Landscape Architect Articles

LASN Letters August 200608-02-06 | News

More Reactions to Gov. Owens' Veto of Colorado Practice Act:

I am a federal government landscape architect working in Colorado. It is not acceptable to say that because the Feds don't require their LAs to be licensed that private practice LAs should also not be required to be licensed. We, the Feds, have many measures of quality assurance in place through our federal processes that private and municipal LAs do not. Landscape architects do many designs that involve the health, safety and there needs to be some professional accountability in place, and that is what licensure is about. Even though I am not required to be licensed I am pursuing it for professional reasons, however I am forced to pursue it in Utah. I am ashamed of the governor's veto of this bill.

Kim Round, LA
U.S. Forest Service
Durango, Colo.

It is great to hear such strong opinions (on landscapearchitect.com) about this inexcusable action by our governor. The best thing that landscape architects can do right now to correct this ignorant action is to support candidates for office in the upcoming election that understand what landscape architects do and will support regulatory issues such as this. Colorado has established a Political Action Committee for this purpose. Since its inception two years ago it has been underfunded"?oewith contributions from just a few of the many firms and practitioners in this state. This is my pitch for contributions (which might be tax deductible). We hope to attend fundraisers this summer for the gubernatorial and other candidates where we can get some face time with them.

Checks should be payable to CLAPC (Colorado Landscape Architects Political Committee) c/o Craig Coronato, EDAW, 1809 Blake St. #200, Denver, CO 80202.

Thank you!

Craig Coronata
Colorado ASLA Chapter

Re: New Jersey Practice Act Bill

Editor's note: New Jersey Assembly Bill 3247 would upgrade the state's Landscape Architect Title Act to a Practice Act. It would transfer the powers of the Landscape Architect Examination and Evaluation Committee to the New Jersey State Board of Architects, although as some critics point out, it would do little to loosen the state's restrictive Site Plan Rule, which limits landscape architects' authority to sign off on plans. (See news regarding this bill on landscapearchitect.com).

New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the nation and therefore under the greatest development pressures. As a result of decades' old regulations, the only career options for a well educated and qualified landscape architect is to go into design-build or work for and under an engineer. I estimate there are less than 10 pure landscape architect land-use firms in the state and several of them exist because they are international firms. Hard to believe, however, it is true and the situation has existed for 20 years while ASLA has watched it happen. I am off to Scottsdale, Arizona to grade the LARE exams. I have done this for over 10 years now and each time I meet colleagues from other states I am saddened to realize how pathetically the profession has been left behind by the professional society.

I find myself wondering what the face of New Jersey would be had landscape architects had an equal opportunity to apply their knowledge skills and abilities because, should you drive through our state, everything that you see is a product of engineers' imaginations. Fortunately our profession is, by law, free from any blame. Unfortunately, our citizens have no idea why when they visit other states the environment is so beautiful, functional, and pleasant to experience as opposed to a place to be endured.

John Sadlon
Landscape Architect
Bohler Engineering, Warren, N.J.

Re: "Tampa Mayor Won't Support National Landmark Status for Kiley Gardens" on landscapearchitect.com

I was the city of Tampa's representative for the design of this park, which was being designed and constructed as part of a new bank building. My job was made difficult because the designer refused all suggestions and comments. Since he was employed by the bank, we were completely left out of the park's design. As a result the park had a long list of problems from the day it opened. It was constructed on the roof of a parking garage and because it was poorly designed, water would leak down onto cars in the parking garage. This was just one of a very long list of problems that made this park almost impossible to maintain. It was only a matter of time before this flawed and problem park would need to be removed.

Joel Jackson, retired
Tampa, Fla.

Re: LASN June issue feature: "Beauty, Meditation, Inner Balance, Healing"

I want to congratulate all the landscape architects who designed this beautiful healing Japanese garden. The concept of therapeutic garden on a rooftop of a hospital is genial! (Editor's note: "g????????(C)nial" is French for inspired or genius.)

As the manufacturer of the Omega Architectural fence along the perimeter, we are proud to be part of the project.

Michel Mongeau
Market Development Manager
Omega II Fence Systems
Laval, QC Canada

You must be commended for doing an outstanding job in preparing the article. The board of directors of the Shinzen Garden was quite pleased and allocated the funds for printing 1,000 copies.