Photo: (left to right) Assistant Development Services Director, Will Dingee; Development Services Director Laurie Lineberry; and Mayor Jack W. Miller
The Town of Chino Valley is proud to announce that our “Make It Chino” General Plan 2040 won the Arizona Chapter of American Planning Association (APA) top award for Regional or General or Comprehensive Plan – population 49,999 or less. The honor was bestowed at the APA’s state conference held in Tucson, Arizona, September 18-20.
Laurie Lineberry, Chino Valley’s Development Services Director, accepted the award at the APA Awards Luncheon on Thursday, September 19, 2024, along with representatives from general plan consultants Matrix Design Group. She unveiled the award to Mayor and Council at their Tuesday, September 24, 2024, meeting stating, “I want to recognize (former Town Manager) Cindy Blackmore for her leadership and support for me and my team, Terri Denemy and Trisha Lewis for the outreach and logistics, the General Plan Steering Committee, that council appointed, they were an amazing group of folks, and finally the three ambassadors that took the plan over the finish line with our voters.”
The American Planning Association, Arizona Chapter, gathers planners from all over the state to share information and learn at their annual conference. Part of the conference is acknowledging the best of the best from around the state each year, in the form of an awards banquet. The APA had five categories for planning awards this year: Planning Excellence, Strengthening Communities: Resilience and Sustainability, General Plan for populations under 50,000, General Plan for populations over 50,000 and Student Projects. Entries were judged on originality / innovation, transferability, quality, comprehensiveness, public participation, role of planners, and effectiveness/results. “It is an honor to have our work recognized by our peers as outstanding in the field of planning,” said Lineberry.
The General Plan is a community’s long-range vision for the next 20+ years. It is designed to serve as the jurisdiction’s blueprint for future development, informing future social, economic, and physical development decisions. The plan includes the community vision, goals, and policies, with maps and an implementation plan.
The Town’s general plan consultant Matrix Design Group, Inc. submitted the project to the APA on behalf of the Town for consideration. The video Matrix Group created on the “Make It Chino” 2040 General Plan for the award submission was shared at the state conference luncheon and to Mayor and Council when it was unveiled. The video can be viewed on the town of Chino Valley website at www.ChinoAZ.net. The “Make It Chino” 2040 General Plan and executive summary can be viewed at www.MakeItChinoGeneralPlan.com.
