Oro Valley Shines with Award-Winning Project to Protect Saguaros
Oro Valley residents will be delighted to hear that the town’s Planning Division has received a prestigious award! At the 2022 State Planning Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, the division was honored with an “Ordinance/Regulation/Legislation/Adopted Policy” award by the Arizona Chapter of the National Planning Association. This recognition comes from their standout project, “Keeping Heritage Saguaros Central to Design.”
Preserving our environment is a key value in Oro Valley’s General Plan, and our town has policies to ensure healthy saguaros are preserved. However, with new developments cropping up in areas rich with these iconic cacti, it became clear that we needed to fine-tune how these policies were applied and interpreted.
The Planning Division, part of the Community and Economic Development Department, took this challenge to heart. They dove into past studies on saguaros and consulted with experts locally and beyond to nail down what makes a saguaro healthy and how best to protect them during construction. This thorough research led to updated procedures that help identify and care for these majestic plants during development. Field studies using these new methods have shown promising results.
Planning Manager Bayer Vella expressed his excitement, saying, “This award celebrates the Town’s commitment to conserving our heritage saguaros. Our efforts align with the community’s environmental values as outlined in the ‘Your Voice, Our Future General Plan.’ This groundbreaking work has already improved how subdivisions are designed, helping maintain heritage saguaros in their natural places, identifying candidates for transplant, and safeguarding them during construction.”
For those interested in learning more about this fantastic project, there’s a video available here.
The award was received by the dedicated team: Michael Spaeth, Principal Planner; Hannah Oden, Senior Planner; Bayer Vella, Planning Manager; Milini Simms, Principal Planner; and Kyle Packer, Planner I.
Sources
– YouTube Video