APA Ohio at a Glance

APA Ohio is a non-profit association of professional and citizen planners committed to promoting and enhancing planning in order to maintain and improve the quality of life for all Ohioans. APA Ohio is a state chapter of the American Planning Association (APA).

We provide statewide, regional and local forums for investigation and discussion. These forums lead to practical, use-it-today solutions to planning and development challenges. We encourage legislation and action programs to enhance sound planning at the state, regional and local levels.

APA Ohio operates under the guidance of a Board of Trustees elected from the general membership and sections.

Our History

The Ohio Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA Ohio) was founded in October 1919 in Cleveland as The Ohio State Conference on City Planning, later known simply as The Ohio Planning Conference (OPC).

The organization's purpose was for "the interchange of ideas upon, and to promote the cause of, city, town, and regional planning in the state of Ohio.” Our founders included Alfred Bettman, the Cincinnati Attorney who championed the completion of the 1925 Cincinnati Comprehensive Plan – the first for a major city in the U.S. – and who wrote the famous 1926 amicus curiae brief – funded through an OPC grant – in the Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty, which upheld the constitutionality of zoning.

In recognition of its historical legacy, OPC (now APA Ohio) is known as the "First Statewide Association of Citizens and Planners,” and it was designated as a National Planning Landmark by the American Planning Association.

Mission

APA Ohio is dedicated to advancing the art, science and profession of good planning — physical, economic and social — to create vibrant communities that offer choices and improve the quality of life for all Ohioans.

The objectives of our organization are to:

Inform
Encourage widespread planning information to and education of public officials, professional citizen planners, the general public and media.

Advocate
Serve in an advocacy role in legislative and policy issues.

Promote
Increase public awareness and support of the planning process and planning profession among the public and members of related professions. Tell the planning story.

Serve
Provide value-added services to both existing and new members.