Awards & Outreach
STaR Awards Program Smart Planning for Small Town Success
The Small Town and Rural (STaR) Planning Division's Planning Awards recognize outstanding individuals and projects for their contribution to planning excellence in small town and rural communities. The program is open to any individual, organization, or consulting firm involved in planning for small town and rural areas.
Congratulations to this year's STaR Award Winners
Vernon Deines Award for Outstanding Shall Town or Rural Plan - Small Jurisdiction
- Honor: Imagine Alamosa County (Colorado) Comprehensive Plan
- Honor: Montpelier (Vermont) City Plan 2025
- Honor: Village of Rhinebeck (New York) 2024 Comprehensive Plan
- Merit: Lockhart (Texas) Looking Forward Comprehensive Plan
- Merit: Town of Paonia (Colorado)
Vernon Deines Award for Outstanding Shall Town or Rural Plan - Large Jurisdiction
- Honor: Rapid City, South Dakota
John Keller Award for Planning Initiative
- Honor: Rooted in Resilience: A Climate Action Plan, McCall, Idaho
- Honor: Taylor (Texas) Downtown Plan
- Merit: Clute (Texas) Housing Vision Plan
James Segedy Award for a Student Project
- Honor: Deerfield River Valley (Vermont) RISE Studio Project — UMass
- Honor: West Side Vision, Laramie, Wyoming — CU-Denver
- Merit: 2025 Sustainable Agriculture, Food Systems, and Rural Environments Plan, Livingston County, Michigan — MSU
