Mr. Neno J. Spagna

The prestigious George W. Simons Jr. Award was presented to Neno Spagna, AICP who has been a member of the FPZA for over 47 years.The George W. Simons Jr. Award is based on a person's work and efforts over time and furthers the goals and objectives of the FPZA.

Mr. Spagna has helped shape the practice of planning in the State of Florida.In fact, he was the first planner hired in Hollywood in 1956.He help found the South Florida Chapter of FPZA in the 60s.He has spent his entire planning career in Florida as planning director in Hollywood, Florida, Manatee County, Florida and Collier County.Florida.For the last twenty years he operated the Florida Urban Institute, Inc., a planning consulting firm in Collier County.

One of his most notable contributions was the Optimum Population and Urban Growth (OPUG) program that was a forerunner to today's growth management regulations.OPUG recognized that urban sprawl and leap-frog development was destroying the suburbs and the farmlands.OPUG proposed a remedy for bringing this process under control.His anti-sprawl message was ahead of its time and was not well received.However, Mr. Spagna's foresight helped open eyes to the problems of unregulated growth.

Ever on the cutting edge of changing technology, he was an early advocate for such new approaches, which at the time many of his contemporary planners were reluctant to touch, such as Comprehensive Planning in the 50's, Planned Unit Developments in the 60's, Transfer of Development Rights in the 70's, Growth Management and Concurrency in the 80's, and more recently, Smart Growth.

Today, Neno is still active and working every day as a Planner in the Naples Planning Department.He hasn't lost his zest for planning nor has time diminished his enthusiasm for FPZA.

Neno J. Spagna, DPA, AICP

Neno J. Spagna, DPA, AICP, was awarded the George W. Simons Jr. Award at the Florida Planning and Zoning Association (FPZA) Conference in Jacksonville.The award is based on a person's work and efforts over time and furthers the goals and objectives of the FPZA.Spagna joined the FPZA in 1954, three years after the association was founded and has remained a member for over 47 years.As Hollywood's first planner in 1956, the Jaycees flew him around South Florida and urged each community to begin planning for the future.The Broward County Legislative Delegation appointed Spagna as the co-coordinator for the establishment of the Broward Area Planning Board.During the 1960s he was instrumental in founding the South Florida Chapter of FPZA and later served as its president.Later he moved to Bradenton, where he served as Manatee County's planning director.He founded and served as the first president of the Suncoast Chapter of FPZA.For the last 20 years he operated the Florida Urban Institute Inc., a planning consulting firm in Collier County.Today, Spagna is active working as a planner in the Naples Planning Department.

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