Salinas, CA -- The City of Salinas Economic Development Element received an Outstanding Planning Document award from the
California Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP) on April 4. The recognition is given to the agency that best balances planning for population growth with protecting the environment. That includes preserving environmental resources, minimizing greenhouse emissions, and providing urban recreation and natural open space.
Doug Yount, the City's Strategic Economic Development Advisor, accepted the award on behalf of the City at the AEP Conference in San Diego.
The Economic Development Element is a strategy for economic growth. It identifies goals, objectives and policies needed to guide future public and private sector actions in pursuit of a more prosperous and healthy Salinas.
Plans submitted to the AEP were judged on the basis of the following criteria:
- Protection of sensitive environmental resources and agriculture;
- Accommodation of HCD and COG population growth projections;
- Regional jobs/housing balance to reduce commuting;
- Provision of housing affordable to a range of household incomes; and
- Provision of complete streets (public transit, bikeways, and pedestrian paths).
About the California Association of Environmental Professionals
(
www.califaep.org)
The AEP was founded in 1974 as non-profit association of public and private sector professionals with a common interest in serving the principles underlying the California Environmental Quality Act. The specific and primary purposes of the association are to establish and operate a professional association of persons involved in and committed to improving the processing and implementation of environmental assessment, analysis, public disclosure, and reporting.
A key strategic goal of AEP is to provide statewide recognition of environmental professionals' best works that contribute to the "enhancement, maintenance and protection of the quality of the natural and human environment." Each year during the annual AEP Conference, the organization celebrates the best-of-the-best environmental documents, professional achievements, and services to environmental professions.
