CARY, NC – The NC Chapter of the American Planning Association (NCAPA) awarded its 2002 Outstanding Planning Award to the Town of Cary for its Open Space and Historic Resources Plan. The Open Space and Historic Resources Plan is based on the green infrastructure concept which supports an interconnected system of open space to create a framework for conservation. Furthermore, the OSHRP establishes preservation as a function of local governments. It identifies a greenprint for the Town and provides the necessary tools to affect the protection of significant natural and cultural resources.

In 2000, the Cary Town Council directed its planners to create a plan to preserve resources, protect water quality, and create a network of interconnected open spaces that will shape future urban development, limit sprawl, and manage growth. The OSHRP, an element of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan, was adopted on August 23, 2001. The Plan incorporates a comprehensive database of natural and cultural resources. It identifies significant resources, establishes goals, and outlines steps to preserve and protect these remaining resources throughout Cary.

To support the Plan, the Cary Town Council set aside an unprecedented one-time allocation of $12.5 million to launch the initiative and another $1 million annually to support the project.

In granting the award, the NCAPA cited Cary’s OSHRP because of its significance to the planning field, as well as its innovations in planning theory, methodology, and practice. The Plan was noted specifically for its application of ecological planning principles, its transferability to other agencies and local governments, and its identification of open space corridors for future ecological restoration.

The OSHRP was developed cooperatively by the Town of Cary Planning Department and the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department. The $100,000 project involved ecological and landscape analyses provided by the EcoScience Corporation and the Design Research Laboratory of the NCSU College of Design, respectively. An ad hoc committee of land conservation experts, officials from federal, state and county environmental and state resource agencies, planning academicians and historic preservationists provided technical advice on the Plan’s development.

The Town received the award in the category of ‘Large Community – Comprehensive Plan.’ The NCAPA’s Marvin Collins Outstanding Planning Awards are given annually in several categories to reward excellence in local and regional planning, and are recognition of a community’s diligence and foresight in planning for the future and enhancing quality of life. Staff will be recognized at tonight’s Cary Town Council meeting.