The Sterling Heights Sustainability Commission was awarded the Outstanding Resiliency and Sustainability Award for the 2022 Planning Excellence Awards by the Michigan Association of Planners (MAP/APA Michigan) at their annual conference on Oct. 12.
The jury reviewing the plan, “found the topic areas to be highly specific to Sterling Heights, including a deep dive into opportunities and challenges with the context of the community and its development patterns.”
“We pride ourselves on our ability to be innovative and progressive in Sterling Heights, so it made absolute sense for us to establish the City’s first Sustainability Commission a few years ago” said Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor. “This commission was given the daunting task of developing the City’s first true Sustainability Plan in their first year, and we are incredibly proud of the hard work this group of dedicated volunteers have put forth in such a short amount of time. It’s nice to see that effort being recognized at the state level.”
The Sterling Heights Sustainability Plan will be used as the foundation and guide for developing more sustainable practices throughout the City for years to come. This comprehensive, well-researched plan covers all areas of the City and lays out a blueprint for incorporating sustainability into every aspect of the community, from increasing tree canopy to evaluating various floodplains and waterways. In addition to the action items included, the Commission also provided recommendations to City leadership regarding issues such as universal curbside recycling and the City’s tree preservation ordinance.
Sustainability Commissioners continue to act as role models in the community and are passionate about making Sterling Heights a more sustainable place to live, work and engage. Each commissioner dedicated countless hours to this plan outside of regularly scheduled commission meetings and continue to demonstrate commitment to improving environmental aspects of their community. For these efforts, City leadership also recognized the Sustainability Commission as the City’s “Commission of the Year” at the 2021 Sterling Heights Volunteer Banquet.
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