About
What is APA South Carolina?
For over four decades, the South Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA South Carolina) has been a leader in planning activities and an active resource for planners, communities, citizens, elected and appointed officials and allied professionals throughout the state. APA South Carolina has an active and growing membership of about 550 members. It serves a diverse group of planning professionals embracing a variety of disciplines. The membership includes professional planners (public, private, and academic), planning commissioners, board of zoning appeals members, building officials, neighborhood group leaders, urban designers, economists and students of planning and community development.
APA South Carolina serves as a resource to our membership available to provide professional and/or technical information regarding a variety of legislative matters. Basic legislative issues of the organization include:
- APA South Carolina supports the concept of Home Rule.
- APA South Carolina supports sustainable development practices and is interested in the development of “Smart Growth” legislation that is appropriate for South Carolina.
- APA South Carolina supports the concepts of community comprehensive planning established in the Comprehensive Planning Enabling Act of 1994.
More on APA South Carolina
Through two conferences each year, APA South Carolina brings in national, regional and statewide experts to address topics that affect its membership. Topics of past sessions include: comprehensive planning, open space preservation, transportation, property rights, waterfront development, watershed protection, community visioning, new urbanism, infrastructure plans, economic development, migration, tourism, coastal resources, geographic information systems, military base closure, greenways, effective communication, board of zoning appeals, transportation policy, working with the media and growth management. Conferences are also used as forums on legislative issues, providing input to legislation authors or discussing strategies for encouraging or discouraging planning related legislation.
Over 45% of the practicing planners who are members of APA South Carolina have met the requirements to be accepted as members of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). The Chapter promotes AICP membership and coordinates preparation for the exam.
Officers / Committees / Representatives
Executive Committee
President
Shea Farrar
Principal Planner
Hilton Head Island
P: (843) 341-4768
SheaF@hiltonheadislandsc.gov
President-Elect
Lance Estep, AICP
Senior Transportation Planner
CDM Smith
P: (803) 758-4500
estepkl@cdmsmith.com
Immediate Past President
Secretary/Treasurer
Dylan Gehring, AICP
Planner/Designer
Plusurbia
dylan@plusurbia.com
Director-at-Large
Meagan Staton
Subdivision Administrator
Greenville County
MStaton@greenvillecounty.org
Director-at-Large
Andrew Babb, PE, AICP
Transportation Project Manager
Bolton & Menk, Inc
andrew.babb@bolton-menk.com
Director-at-Large
Ashley Nichols
Community Planner
Shaw Air Force Base
nichoan1@gmail.com
Professional Development Officer
Amy T. Southerland, AICP
Tourism & Special Events Manager
City of Charleston Department of Livability & Tourism
southerlanda@charleston-sc.gov
Communications Officer
April Williams
Planning Director
Lancaster County
amwilliams@lancastercountysc.gov
Emerging Planners Group
Jason Frady
Planning Director
City of Inman
Clemson University Representative
John Gaber, PhD, AICP
Professor & Chair
Department of City Planning & Real Estate Development
jgaber@clemson.edu
Clemson Planning Student Organization (PSO)
Grace Bower
Graduate Student
Clemson University
College of Charleston Liaison
Melinda Lucka Kelly
Attorney at Law and Urban Studies Director
Finkel Law Firm and College of Charleston
LuckaM@CofC.edu
APA South Carolina Representative to SC Planning Education Advisory Committee
Stephanie Monroe Tillerson, AICP
Town Administrator
Kiawah Island
stillerson@kiawahisland.org
Commissioner Representative
VACANT
