The Lancaster County Planning Commission held its places2040 Planning Leadership Awards Celebration on May 24 at the Manheim Township Public Library. These awards recognize planning projects that demonstrate leadership and effectiveness in implementing places2040, the Lancaster County Comprehensive Plan. The planning commission also recognized individuals who demonstrate leadership and effectiveness in bringing major community projects or projects of regional importance to fruition in Lancaster County were recognized.
A Leadership Award - the top Planning Project Award - went to Bridgeport Crossroads Transportation and Land Use Study. The study includes recommendations to improve streets, sidewalks, crosswalks, roadways, and land use standards with the goal of creating a coordinated strategy for policies and investments across four municipalities. Project partners included Derck & Edson, Town Planning Partnership, Herbert Rowland & Grubic Inc., East Lampeter Township, West Lampeter Township, Lancaster Township, and the City of Lancaster.
Achievement Awards went to two projects - Stadium Row and Culliton Park. Stadium Row - a new, market-rate apartment construction in Lancaster city - aims to help address a present housing shortage with its 104 multi-family units located on a 1.86-acre infill site. Project partners include Benjamin J. Lesher, president and founder of SDL Devco; RGS Associates Inc.; Douglas Charles Phillips - Architect; and Pelger Engineering & Construction. Culliton Park, formerly Farnum Park, has open space amenities, creative stormwater management, and ecologically supportive plantings, and it is a replicable model of environmentally sensitive design within Lancaster city's Southwest neighborhood. Project partners include the City of Lancaster, RGS Associates Inc., Windward Lighting Studio, and Flyway Excavating.
Merit Awards went to Long Crest and the State of Farmland Preservation in Lancaster County. Long Crest, formerly the Long Home, provides service-enriched housing options for those who are age 62 or older and without the resources needed for market-rate senior communities. Project partners include Presbyterian Senior Living, RGS Associates Inc., Noelker and Hull Associates Inc., and Wohlsen Construction Company. The State of Farmland Preservation in Lancaster County calls for preserved farmland in the county to be doubled by 2040 and advocates for state and legislative initiatives designed to preserve farmland, protect farmers and support agriculture. Project partners include Lancaster Farmland Trust and Tom Daniels, Ph.D.
A student Leadership Award went to Cocalico School District for Sustainability From the Inside Out. Cocalico High School and Middle School students had the opportunity to develop and enhance skill sets in collaboration, creativity, coding, media literacy, critical thinking, global citizenship, and dynamic communication as they worked through this step-by-step Problem Based Learning initiative. The outcome of the project is the creation of a sustainably-friendly outdoor courtyard space.
A student Merit Award went to Quarryville Elementary School's Student Senate for its Humane League Donation Collection project. Student senators wrote a proposal to their principal, created advertisements, designed collection bins to place around the school, and prepared donations for drop-off at the Humane League.
The Lancaster County Coalition for Smart Growth sponsored the student awards and provided cash prizes for the winners.
Individual awards went to Daniel L. Zimmerman and Kathie Shirk Gonick. Zimmerman received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his more than 30 years of work, particularly as Warwick Township manager. Zimmerman played significant leadership roles in regional planning, farmland preservation, trail development, and watershed protection efforts in the township and beyond. Gonick, senior vice president of land protection and general counsel, received a Distinguished Service Award for her sustained role in permanently preserving nearly 5,000 acres of natural land with the Lancaster Conservancy.
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