Port of San Diego Takes Home Four San Diego American Planning Association Awards

The Port of San Diego has been honored with four awards from the San Diego American Planning Association (SDAPA), which recognizes outstanding contributions to urban planning, community engagement, and comprehensive development initiatives. The Port received the 2024 Planning Agency Excellence Award, the 2024 Comprehensive Plan: Large Jurisdiction Excellence Award, and the 2024 Public Outreach Excellence Award. The Port also received a Resilience and Sustainability Planning Merit Award for the Maritime Clean Air Strategy. Representatives from the Port's Planning Department accepted the awards at a ceremony on Thursday, June 27 at Liberty Station.

"Winning these awards is a tremendous honor for the Port of San Diego, and we are so proud of the dynamic work carried out by our planning team," said Chairman Frank Urtasun, Port of San Diego Board of Port Commissioners. "These accomplishments highlight our dedication to a best in class, innovative and collaborative planning process that ensures we are delivering on our promise and creating a San Diego Bay for all Californians to enjoy."

The Port was awarded the following:

• 2024 Planning Agency Excellence Award: Honors the work of a public sector planning agency that has continually produced a program of exceptional work that has elevated awareness about planning in and around San Diego Bay.
• 2024 Comprehensive Plan - Large Jurisdiction Excellence Award: Awarded for the efforts put into the Port Master Plan Update (PMPU) which is a comprehensive, integrated bay wide planning approach that will modernize the Port's method for planning and design for future uses and activities within the Port Tidelands. Unlike other Port Master Plans, the Port's PMPU document was developed as a graphic and user-friendly document, rather than a traditional text-based planning document. The PMPU was approved in February of 2024.
• 2024 Public Outreach Excellence Award: Recognizes the Port's efforts engaging the community for the updated design and expansion of Pepper Park as part of the National City Balanced Plan. Over 13 months, the Port's planning team, in partnership with various other Port departments and consultants, held two virtual workshops, two design surveys, three pop-up workshops, and one in person workshop. All workshops were held in English, with simultaneous interpretation in Spanish and Tagalog.
• 2024 Resilience and Sustainability Merit Award: Acknowledges the Maritime Clean Air Strategy for showcasing a collaborative regional effort setting ambitious zero emission goals.

It's the Port's Planning Department's mission to advance a holistically planned waterfront that is welcoming, sustainable, prosperous, and improves the quality of life for present and future generations. The Planning Department plays a pivotal role in establishing a vision for San Diego Bay's waterfront so that it is an enjoyable place for people to work, live, and play. Through past and ongoing efforts, the Port's Planning Department has achieved a high-level of transparency and engagement to garner support for its planning efforts.