The city of West Hollywood has received numerous prestigious awards from organizations in 2015. As the city celebrated 30 years of incorporation, the recognitions validated West Hollywood’s continued commitment to best serve the community with innovation, creativity and dedication.

Officially incorporated as an independent city on Nov. 29, 1984, West Hollywood has earned a reputation for progressive policies, supporting tenants’ rights and providing community services. The honors received in 2015 confirm that the city remains committed to its founding principles and continues to excel in its efforts to maintain the interests of the community in its planning and implementation of policies.

“I’m thrilled that the hard work, dedication, and creativity of our city employees has been recognized on local and national levels this year,” said West Hollywood Mayor Lindsey P. Horvath. “It is an honor to be of service to my community as mayor of West Hollywood, and I want to congratulate everyone whose efforts contributed to these awards.”

The awards reaffirm that West Hollywood excels in city planning, public transportation initiatives, innovative parking solutions, its public outreach via web design and public information campaigns, and its commitment to the arts.

The West Hollywood Community Development Department received several awards in 2015. The California Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA CA), which encourages quality in planning and increases the public’s awareness of the planning profession by recognizing outstanding achievement in the planning field, presented West Hollywood with two awards at its annual conference in October. The department received the APA CA 2015 Award of Excellence for a Planning Agency and the organization’s 2015 Opportunity and Empowerment Award of Excellence for the Courtyard at La Brea.

The Los Angeles Chapter of the American Planning Association presented West Hollywood with the Award of Excellence for Distinguished Leadership, Planning Agency; Award of Merit for Planning Best Practices for the West Hollywood West Neighborhood Overlay and Design Guidelines; the Award of Excellence for Opportunity and Empowerment for The Courtyard at La Brea; and the Award of Excellence for Urban Design for the Design District Streetscape Master Plan.

Although it was completed in 2004, the West Hollywood Gateway project was recognized again by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development which, in celebrating 40 years of Community Development Block Grant partnerships and successes, presented a Recognition of Excellence award to the city for transforming a blighted and contaminated five-acre site at the city’s boundary into a pedestrian-friendly destination with retail, dining and shopping.

Additionally, the design for the City’s not-yet-constructed Aquatic and Recreation Center at West Hollywood Park, which will be a LEED-certified structure, was recognized by the Long Beach/South Bay Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), which presented a Citation Award to the project’s architect, LPA, Inc.

For information, visit www.weho.org.