Kauaʻi County Recently Awarded APA National’s Daniel Burnham Award for its Updated County General Plan
Congratulations to Kauai County for receiving APA National’s Daniel Burnham Award for its updated general plan, Kauaʻi Kākou. This award is granted to comprehensive or general plans that advance the art and science of planning. Plans receiving this award exhibit exceptional characteristics including engagement with a variety of stakeholders and efforts to build public support for plan adherence and implementation. Additional information about this award is available on the APA’s National Planning Awards webpage.
Kauaʻi Kākou was adopted by the Kaua‘i County Council in Spring 2018 following a three year planning effort. The updated general plan was prepared by the Kauaʻi County Planning Department and a consultant team led by SSFM International’s Strategic Services Group. The plan sets an island wide vision and goals; identifies Kauaʻi’s unique qualities that should be protected; and directs where and how growth should occur to ensure sustainability, resilience, and opportunity for Kauaʻi residents over the next twenty years. The plan identifies multiple ways of collaborating and encouraging partnerships with diverse stakeholders including government agencies, civic leaders, and community members. The plan that resulted from these extensive engagement efforts is more simplified than its predecessor, with 19 streamlined policy statements addressing issues such as multimodal transportation, tourism management, social equity, and climate change. To address resident concerns about transparency in implementation, the plan establishes a regular monitoring cycle with several feedback points and calls for creation of the Kākou Committee that meets every two years to review the plan. In this manner, the updated general plan embodies the theme of Kauaʻi Kākou, a Hawaiian concept meaning “we’re all in this together”. Kauaʻi Kākou was also awarded the APA Hawaii Chapter’s 2018 Outstanding Planning Award, in recognition of the plan’s innovation and response to community input.
Kauaʻi Kākou can be accessed by visiting plankauai.com