The Florida State University Department of Urban & Regional Planning Spring 2009 Capstone Studio Colquitt Sustainability Plan won the 2009 APA Florida outstanding student project award.

Crafting The Sustainability Plan began with a multi-faceted inventory of the existing conditions. The Studio Team analyzed census data, socioeconomic statistics, land use conditions, development regulations, and transportation data. The team conducted numerous site visits and interviews to learn the community character. Data collection culminated with two public visioning charrettes to expand the understanding of the community from the resident’s perspective. The charrette activities encouraged the community to think creatively about the possibilities for Colquitt’s future; they responded with little hesitation and great enthusiasm. Map exercises, surveys, and candid discussions effectively identified community preferences.

The data collected through this process guided creation of The Plan. First, the Studio Team identified Colquitt’s strengths and weaknesses in order to identify relevant and implementable solutions. The Sustainability Plan proposes projects and strategies that will enable Colquitt to explore ways in which modern technology, innovative marketing of local products, and sustainable energy production will allow it to retain its rural character in a globalized economy. The Plan derives from the cultural and environmental values embedded in Colquitt’s natural, agricultural, and small-town landscape which is currently endangered by both economic stagnation and poorly-planned growth. These problems affect Colquitt’s vitality and sense of place. The Plan will enable Colquitt to become a healthy, resilient, and desirable rural community. It explores issues of community integrity and character through the process of design. It makes recommendations for changes to the existing policies and funding streams to enable implementation. The Plan will empower community leaders to revitalize the downtown, build greenways, and conserve important land resources.

The APA Florida award committee judged The Plan on the following criteria:
1. Methodology
2. Significance to the Planning Field
3. Innovations
4. Transferability
5. Quality: Excellence of analysis, writing, graphics and character of presentation
6. Comprehensiveness: Planning principles observed, especially in considering a project’s effects on other public objectives and the surrounding environment

The significance of The Sustainability Plan to the planning field is as an instruction book, or prototype, for rural communities that wish to forge a sustainable future. The recommendations were individually crafted and are location-specific. However, the studio team recognized the need to create sustainable solutions that could also fit the needs of other rural communities. There is great potential to transfer these sustainability principles and, thereby, contribute to the larger nationwide effort to create a more sustainable way of life.

The studio team consisted of:

Mehdi Benkhatar
Liz Butler
Eric Engman
Caroline Horton
Jeremy Hubsch
Martin Laws
Katelyn Lynch
Holly Monroe
Andrew Orr
Clarissa Owens
Jack Rice
Tyrone Scorsone
Jana Williams
Mary Jean Yarbrough
Professor Melissa Saunders