The City of Johnston and Hoisington Koegler Group, Inc. received the Danial Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan from the Iowa Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA) for the City of Johnston’s Thrive 2040 Comprehensive Plan. The award was presented on Thursday, October 13, 2022, at the Iowa APA Conference in Ottumwa.
The Thrive 2040 Comprehensive Plan was adopted by the Johnston City Council on November 2, 2020, following an 18 month planning process led by the Hoisington Koegler Group, Inc. a Minneapolis based planning and design firm. As factors in making the award, the award jury noted several factors of the Thrive 2040 planning process:
- City’s public engagement efforts throughout the planning process, including a transition to socially distanced engagement as a result of COVID-19
- The Thrive 2040 Report Card, an assessment of the Community since the previous plan update
- The strength of the Thrive 2040 Implementation Plan
The plan was adopted with significant support from the Commission, Council and Community. Implementation efforts on several of the key strategies began almost immediately following the adoption, including the process of rewriting the City’s entire Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Regulations. This effort has kept the community engaged in the planning process and will ensure the community’s vision developed in the plan will be carried out in the built environment.
The American Planning Association Iowa Chapter (APA Iowa) is a membership organization of approximately 400 professional planners, planning educators, planning commissioners and planning students from across the state of Iowa. APA Iowa’s mission is to strengthen planning to create thriving communities. We do this through celebration, advocacy, relationships, and education of our members and communities.