My name is Leland E. Edgecombe. I was educated at the University of Pennsylvania under the tutelage of Professors Ian McHarg and Edmund Bacon who were both respectively recognized as being world class by the Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning industries. I was taught the value of landscape architecture within the context of planning for a multiplicity of environmental related issues, factors and conditions that plague not only suburban and exurban regions, but also inner-city communities. Climate change and complicity from the disbelievers of the need to protect the environment are failing to remain aware that we are all living in a changing world which are affecting our communities throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia as well as the Nation as a whole and in real time.

I own and operate a Landscape Architectural services firm who is responsible for the design of many large scale applications such as Storm Water Management, Bio-Retention and Detention Facilities, Tree Conservation Plans, Forest Stand Delineation Plans and Natural Resource Inventories on sensitive lands. Many of these lands had been historically relegated to underserved populations who were  under-represented in their respective jurisdictions and the last to receive assistance when flooding exists. So who will protect these vulnerable populations from the egregious acts of dis-concern and lack of empathy especially when it comes to climate change. The protectors are normally licensed professionals such as Landscape Architects.

I am a registered Landscape Architect in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a full member of ASLA, Certified by CLARB, Accredited by the Congress for New Urbanism (CNU), and Certified as an Urban Planner by the American Institute of Certified Planners. I support the Licensing of Landscape Architecture as a field expected to uphold public safety, health and welfare just the same as the collateral licensed industries in the State.

Landscape Architecture is important in many ways to include:

Protection of Public Health, Safety, and Welfare

• Landscape architects directly impact public health, safety, and welfare. Licensure is the most appropriate form of regulation to ensure that the public is adequately protected.

• Licensure of landscape architects ensures that professionals are qualified by virtue of their education, experience, and examination. 

• Licensure of landscape architects ensures that untrained individuals are prevented from engaging in professional practice that substantially (or significantly) impacts public health, safety and welfare. Licensed landscape architects fulfill educational training and examination requirements that prepare professionals to protect the public from both physical and monetary harm.

• Landscape architects are called upon for complex services that require highly technical skills, making it difficult for prospective clients to evaluate the competency of professionals. Licensure as a measure of competence can assist consumers in identifying appropriate professionals for design services.

• The scope of landscape architectural practice includes site plans, plans of development, grading plans, vehicular roadways and pedestrian systems design, storm water and erosion control plans, and the siting of buildings and structures, all work that localities and federal agencies require to be sealed by licensed professionals. Consequently, the scope of landscape architecture overlaps with other licensed design professionals including architects, engineers, and Class B land surveyors.

Fair Competition and Economic Impact

• Without licensure, landscape architects would likely be prohibited from leading multidisciplinary teams. Currently, landscape architects serve as the prime consultants on projects where they coordinate and administer the services of engineers, architects, and land surveyors.

• Without licensure, landscape architects will be unfairly disadvantaged in the marketplace. Oftentimes, federal, state, and local contracts require the work to be completed by licensed individuals.

• Virginia landscape architects would be excluded from federal, state, and local work in Virginia that requires licensure.

• Licensure of landscape architects is necessary to keep the profession on an equal footing with its related licensed design professions, architecture and engineering. This equality enables landscape architects to lead projects, form certain business partnerships, and serve as principals in multidisciplinary firms.

• Licensure for one profession, and certification, registration, or no regulation for the other, can cause confusion in the marketplace and may be perceived by the consumer as an endorsement of the skill and competence of one profession over the other. Where the professions overlap, it provides a state-sanctioned advantage for one profession over the other. This destroys the competitive, free market in which design professionals compete.

Sincerely,

Leland Edgecombe, ASLA, CLARB, AICP, CNU

Owner of The Edgecombe Group, Inc.

Commonwealth Of Virginia

Registered Landscape Architectural Business

Registered Landscape Architect