHAPE Look ahead
Membership in a local planning commission is often an early step in a lifetime of community service. Many commissioners go on to hold higher office. The commission is a training ground for the community’s—or even the state’s—future leaders.
Today’s savvy commissioners will support planning tomorrow.
Connect with APA today!
CHOOSE
Every community—and every commission—is different, so we offer choices for connecting to APA.
Select the APA connection that’s best for you. Photo: Joe Szurszewski
Photo: Edward Savaria
Planning Board Members
APA Affiliates
The sponsoring agency pays a $100 annual participation fee, plus $50 for each commissioner enrolled as a Planning Board Member. The agency may enroll an unlimited number of commissioners, as long as they do not earn a living in planning.
APA Affiliates receive the online editions of Planning and The Commissioner, plus many of the “extras” that Planning Board Members get. Agencies that enroll commissioners as APA Affiliates pay a $100 participation fee and $30 for each commissioner enrolled. Although they can participate in chapter and national education events, APA Affiliates are not APA national or chapter members and are not eligible for member-only benefits or discounts.
APA Planning Board Members receive the same benefits as regular APA members—and more—at a cost far below that of regular membership.
Planning Board Members belong to a local chapter, and they may vote and be elected to chapter or APA national office.
For commissioners who want to connect to APA and the larger planning community as inexpensively as possible, signing up as APA Affiliates is a good choice.
Connect with APA today!
“
APA provides critical links to the current state of planning that my commissioners find essential to their work.”
Gary J. Jastrzab Executive Director Philadelphia City Planning Commission
Member or Affiliate? It’s up to you.
Get a custom fit.
Depending on local needs and resources, your community can enroll some or all commissioners as APA Planning Board Members or APA Affiliates. Both options offer services targeted to commissioners’ unique educational and training needs. Supplemental training opportunities also offer maximum flexibility and are priced with tight local government budgets in mind.
Photos: Joe Szurszewski
CHOOSE YOUR CONNECTION
Planning APA Board Affiliates Members
Belong to APA National Receive APA member benefits Belong to an APA chapter
May vote and hold office in APA
Receive the print editions of Planning magazine and The Commissioner
Receive APA Advocate online
Receive the online editions of Planning magazine and The Commissioner
Receive Planning Board Briefs online
May access all members-only resources on the APA website May access the special commissioner section of the APA website
Connect with APA today!
ASK Who is eligible?
Qualified APA Planning Board Members and Affiliates are current members of a public or semipublic body, board, or commission (such as a planning or zoning board) who do not earn their living in planning. We also welcome conservation commissioners and elected officials— mayors, city council members, county commissioners, state legislators, and members of Congress.
Which option is best for my community?
Planning board membership works best for commissioners who prefer to receive both print and electronic benefits. Planning Board Members can participate in local and national training and networking opportunities and save with member discounts. Affiliation is a more affordable choice for commissioners who are not interested in full membership or who prefer to receive benefits electronically. It’s also a great option for multiple-commissioner communities that are “going green” and reducing their use of consumables.
Photos: Joe Szurszewski
Welcome to the American Planning Association!
Both options are less expensive than regular APA membership, even if only one or two commissioners participate. The cost per commissioner goes down with each additional commissioner enrolled.
Where can I get more information?
How will APA help us manage memberships or affiliates?
Download and print an application, fill it out completely, and return it by mail or fax to APA.
APA will send just one annual invoice to the person identified as the administrative contact. However, we will send print and e-mail publications and other materials directly to the individual members or affiliates. That’s why it’s important to provide complete contact information— including an e-mail address—for each commissioner enrolled.
Go to APA’s Customer Service FAQ at www.planning.org/customerservice or call 312-431-9100.
I’m ready to sign up now. What’s next?
t
Download an application
American Planning Association 205 N. Michigan Ave. Suite 1200 Chicago, IL 60601 Fax: 312-786-6700
Connect with APA today!