The city of Sumner has received a 2008 Governor’s Smart Communities Award recognizing its efforts to revitalize the downtown core through the Town Center Plan.
The Smart Communities Awards acknowledge cities’ efforts toward effective growth management planning, according to the Washington Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, the lead state agency in charge of enhancing and promoting sustainable community and economic vitality.
Sumner’s Town Center Plan, implemented in 2005, is a road map for transforming downtown Sumner into a vibrant gathering place, commercial core and a residential neighborhood, according to the city’s application for the award. By-products of the plan include reducing sprawl and focusing new growth in an area served by the Sounder.
Sumner Mayor Dave Enslow called the plan “a community effort” that contributes to the quality of life in Sumner. Receiving the award is a good recognition of everyone’s efforts, he added.
“I was just tickled pink,” Enslow said. “I think Sumner was really proud of our downtown plan and the way the downtown was working together.”
The plan was created as a supporting document for the 2005 Comprehensive Plan and focuses on a 210-acre area in downtown Sumner. Efforts that are a part of the Town Center Plan include new design standards for mixed-use development, the forthcoming Red Apple mixed-use project and historic preservation ordinance.
“We’re all just proud of the downtown and way it’s turning out,” Enslow said. “Downtown is the soul of Sumner.”
City officials made their case in the award application by noting that their plan demonstrates that smaller communities can put forth successful downtown revitalization efforts without extensive staff or cost — and the city’s plan can serve as a model for other small communities to think big or for larger cities to incorporate a small-town style.
The Smart Communities Award that was received is a “Smart Partnership Award” for a development project designed to implement a plan. Judges’ positive comments focused on integrating several plans into one result and effective efforts to recruit retailers.
Criteria for the award included innovative and meaningful public participation, carrying out the goals of the state Growth Management Act and tangible benefits to the community. Other winning cities included Everett, Bremerton, Newcastle and Kirkland, and Adams County received a merit award.
The city of Sumner receives an award and a plaque to acknowledge the honor.
Print
E-Mail