Warwick received the Excellent Comprehensive Plan Award from the Rhode Island chapter of the American Planning Association (APA RI) at a ceremony held on Dec. 11. The award, which recognizes a plan that advances the science and art of planning, was given at the chapter’s annual awards celebration, honoring the best of the state’s planning efforts. 

The plan entitled 21st Century Warwick: City of Livable Neighborhoods, contains an overall vision that embodies Warwick’s unique sense of place, culture, and heritage, and establishes a set of goals, policies and actions to implement the vision. The plan is organized into a series of “elements,” or topic areas, including natural resources, historic and cultural resources, open space and recreation, housing and neighborhoods, economic development, transportation and circulation, services and facilities, land use, and “resilience,” an element focusing on how best to adapt to increased hazards from flooding and other potential impacts of climate change.

According to the APA RI, the Warwick Comprehensive Plan was commended for its solid content, the transferability of its ideas and approaches to other communities, its accessible layout and design, and the very extensive public engagement process used to develop it. 

Jeff Davis, chair of the APA RI Awards Committee said, “It is an extraordinary challenge for local planning departments to generate public interest, let alone excitement, for a comprehensive plan. While no community can ever do enough public outreach, the city of Warwick did a tremendous job.  Consequently, their new plan reflects the shared values of Warwick residents and really lays out a solid path for strengthening the city’s neighborhoods, economy, resiliency, and quality of life.”

In a statement, Avedisian said, “I am very proud that the city of Warwick received this important award. I would like to thank Planning Director William DePasquale, Principal Planner Dan Geagan and the Planning Department for their hard work in developing this strategic plan, which will set the foundation for our city’s future prosperity. It took a lot of teamwork to enable us to develop this plan. I would like to express my gratitude to the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee, the Planning Board, the City Council, residents and business people who attended many public meetings and shared their insights.”