Dear Federation Member:
The Westchester Municipal Planning Federation invites you to participate in our 50th Annual Planning Awards Program. This year’s awards for Planning Achievement, Planning Commendation and Distinguished Citizen Planner will be presented at the Federation’s annual awards dinner, which has been scheduled for Thursday, May 30, 2024, at Harrison Meadows Country Club in Harrison, NY (Save the Date!). We are excited to be celebrating our 50th year and hope you can all join us in commemorating this impressive milestone!
As in the past, the Federation continues its call for nominations beyond Westchester municipalities to not-for-profit organizations and groups whose efforts promote planning excellence to the benefit of WMPF member communities. There are examples on our website from prior years of such efforts including Community Design Guidelines to Support Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park which received a commendation in 2021 and can be viewed at http://www.wmpf.org/annual-awards/2021-awards. Non-municipal entries should have direct applicability to, and optimally, support from one or more Westchester municipalities. If you know of any such planning projects or efforts, please share this nomination information with the appropriate entity.
2021 Planning Commendation
Planning Achievement Award nominations can be submitted by a municipality for projects that have been completed in your community within the last three years. Notable planning achievements come in many forms and vary widely in scope, and we urge you to consider a broad variety of accomplishments in making your nominations. Nominations that are “ripe” for recognition include projects that have been constructed and are in service, as well as municipal programs, plans, or legislation that have been adopted and have been placed into practice. In the past, communities have been recognized for downtown revitalization; comprehensive planning and plan implementation; housing; historic and architectural preservation; local resource conservation programs; flood and stormwater control planning and implementation, parks planning and implementation; innovative planning and zoning techniques; and community service programs. Please visit our website, Awards page, to see some of the programs and projects that have received awards.
Distinguished Citizen Planner Award nominations are for individuals who have made outstanding and special contributions while serving on municipal land use boards, including planning, zoning and conservation boards. Distinguished Citizen Planner Awards afford us the opportunity to thank some of the many outstanding volunteers who graciously offer their time, energy and expertise to protect and improve the quality of life in Westchester County through good planning practices. A maximum of two individuals may be nominated from any municipality each year.
For both the Planning Achievement and Distinguished Citizen Planner Awards, please complete and return the attached application form with supporting materials:
Electronic submissions are preferred, particularly for photos.
- To upload file(s), upload using Dropbox File Request on our Award Submission page: https://www.wmpf.org/award-submissions.
- By CD or hard copy, please send submissions to:
Janet Giris, WMPF Director-at-Large
DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise & Wiederkehr, LLP
One North Lexington Avenue, 11th floor
White Plains, New York 10601
If you choose to send a hard copy of your application, please submit 3 sets of each application package. For physical projects, you will be asked to accompany a nominations committee member on a site visit to your project at a mutually convenient time in order to answer any questions that may arise.
We look forward to receiving your program entries for Planning Achievement and Citizen Planner Awards and to learning about your noteworthy projects and nominations.
The deadline for submitting nominations for the 2024 Annual Planning Awards Program is Friday, March 29, 2024. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at (914) 681-0200 x125 or email me at janet.giris@wmpf.org.
Sincerely,
Janet Giris, First Vice President and
WMPF Awards Committee Chair