Winter 2010 Newsletter

A free electronic newsletter brought to you by Pace University's
Land Use Law Center for Sustainable Development
and
Kheel Center on the Resolution of Environmental Interest Disputes

Gaining Ground Newsletter

Top Articles

Addressing Distressed Properties: Legal Tools

The Law of Sustainable Development: Keeping Pace

Practically Grounded: Convergence of Land Use Law Pedagogy and Best Practices

 

Training & Events

Networking & Other Events

RMLUI Conference

Association of Towns
Annual Meeting

CLE Programs

Practically Grounded:
Best Practices for Skill Building
in Teaching Land Use,
Environmental, and
Sustainable Development Law

Recent Networking & Other Events

Hopkins Lecture:
Sustainable Development
Law: Keeping Pace

Mayors’ Redevelopment
Roundtable IX

Corporation Counsel’s
Roundtable X
 

Upcoming Training Programs

Pinchot Tri-State LULA

Recent Training Programs

Tri-City
Training Program

Sea Level Rise
LULA

Affordable Housing
LULA<

Connecticut Fairfield County
Reunion Symposium

Recent CLE Programs

Rediscovering Sustainable
Development Law

NYS & Municipal Efforts to
Improve Efficiency in Buildings
 

 


LULA Community Spotlight
Read the Newest Addition to our LULA Case Studies Page
 

The Saw Mill River Coalition: A Unifying Force

Since 1999, the non-profit organization Groundwork Yonkers has been working towards improving the environmental health of Yonkers, New York’s fourth largest city. One of the organization’s highlighted achievements is the creation of the Saw Mill River Coalition in 2001. Created with the help of the Land Use Law Center and funded by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Coalition is dedicated to restoring the health of the Saw Mill River’s ecosystem. Utilizing consensus-building techniques and land use development tools learned through the Center’s Land Use Leadership Alliance (LULA) training program, Coalition leaders have been able to garnish broad support for resource conservation and remediation efforts needed to restore the health of the Saw Mill River. Based on past successes, and in light of current and future initiatives, the Center is excited about the specter of progress that the Coalition is poised to achieve.  Read more...

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News & Announcements

New Nolon & Salkin Book on Climate Change and Sustainable Development

Radio Broadcast: LULC Aids City of Newburgh in Distressed Property Initiative

Awards Given at Sustainable Development Law Conference

Hopkins Memorial Lecture – Over 100 Alumni in Attendance

Professor John R. Nolon Invited to Participate in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Expert Meeting

We’re Blogging on GreenLaw!

Land Use Law Center in 2010 Dean’s Report

 

Theodore W. Kheel, May 9, 1914 – November 12, 2010
Theodore W. Kheel, Mediator, passed away on Friday, November 12 at the age of 96.  Mr. Kheel will be missed by those whose lives he touched at Pace Law School and the Theodore W. Kheel Center on the Resolution of Environmental Interest Disputes, which he founded.  When asked in a 2003 interview with the New York Times, “How would you like to be remembered?”  Mr. Kheel responded, “… I think I would like to be remembered in terms of conflict resolution.”  Read more…


Resources & Multimedia

Helpful Links

Publications & Resources
Videos & Podcasts
Our Programs
Student Involvement

Related Organizations

Pace Municipal Law Resource Center
Pace Energy and Climate Center
Columbia Center for
Climate Change Law

Related Groups

Real Estate & Land Use Law Alumni Network
Real Estate & Land Use Law Society
Dispute Resolution Society

Related Newsletters

On The Ground Newsletter
Green Law Blog
Pace Environmental Notes


New Ordinances Added to our Gaining Ground Information Database

Sea Level Rise Adaptation
The Center has begun an initiative to collect local laws that explicitly address sea level rise adaptation.  These ordinances take varying approaches, including: mandatory sea level rise impact analysis for shoreline development, limitations on development and shoreline structures, and requirements that buildings be designed to incorporate relative sea level rise.  Click here to view the regulations added thus far to the database.

Green Buildings & Energy Efficiency
Our team of staff and students has worked hard to collect hundreds of local regulations on these topics.  Over 20 of these are abstracted and have been uploaded to the database.  Click here to view the municipal green building and energy efficiency regulations recently added to the Database.

Want us to list your program?
If you have an exemplary local policy or regulation that you want
us to consider posting on the Gaining Ground Database,

click here to let us know!


 Join the Land Use Law Center on Facebook!
Connect with students, alumni, LULA graduates, and many others on the Land Use Law Center’s Facebook page.  See Center updates, photos, videos, event information, and more.  
Click here to join our Facebook page.


Upcoming Regional Events

Our Fight Against Global Climate Change Lecture Series
With Scenic Hudson Conservation Scientist Sacha Spector, Ph.D.

Oppositions: Pennies from Heaven?
An Urban Green Council event

Technological Innovation for an Energy-Secure Future
Yale Climate & Energy Institute’s 2nd Annual Conference

2011 National Planning Conference
American Planning Association

UConn CLEAR 2011 Free Webinar Series
Brought to you by the Center for Land Use Education & Research and its partners

 

Funding Opportunities & Other Items of Interest

Targeted Technical Assistance Available for Developing Sustainable Planning Methods
On February 3, 2011 EPA launched the Sustainable Communities Building Blocks Program, an initiative of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities designed to help interested communities adopt sustainable planning methods. EPA will work with HUD and DOT to select from a competitive process 20 local governments and/or tribal governments which will receive targeted technical assistance. Each project includes public engagement, direct consultation with decision-makers, and a memo outlining specific steps the community can take if it wants to implement ideas generated during a site visit. Applicants must specify in their letter of interest one of the following tools the community seeks help to address: zoning code reviews, walkability assessments, parking policy analysis, climate action planning, commuter benefits, complete streets, and fiscal and economic tools. The deadline for applications is February 23, 2011. Click here for more information.

Funding Available for Sustainability and Energy Initiatives
The Clean Air – Cool Planet organization is accepting grant applications to its Community Catalyst Fund.  Round 1 grants will support community groups in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey focused on improving the environmental sustainability, health, and economic well-being of their communities through energy use reduction, public engagement, and the promotion of environmental stewardship.  The Fund will offer grants of $250 to $5,000.  There are no deadlines for grant submission; proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis.   Click here for more information

New Model Environmental Assessment Forms Available for Public Review & Comment
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has proposed substantive changes to both the short and full Environmental Assessment Forms used in the SEQRA process.  The new model forms are now available for public review and comment until close of business on April 8, 2011.  Click here for more information. 

NY Enacts Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Policy Act
On September 29, 2010 the Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Policy Act went into effect in New York.  The Act establishes smart growth criteria in State law, and will help the State to make wiser, more sustainable infrastructure investments based on smart growth principles, including an emphasis on investments in urban and town centers.  The law - which will target State infrastructure investments toward Main Streets, downtowns, brownfield areas, central business districts, and municipal centers - requires several State agencies to create Smart Growth Advisory Committees that would evaluate public infrastructure investments based on the Smart Growth criteria, and requires such infrastructure investments, to the extent practicable, to meet the criteria.   Click here for more information.