American Planning Association honors RBF Consulting project

IRVINE, CALIF. — RBF Consulting (RBF), a Company of Michael Baker Corporation, and the City of Murrieta, Calif., were recently awarded the Comprehensive Planning Award: Large Jurisdiction by the American Planning Association, Inland Empire Section (APA IES). The City of Murrieta contracted RBF in 2009 to update the city’s General Plan and prepare its first Climate Action Plan.

The General Plan 2035 is a comprehensive revision of the city’s 1994 General Plan, and includes an update, reorganization, and addition of the following state-mandated and optional elements: Land Use, Economic Development, Circulation, Infrastructure, Healthy Community, Conservation, Recreation and Open Space, Air Quality, Noise, and Safety. The Healthy Community element highlights the connections between health and the physical, social, and economic environment, and provides an overarching strategy for achieving and maintaining a healthy community.

Murrieta was the first city in Riverside County to adopt a Healthy Community Element. The Murrieta General Plan 2035 provides a clear vision for focused areas of change, and establishes a foundation for future economic growth and development while staying true to the 25-year community vision. The General Plan, adopted by the Murrieta City Council in July 2011, is the policy vehicle to enhance the city as a quality and successful suburban residential and employment center.

"We congratulate the City of Murrieta for this APA award-winning planning effort and are honored to have been their planning consultants as part of the General Plan 2035 project team," indicated Michael J. Burke, AICP, executive vice president for RBF. "The completion of the first Healthy Community Element in Riverside County is a visionary accomplishment on the part of Murrieta and will serve as a model for cities across the state for years to come."