MPC Staff Lauded at State Planning Conference

MPC staff participated in the annual Fall Conference of the Tennessee Chapter of the American Planning Association (TAPA) last week in Kingsport.

The three-day session was organized around the theme, "Farmhouse to Penthouse: Planning for Healthy Living and Healthy Communities in Tennessee." Rural and urban planning topics comprised the conference agenda.

MPC's Liz Albertson and Ellen Zavisca were joined by Sheryl Ely of the Knox County Health Department for a panel discussion on the ties between planning and public health in Knox County. Session highlights included the role that local groups like the Food Policy Council, Safe Routes to School Partnership, Together! Healthy Knox, and Plan East Tennessee play in integrating community health initiatives with local planning efforts.

Former MPC planner Anne Wallace, now with the City of Knoxville's Policy and Redevelopment Office, presented theCumberland Avenue Corridor Project, an urban design and streetscape plan to improve the residential and retail character of one of Knoxville's busiest corridors. Other Tennessee cities have also begun streetscape and land use programs, and Kimley-Horn and Associates provided an overview of their Gallatin and Erwin projects.

Another ex-MPC staffer, Brad Thompson, now with Volkert Inc, an engineering and environmental consulting firm, presented the Spring Hill Park and Recreation Master Plan. He gave kudos to MPC, noting that his Spring Hill plan "borrowed from concepts in the Knoxville-Knox County Plan, knowing that MPC created a high quality product."

Presentations about farmland and rural area conservation also were on the conference agenda. Planners heard from state agriculture experts about challenges in maintaining Tennessee's $3.1 billion agriculture industry. Lack of funding for grant programs to help farmers save their operations by selling development rights was discussed. Also highlighted was the role of the Land Trust for Tennesseein preserving the state's important natural and historic land assets.

At the conference Awards Presentation, University of Tennessee landscape architecture graduate Patrick Osbourne accepted the TAPA Student Achievement Award on behalf of his fellow students and faculty for their work with PlanET. The group completed greenway, stormwater management, and town revival plans and was recognized for their outstanding contribution. Also recognized at the Awards ceremony, MPC's Buz Johnson and Mike Carberry were inducted to the Tennessee Leadership Council, an honorary planning organization comprised of the state's most accomplished planners. Buz and Mike have a combined tenure of 80 years in planning.