Big Island Projects
Earn APA Honors
Tom Witten, president of PBR Hawaii & Associates, thanks the APA and acknowledges the people of Kona for Ooma’s outstanding planning award.
The Hawaii chapter of the American Planning Association (APA) presented its planning awards on Sept. 24 at the annual Hawaii Congress of Planning Officials (HCPO) conference at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel.
Two projects on the Big Island were presented with awards for outstanding planning: the Kona Community Development Plan (CDP) and the Ooma Beachside Village proposed community.
APA recognized the work of PBR Hawaii & Associates for its use of traditional neighborhood design in the master plan for the Ooma project, citing the plan as a “visionary process for sustainable communities.”
In accepting the award, Tom Witten, PBR’s president, said, “we worked closely with stakeholders, from area residents to cultural descendants and regional leaders, to ensure the master plan not only incorporated the thoughts and needs of the community but is also consistent with the Kona CDP.”
The Kona regional plan took three years of extensive outreach and planning to complete and officially was adopted last year as the district’s guideline for future development.
Other awards presented include:
• Environment/Preservation — Chris Hart & Partners, Inc. and Friends of Old Maui High School; master plan for the Reuse and Revitalization of the old Maui High School
• Best Practices for Sustainability — Van Meter Williams Pollack; Waipahu Neighborhood Transit-Oriented Development Plan
• Community Advocacy Planning — University of Hawaii Department of Urban and Regional Planning (UH DURP) Community-Based Planning Students; Building a Community-Based Playground – Creating Keiki Pride project
• Community-Based Planning — UH DURP Planning Practicum; Waimanalo Youth and Family Collaborative Center Plan
The annual Hawaii APA awards are given to recognize individuals, communities and organizations whose work exemplifies the planning profession’s highest goals and ideals.
