SCAG honors Ventura County with top 2023 Sustainability Award

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is honoring Ventura County with the 2023 Outstanding Achievement in Sustainability Award for its Agricultural Worker Housing Ordinance.

In all, seven innovative projects across the six-county region will take home the prestigious Sustainability Awards during ceremonies at SCAG’s Regional Conference and General Assembly May 4 in Palm Desert. The awards recognize excellence and innovation in planning, land use and transportation to improve mobility, livability, prosperity and sustainability.

Ventura County will receive the Outstanding Achievement in Sustainability, SCAG’s most prestigious sustainability award, for regulations adopted last year by the Board of Supervisors to promote housing for agricultural workers, including temporary housing for seasonal farmworkers. It also expanded potential locations for development of farmworker complexes, closer to existing infrastructure and services, and added new permitting and development standards for all agricultural worker housing types to ensure the development of quality housing and to minimize impacts to agricultural land.

SCAG also is introducing a new award named after the late Ventura County Supervisor Carmen Ramirez, who was tragically killed in 2022 after a lifetime of championing sustainability. The inaugural recipient of the Carmen Ramirez Award for Equity was a unique partnership between the City of Rialto and the Inland Empire Utility Agency (IEUA) whereby Rialto will sell a portion of its recycled water supply to IEUA, which in turn will fund the design, construction and operation of a pipeline, pump station and connection between the wastewater plant and the agency’s own recycled water distribution system.

“We are honored to present these awards, which recognize some truly groundbreaking efforts to improve the quality of life across our region. As these projects illustrate, Southern California leads the nation in integrating technology and creative thinking to build healthier, more vibrant communities,” said Jan Harnik. SCAG Regional Council President.

Among the other 2023 Sustainability Award winners:

Plans, Programs and Policies Award: Envision San Jacinto, a multi-faceted long-range planning program designed to improve the quality of life for the citizens of San Jacinto by identifying and capitalizing on the community’s strengths and opportunities while taking proactive steps to address perceived weaknesses and possible threats.

Clean Cities: Alternative Fuels and Fleets: City of San Bernardino Clean Fleet Project, establishing a framework for transitioning the City’s fleet from conventionally powered vehicles to zero- to low-emission vehicles.

Active, Healthy and Safe Award: Lynwood Urban Bike Trail, converting undeveloped Caltrans excess land into a Class 1 Bicycle Trail in the City of Lynwood and creating new multi-benefit public open space.

Green Region Initiative Award: Pacoima Cool Community Project, applying cool pavement on dark and hot asphalt surfaces throughout the city, providing much needed urban cooling.

Housing Innovation Award: Legacy Square, a transit-oriented, mixed-use, affordable housing development that will replace two underutilized buildings with high-quality affordable apartment homes and flexible space, bringing new investment to downtown Santa Ana.

“We congratulate all our award winners, whose work represents the best of the best when it comes to meeting our sustainability goals and improving quality of life. These projects are models of innovative solutions to challenges that all our communities face, and by lifting them up we hope to see them replicated and built upon across the region,” said Kome Ajise, SCAG Executive Director.