APA-KY will hold its annual meeting on Thursday, May 18, 2017, at Lake Cumberland State Resort Park as part of our Spring Conference schedule. The awards ceremony and annual meeting are slated to begin at 2:45 pm, but check the final program for the actual meeting time.

The APA-KY Board will consider adoption of changes to the Chapter Development Plan, bylaws and chapter dues structure. APA requires that each state chapter’s strategic plan be updated every two years and bylaws be updated every four years. Copies of the proposed changes to each document are posted on the APA-KY website for review prior to the May 18th meeting. 

While there are not significant changes proposed to the Chapter Development Plan, there are two significant bylaws changes proposed. First, as recommended by APA, APA-KY has moved our election cycle to synch with the APA election cycle which necessitates changes to the bylaws to reflect the timing for nominations, ballots, voting, etc. The second proposed change to the bylaws is to allow the membership to vote on changes to dues structure at the annual meeting. 

APA National has mandated that, by the end of 2017, all chapters migrate from a flat rate due (ours is currently $35) to a sliding scale based on a percentage of each member’s APA dues (APA National dues are based on each member’s annual income). Kentucky’s flat rate was last increased in 2010 from $25 to $35. This change is important for a couple of reasons. First, tying chapter dues to the income-based formula for APA dues is inherently more equitable. Kentucky members who are in lower-paid positions will pay lower chapter dues than members who earn more. Second, a percentage-based dues structure will provide greater financial stability to the chapter and avoid the need for the chapter to periodically revisit the dues structure.  Based on current revenue from dues, the executive committee anticipates recommending a 17% rate which will maintain revenue slightly above current. Analyzing a sample of 2016 APA-KY membership data, with a 17% rate, salaries less than $50,000 should see a dues decrease, salaries between $50,000 and $80,000 should see an increase between $3 and $10 per year and salaries greater than $80,000 should see an increase between $15 and $30 per year. Based on this data, approximately 40% of APA-KY membership will see a decrease in dues, 40% will see a very modest increase, and the remaining 20% will see a more significant increase.
APA-KY remains committed to providing the highest possible level of service to its members and chapter dues are the primary funding source for these services. We strive to provide quality continuing education opportunities around the state for both planners and planning commission/board of adjustment members, networking opportunities, access to job and RFP/RFQ postings, newsletters and email communications, and legislative advocacy.

I hope and trust that all members will understand that APA-KY is following the mandate established by APA National, and while dues will increase for a portion of the membership, the executive committee has worked diligently to analyze the data and propose a percentage that is in keeping with current revenue and this is not an effort to significantly increase revenue. This is evident in the fact that of the 27 chapters that have already converted to the percentage based dues, two have adopted 15%, one 18%, and the remaining chapters range between 25% and 45%.

Brian Howard, AICP
APA-KY Presisent

Purpose: Pro bono technical assistance to help communities develop a strategic vision and promote community resiliency, usually by focusing on a specific issue and/or geographic area.

Eligibility: Any local government (city, town, special status, county) in the United States or Canada.

What it is: Five-person multidisciplinary teams of public and private sector experts from fields relevant to the community's need (e.g., sustainability, climate change, planning, architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, economic development, finance, the arts).

Click here for more information.

Click here to read the Fall 2016 APA-KY Chapter Newsletter. 

If you did not receive the Newsletter via email and would like to subscribe to APA-KY email notifications, please send an email to apakentucky@gmail.com and indicate that you with to subscribe to the list.

We still need sponsors for the 2016 Planning Conference.  Click here for more information.

APA OH, APA KY, and APA IN are pleased to announce a call for conference sessions for the 2016 Regional Planning Conference on October 5-7, 2016, in Indianapolis.

The theme for the conference is Planning to Live, Living to Plan. We anticipate selecting at least 20 conference sessions. Regular conference sessions will be 1.25-1.5 hours. Session focus areas/tracks include:

Health
Transportation
Sustainability, including tiny houses, water resources, life cycle communities, etc.
Enhancing planning practice, including citizen planner appropriate sessions
Economic development
Miscellaneous, including law and ethics

Session proposals are due June 15 at 5 pm EDT. For more information and instructions for submitting proposals,  click here.

​PLANNING TO LIVE, LIVING TO PLAN
OKI 2016 FALL CONFERENCE
Wednesday, October 5-Friday, October 7 2016
Hyatt Regency Indianapolis, IN

If you are interested in sponsoring the 2016 OKI Conference click here for the sponsorship form.

Planning to Live, Living to Plan: Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana (OKI) Regional Planning Conference 2016

Indianapolis, IN
October 5-7, 2016

Submit your logo art (EPS, PDF, or JPEG format) to Jill Ewing  (administrator@indianaplanning.org) by 5 PM EST May 13, 2016.

A logo will be selected from the submissions by the steering committee. The winner will receive a complimentary conference registration.

March 24, 2016

​Kenton County’s new comprehensive plan—Direction 2030: Your Voice. Your Choice—is the 2016 recipient of a national Award of Excellence in the Comprehensive Plan – Large Jurisdiction category.  The award is one of several accolades granted to planning projects from across the nation by the American Planning Association (APA) County Planning Division and its sister organization, the National Association of County Planners.  The award will be presented on April 4 during the APA National Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.

“This recognition was a nice surprise,” said Dennis Gordon, FAICP, executive director of Planning and Development Services of Kenton County (PDS).  PDS provides professional staff support to the Kenton County Planning Commission, the board ultimately responsible for crafting and adopting the comprehensive plan.

“Being acknowledged with the respect of your peers is outstanding.  In this case, though, it recognizes the fact that this plan was the result of hard work by members of the planning commission, citizens and interest groups from across the county, and of course our staff.  This plan was truly a collaborative effort,” said Gordon.

Direction 2030: Your Voice. Your Choice. was crafted through an aggressive three-year public engagement process.  The plan was grounded in research provided by a national market analyst, most of it from sources bankers use for reviewing development-financing strategies.  

Planners and technical experts from PDS’ GIS team then went to work crafting an entirely new concept for content delivery.  The final plan (direction2030.org)—there is no printed product—documents its creation, delivers guidance to anyone anywhere 24/7/365, and incorporates GIS technologies to entice users to interact with its contents.  

Shortly after the plan’s adoption, PDS planners and GIS professionals created a second website (action.direction2030.org) to keep participants and stakeholders up to date with information from the various implementation efforts being undertaken by the planning commission and others across the community.

This national award follows an Award of Merit for an Outstanding Comprehensive Plan given last year by the Kentucky Chapter of the American Planning Association.

Each year the American Planning Association’s County Planning Division and the National Association of County Planners gives out County Planning Project Awards.   Only one Award of Excellence and one Award of Merit may be granted per category each year.  If the awards jury finds that none of the nominations in a particular category meets the desirable standards, they may withhold the award in that category for that year.

“This recognition, without question, goes ultimately to the countless residents who came out to express their hopes and dreams for Kenton County’s future.  Much more than merely a title, Direction 2030: Your Voice. Your Choice. really did represent the ultimate goal for our process and our final product,” concluded Gordon.  “We couldn’t be prouder that our collaborative efforts are being held up as a model.”

“Thank you Kenton County!”