From Inman News Features
The American Planning Association was set to receive Professional Builder magazine’s 2003 Professional Achievement Award for its Growing Smart project until the award was withdrawn reportedly due to opposition from the magazine’s readers.
The award was to be presented at an industry party being held in conjunction with the National Association of Home Builders annual convention in Las Vegas last month, but when NAHB members were informed of the decision to recognize the project in official party invitations they contacted the magazine’s editor-in-chief Heather McCune.
“Our 127,000 home builder subscribers are not supportive of the Growing Smart initiative and were vocal in letting us know their positions,” McCune wrote in a December 30 letter rescinding the award.
The Growing Smart project drafts the next generation of model planning and zoning, offering options to the “one-size-fits-all” model. It promotes relationships between legislators and zoning officials to combat urban sprawl while still meeting demand for new housing, and includes a guidebook for model authorizing legislation for updating old zoning statutes in state and municipal governments.
Stuart Meck, a Senior Research Fellow at APA and the principal investigator for Growing Smart, said he was looking forward to the formal award ceremony.
“I never expected that recognition would come from a home building trade publication. I was impressed with Professional Builder’s independence and integrity in coming to the conclusion that the Growing Smart project deserved the industry’s attention,” said Meck.
Some NAHB members obviously disagreed.
APA is a nonprofit public interest and research organization committed to urban, suburban, regional and rural planning.