Orlando Metro Section Home Page

The Orlando Metro section is in Central Florida, and includes five counties: Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, and Sumter. (See map)

The Orlando-Metro Section of the American Planning Association, Florida Chapter is composed of local planners, architects, city and county officials and others interested in the planning profession.  We encourage to you to join our section membership if you live or work in the Orlando-Metro area.  We typically meet over lunch at various times throughout the year. Our monthly board meetings are held on the first Thursday of each month.  In addition to the monthly board meeting we coordinate professional development sessions and social gatherings.  Sessions include legislative programs in the late fall, and other topics of interest as the membership requests including a “Planning Director’s Forum.” These sessions allow us to get together to talk about projects we have going on in our region, to learn and offer advice to each other with our current projects at hand.

Membership also offers great networking opportunities! I hope that if you are not already a member, you will look to the membership section of this site for more information. Please know we also encourage students and elected or appointed officials to join our organization.

If you have anything to submit to the Orlando-Metro Section website, such as upcoming social events or training sessions, etc., please contact Sara L. Forelle at Sara.Forelle@ocfl.net. Thanks!

The May 2012 Exam Application Window is now open!

The May 2012 AICP Exam application window is now open and the exam schedule is available online at http://www.planning.org/certification/2012/may/index.htm.  

If you have been considering certification, all the information you will need to apply is available at this online address including sample job verification letters and definitions of planning experience for the applications.

Interested planners are encouraged to apply in time to meeting the Early Bird Application Deadline which is December 15, 2011.  Persons meeting the “early bird application deadline” will receive early notification of their approved eligibility to sit for the exam, have more time to focus on exam preparation studies and have more choices for test appointment scheduling.

If you have questions, please feel free to call Andre Anderson, Vice President for Professional Development, APA Florida Chapter.  He can be reached at 407.896.0455.

The five county Orlando Metro Section (OMS) Executive Board  would like to thank the membership for participating in the 2011 election process and announce the results as noted below. The OMS of APA-FL is the second largest section in the state and by far one of the most active.  If you would like to volunteer with section events, there will be numerous opportunities to get involved and your participation will be greatly appreciated. Again thank you!

Chair:   Chris Bowley, AICP

First Vice President:     Kelly Moody, AICP, LEED AP

Second Vice President:     Tina Demostene, AICP

Secretary:      Alisha Maraviglia, AICP

Treasurer:        Joseph T. Roviaro, AICP

Directors At-Large:    Christopher Keller, AICP, RLA

                                     and Cathleen Craft, AICP

Lake County Director:     Kelly Randall, AICP

Orange County Director:     Todd DeLong, AICP

Osceola County Director:     Josh DeVries, AICP

Seminole County Director:  Matthew West, AICP

Sumter County Director:      Jason McHugh

WELCOME TO THE 2011 OMS CALENDAR OF EVENTS

February 2012

TBD - OMS Executive Board Meeting--location TBD

2- Brown Bag Lunch--Central Florida Transportation Planning Group & FDOT: Freight--Expanding Opportunities. Panama Canal Expansion; Logisitcs; and What's Next in CF's Freight Transportation System. 11:30 am - 2:00 pm at FDOT District 5 Urban Office at 133 South Semoran Blvd, Orlando, FL 32807. NO RSVP REQUIRED. CM- 2 requested.

8- UCF URP Distinguished Lecture Series--Mr. Christopher Steiner, Forbes Magazine staff wirter and author of $20 per Gallon: How the Innevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change our Lives for the Better. For more information, check the attached announcement and our Section Calendar.

8- FAPA 10th Annual Public Policy Worshop--Registrations now open at www.floridaplanning.org.

13- CNU & APA OMS--Strong Towns Curbside Chat-- Charles Marohn, Executive Director of Strong Towns. Bring your own Brown Bag Lunch. 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm. GAI Downtown Office, 618 E. South Street, Suite 700, Orlando, FL 32801. Registration: FREE WITH RSVP by 2/10/12. No RSVP, $5 at the door. Please RSVP to Tina.Demostene@Osceola.org. Please include "RSVP Strong Towns" on the subject line. CM 1 being requested.

March

 - OMS Executive Board Meeting--location TBD

9- HOLD THE DATE! Henry Bittaker is returning to Orlando for our Spring AICP Test Prep (short course). 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm.  More details to follow. 

April

TBD - OMS Executive Board Meeting--location TBD

11- UCF URP Distinguished Lecture Series--Mr. Craig Pittman, journalist and environmental author of Paving Paradise: Florida's Vanishing Wetlands and athe Failure of No Net Loss  and  Manatee Insanity: Inside the War Over Florida's Most famous Endagered Species. More information to be provided in the future.

May

TBD - OMS Executive Board Meeting--location TBD

TBD - AICP Certification Exam