Planner Selected for Tallahassee Greenway (FL)

9/9/02– The Trust for Public Land is pleased to announce that Wendy Grey, AICP, has been retained as lead consultant for the Capital Cascade Greenway project, a planning initiative designed to expand the Blueprint 2000 plan for downtown Tallahassee to include both stormwater management and the creation of a world-class linear park in the heart of Tallahassee.

Grey will be responsible for overseeing TPL’s planning initiative, working with another consultant, Greenways, Inc., as well as Blueprint 2000, city and county staff to ensure that planning for the greenway corridor is coordinated. Her contract begins September 23.

“We are very pleased that Wendy will be joining our Capital Cascade team,” said Kathy Baughman, director of the project. “She brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and enthusiasm that will help us bring together all the wonderful work that has been done along this corridor.”

“Given the number of years that I have spent working on Gaines Street and related downtown revitalization projects, I am very excited to be working on this project with the Trust for Public Land,” said Grey. “I am proud to be associated with such a well-respected group.”

Grey has been director of the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department since 1992, where she has managed a professional office of 35 staff and a budget of $2 million. Her major responsibilities have included coordinating the city and county’s planning activities; coordinating land use and transportation activities; overseeing the community Greenways Program; and managing citizen education programs.

Grey served as assistant to the city manager from 1990-1992, and before that was chief of the Planning Department’s Division of Economic Development and Special Projects, where she was responsible for economic development and downtown development projects including permitting of city industrial park and development of downtown plan and zoning code.

“We are delighted that Wendy will be joining TPL in this endeavor,” said Henree Martin, a member of the Economic and Environmental Consensus Committee and one of the creators of Blueprint 2000. “The team TPL has put together to oversee the Capital Cascade Trail will help us move the project to the next level – creating a corridor that will combine the critical needs of stormwater management with public spaces that will recapture the heart of downtown.”

Before being hired by Tallahassee-Leon County, Grey was employed by the Department of Community Affairs in a number of capacities, including community programs administrator for the Bureau of Local Planning, and as a planning manager and federal program administrator with the Bureau of State Land Planning. Grey earned a Master of Art in Regional Planning at Cornell University and is a Certified Planner, American Institute of Certified Planners.

About TPL: Founded in 1972, the Trust for Public Land is a national nonprofit organization working exclusively to protect land for human enjoyment and well-being. TPL helps conserve land for recreation and spiritual nourishment and to improve the health and quality of life of American communities. Operating in Florida since 1975, TPL has helped save more than 250 sites as community parks, waterfronts, historic sites, greenways and trails. The Wall Street Journal’s Smart Money magazine recently named TPL the nation’s most efficient large conservation charity for the second year in a row, based on the percentage of funds dedicated to programs. For more information, please visit our web site a www.tpl.org.