Announcement

The APA Small Town and Rural (STaR) Planning Division selected the Longmeadow Climate-Resilient Long Range Plan for a national planning award at this year’s National Planning Conference. STaR leaders announced the 2025 Vernon Deines Honor Award for an Outstanding Small Town or Rural Plan, Small Jurisdiction for Longmeadow’s plan during a ceremony at the University of Denver’s College of Architecture and Planning on March 31. APA-MA previously selected the Longmeadow Climate-Resilient Long Range Plan Comprehensive … Read more

Serving as an elected leader in APA offers a tremendous opportunity to sharpen your skills, expand your networks, and work directly to strengthen the impact of the organization.  The portal for candidate self-nominations will be open through May 9th at https://apa.directnominations.net/, and includes all the groups and positions up for election this year. Learn more at https://www.planning.org/elections/

Congratulations to Melisa Tintocalis, Economic Development Director, Town of Burlington; the City of Lowell, and Yihao Wu of Harvard University for receiving the following awards at the 2025 APA National Planning Conference held in Denver CO. March 29th thru April 1st. We will have additional details about Melisa and Yihao in upcoming APA-MA Newsletters and the June edition of Massachusetts Planning Magazine! Meanwhile, here are the details for the City of Lowell: The City of Lowell’s Economic Development … Read more

Here’s the Winter 2025 Issue of Massachusetts Planning!  We hope you enjoy this issue and find the articles interesting, informative and useful.  As always, your comments and suggestions are always welcome! Stay tuned for another edition of Massachusetts Planning coming in the Spring of 2025!

On behalf of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA-MA), I am pleased to announce that the $35 fee for its “Chapter Only Membership” has been waived for Massachusetts Planning and Zoning Board members, in recognition of the many hours you give to your respective communities. We appreciate the time and effort you make to serve your community and are pleased to offer this opportunity! As a Chapter Only Member you can attend … Read more

On January 8, 2025, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court published an opinion confirming that the MBTA Communities Law is constitutional and valid, and that the Attorney General has the power to enforce it. The Court also opined that EOHLC must promulgate the law’s implementing guidelines through the Administrative Procedures Act if they are to be enforceable. Earlier today, EOHLC filed emergency regulations with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, which are effective upon filing. EOHLC plans … Read more