APA California — Northern Section Awards

Each year, the APA California — Northern Section bestows Planning Awards to honor the most outstanding efforts in planning in the Section. The jury was impressed with the high quality of applications across the board. After careful deliberation, the results are in, and we are excited to share them with you!

Awards Category	Organization	Name of Project	Award (Excellence/Merit)
Academic	UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies	Assessing Public Outreach about Slow Streets in San Francisco	Excellence
Academic	UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies	Using Data Science for Equity at SFMTA	Merit
Best Practices	Community Planning Collaborative	Mother Lode ADU	Excellence
Best Practices	Rincon Consultants	Napa Sonoma Collaborative, 4LEAF, and Rincon Consultants/Housing Connect	Merit
Communications Initiative	City of Concord	City of Concord/Planning Division/Concord Community Academy	Excellence
Comprehensive Plan – Large Jurisdiction	Community Planning Collaborative	Moffett Park Specific Plan	Excellence
Comprehensive Plan – Small Jurisdiction	Dyett & Bhatia, Urban and Regional Planners	Napa 2040 General Plan (General Plan Update)	Merit
Economic Planning and Development	City of Berkeley	Zoning Amendments for Berkeley Business	Excellence
Economic Planning and Development	Rhoades Planning Group & Lexington Planning	Old Town Newark Specific Plan	Merit
Hard-Won Victories	Raimi + Associates	Downtown Watsonville Specific Plan	Excellence
Opportunity/ Empowerment	City of Oakland – Planning and Building Department	Team: City of Oakland Planning and Building Department, Dyett and Bhatia, Deeply Rooted Collaborative/Oakland 2045 General Plan Update Phase 1	Excellence
Planning Agency (public sector)	City of Campbell	City of Campbell Planning	Excellence
Public Outreach	Town of Corte Madera	Town of Corte Madera Housing Element Update (2023 – 2031)	Excellence
Public Outreach	Dudek	Underrepresented Communities Technical Assistance Program: Communication, Engagement, Facilitation, and Technical Assistance for Tribal Governments, Unrepresented Communities, and Small Socially Disadvantaged Farmers	Merit
Resilience and Sustainability	WRT	Reimagine San Geronimo: A Vision Framework	Excellence
Resilience and Sustainability	Rincon Consultants, Inc.	Sonoma County Carbon Inventory and Sequestration Potential Study	Merit
Transportation Planning	City of San Pablo	City of San Pablo Contra Costa College Mobility Hub Plan	Excellence
Transportation Planning	Fehr & Peers	City of San Jose / San Jose Downtown Transportation Plan	Merit
Urban Design	CMG Landscape Architecture	San Francisco Civic Center Public Realm Plan	Excellence
Urban Design	Dyett & Bhatia	Sonoma Developmental Center Specific Plan	Merit

In addition to the aforementioned awards, the Northern Section Director bestowed the following special recognition awards:

• Special Recognition Award: Emerging Planner – Carlina Rose
• Special Recognition Award: Mid-Career Planner – Omar Masry, AICP
• Special Recognition Award: Distinguished Planner – Darcy Kremin, AICP

The Northern Section Board would like to extend a huge thank you to our panel of jurors for taking the time to review each application thoroughly and for engaging in thoughtful deliberation. Our 2024 Jury was comprised of:

• Anne Hersch, AICP, Land Use Planning Manager, City of Berkeley
• Audrey Maria Zagazeta, Chief Executive Officer, Circlepoint
• Kim Walton, Senior Transportation Planner, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
• Timothy Rood AICP, LEED AP, Community Development Director, City of Hercules
• Veronica Tam, Owner, Veronica Tam and Associates

Save the Date: Awards Gala 

Congratulations to all of the winners and thank you to everyone who applied. We look forward to seeing you at our Awards Gala, where our 2024 APA California – Northern Section Awards recipients will be celebrated. The Gala will tentatively be held on September 12th, 2024. More information will be shared once it becomes available. If you, or someone you know, is interested in helping to plan the Awards Gala, please contact Danae Hall at awardssubmissions@norcalapa.org. 

Important Dates 

1. Northern Section Awards Application Window – February 12- March 8, 2024
2. Northern Section Awards Jury Deliberations – March 9 – March 24, 2024
3. Northern Section Awards Winner Notification – April 5, 2024
4. State Awards Application Window – Opens April 15, 2024 
5. Northern Section Awards Awards Gala – September 12, 2024, location TBD