City of San Luis Obispo Wayfinding and Signage Program
City of San Luis Obispo and RRM Design Group

The San Luis Obispo Wayfinding and Signage Project received an Award of Excellence for the 2020 Central Coast APACA Planning Awards.  The jurors thought the project submitted was thoughtful in meeting its design goal to create a straightforward wayfinding program for more consistency in design and to improve overall circulation helping both residents and tourists.   The colors, sizing, materials, and simple font struck the right balance of historic character befitting of San Luis Obispo, along with the function of providing information to users.  The use of different City seal medallion treatments was a nice feature tying the signage program together.  Additionally, the jurors commented on the program implementation and appreciated the pictures of the wayfinding signs in use. The jurors unanimously determined that the San Luis Obispo Wayfinding and Signage Project met the criteria for the Implementation Award.

Habitat Connectivity and Wildlife Corridor Ordinance
County of Ventura Resource Management Agency, Planning Division

The County of Ventura Planning Division’s Habitat Connectivity and Wildlife Corridors Ordinance has received an Award of Excellence from the APA Central Coast Section. The jurors felt that the Habitat Connectivity and Wildlife Corridors Ordinance serves as an excellent example to other jurisdictions interested in preserving critical linkages and biodiversity through an incentive-based approach to land use planning and regulation. The County of Ventura Planning Division’s extensive outreach to stakeholders and the public, and the Division’s efforts to modify the draft ordinance to address stakeholder and public concerns, demonstrate a commitment to both serving the public interest and to protecting habitat and wildlife. The jury acknowledged the County of Ventura Planning Division’s multi-level planning approach, including updates to the General Plan, zoning ordinance, overlay zone, approval regulations, and zoning map amendment, addressing standards ranging from lighting regulations to vegetation management to lot coverage.  The jury applauds the County of Ventura’s leadership to develop, adopt, and implement this first-of-its-kind ordinance in the region.

Ventura County Resilient Coastal Adaptation Project
County of Ventura Resource Management Agency, Planning Division
RRM Design Group, Mintier Harnish

The Ventura County Resilient Coastal Adaptation Project has received an Award of Excellence for the 2020 Central Coast APACA Planning Awards.  The jurors thought the project exemplified the Best Practices Award as it is innovative and replicable as a model for communities facing similar issues statewide.  The jurors were impressed by the public outreach effort given the challenging topic and critical need to obtain public and private support to move forward.  It was informative to understand that Ventura County has the most armored shoreline in California and that through the outreach effort, staff and the consultant found that further education and public outreach should be prioritized before going further with policy development. The documents are well organized, easy to read, with excellent graphics for telling a difficult story and one juror noted that the GIS Story Map was an excellent outreach tool.  The jurors unanimously determined that the Ventura County Resilient Coastal Adaptation Project meets the criteria for Best Practices.

Redevelopment Visions for the Boys School Site
Department of City and Regional Planning Cal Poly San Luis Obispo,
Dr. Hemalata C. Dandekar and City of Paso Robles Community Development Department

The Redevelopment Visions for the Boys School Site, has received an Award of Excellence for the 2020 Central Coast APACA Planning Awards. The four distinct development concepts envisioned by the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Master’s students were comprehensive and creative, yet realistic. The jurors were impressed by the amount of work completed in only ten weeks, including site assessment, concept development, plans/models preparation, and presentation to City of Paso Robles officials. The final report is an inspiring display of land use planning and urban design with excellent visual representations of the four concepts. The jurors particularly liked the dynamic VinoTech model as a marketable idea that would be compatible with the community. The jury applauds Cal Poly’s talented graduate planning students and professors for the level of effort and thoughtfulness that went into this project.

City of Goleta Parks, Facilities, and Playgrounds Master Plan
City of Goleta and KTUA

The City of Goleta’s – Park, Facilities, and Playgrounds Master Plan has received an Award of Merit from the APA Central Coast Section.  The jurors felt that the Park, Facilities, and Playgrounds Master Plan was a good example of how to develop a population-based park level of service while considering equitable distribution and universal access to parks via multiple transportation modes.  The jury was impressed by the creation of the realistic park service coverage area with the use of the actual street network to generate realistic and accurate walksheds that reflect access barriers such as freeways, cul-de-sacs, rail lines, and creeks.  The City and consultant’s community outreach were strong. The jurors especially liked the pop-up outreach effort.  The plan is well structured, easy to understand, and contains strong pictures and illustrations.

Goleta Train Depot Master Plan
City of Goleta, Rincon Consultants, and Steer

The City of Goleta’s – Goleta Train Depot Master Plan has received an Award of Merit from the APA Central Coast Section.  The jurors believe that the Goleta Train Depot Master Plan is a helpful document in setting forth the guidelines and policies that will determine the future design of the Goleta Train Depot.  The jurors appreciated the City’s commitment to the continued development of the train depot regarding climate change, low income-communities, and the enhanced economic impacts. The jury looks forward to the continuing coordination with Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District for the development of first/last mile transit service that will connect the depot and UCSB.  The plan is organized well and has strong graphics illustrating what the Goleta Train Depot can become in the future.

San Luis Ranch
City of San Luis Obispo, MI San Luis Ranch, LLC, and Lisa Wise Consulting

The City of San Luis Obispo – San Luis Ranch Specific Plan has received an Award of Merit from the APA Central Coast Section.  The jurors consider the San Luis Ranch Specific Plan as a strong example of a specific plan that uses innovative and forward-thinking principles. The plan utilizes convenient, logical connections to public transit, a mix of uses, agriculture and open space preservation, all while providing a variety of housing options.  The jurists welcomed the commitment to providing housing to a diverse range of income levels and age groups.  The jury appreciated the City and consultant team addressing the concerns and challenges of the community by understanding the community’s vision for the property.  The plan is well laid out and structured with strong graphics and illustrations.

Mission Plaza Concept Plan
City of San Luis Obispo and RRM Design Group

The Mission Plaza Concept Plan has received an Award of Merit for the 2020 Central Coast APACA Planning Awards.  The jurors thought the project submitted created an excellent catalog of current conditions from a visual assessment of the various structures as a starting point.  The flexible design of the sub-spaces within the conceptual plan addresses the multi-faceted desires of the citizenry and businesses within the area.  The plan rightly identifies the cultural and archeological features of the site as major considerations in project implementation, which will likely result in the use of significant funding and time. One of the design aspects that the jurors commented on was the mention of transient and undesirable activity, but the plan failed to address how that issue was resolved or assisted by the project, especially in light of the context of Catholicism (incorporating the fact that this is a mission plaza) and its views on alleviating homelessness.  The jurors unanimously determined that the Mission Plaza Concept Plan met most of the criteria for the Urban Design Award, with the exception of the “effectiveness and results” category.