Meet the Trainers

LULA Land Use Trainer
Founder & Faculty Liaison, Land Use Law Center

John R. Nolon is Distinguished Professor of Law at Pace Law School where he teaches property, land use, and sustainable development law courses and is the Founder of and Counsel to the Law School's Land Use Law Center. He served as an Adjunct Professor at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies for 15 years beginning in 2001, where he developed a curriculum concentration of five land use law and policy courses. Professor Nolon served as the James D. Hopkins Professor from 2009-2011 and the Charles A. Frueauff Research Professor of Law during the 1991-92, 1997-98, 1999-2000, and 2000-01 academic years. He received the Richard L. Ottinger Faculty Achievement Award in 1999, won the Goettel Prize for faculty scholarship in 2006, and was designated Outstanding Professor of the year in 2015. Professor Nolon received his J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School where he was a member of the Barrister's Academic Honor Society. He has served as a consultant to President Carter's Council on Development Choices for the 1980's, President Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development, New York Governor George Pataki's Transition Team, and Governor Elliot Spitzer’s Transition Team. He is a member of the Editorial Board of The Land Use and Environmental Law Review, published by Thomson-West. He is also on the New York Planning Federation's Advisory Council. Professor Nolon received a Fulbright Scholarship to study sustainable development law in Argentina in 1994-95 and has published over a dozen articles, chapters, and books on that subject. He has received national awards for his work with municipal land use leaders from the American Planning Association and the International City Management Association.

LULA Process Trainer
Deputy Director, Land Use Law Center

Tiffany B. Zezula, Esq. is the Deputy Director for the Land Use Law Center at Pace University School of Law in White Plains, NY. She is the primary trainer on consensus building techniques for the Center’s land use training programs for local officials, environmentalists, planners, and developers. She also is the national coordinator of the Center’s signature program – The Land Use Leadership Alliance Training Program, which due to its success in New York, has been modeled and transferred to over 5 states and includes over a hundred national, regional, and local sponsors. The program has trained over 2500 leaders in the Hudson Valley Region alone. Her work at the Center also includes coordinating and tailoring training programs and workshops to meet the needs of individual communities, whether that is a ½ day training program or four-day intensive workshop. Ms. Zezula also provides strategic assistance to local governments, including assistance in developing collaborative public engagement approaches on land use project disputes and comprehensive planning of a community. Finally, Ms. Zezula is in charge of running the Center’s annual conference. The Center’s annual conference is a significant educational event in the region, with more than 250 attorneys, business professionals, planners and local leaders in attendance to learn about national, regional, and local innovations, challenges, and best practices. Ms. Zezula is a frequent national speaker on collaborative governance and local decision-making. She is also a frequent guest presenter at the Yale School of Forestry and an adjunct professor at Pace University School of Law on Environmental Dispute Resolution. She received her J.D. cum laude from Pace Law School in 2003 along with a certificate in Environmental Law. She is a certified mediator in the State of New York.

RoseMarie Noonan

Executive Director, Housing Action Council

Ms. Noonan has held the position of Executive Director since 1986 and has been with the Council since 1979. She began her housing career as Director of the National Leased Housing Association, the leading trade association for government assisted rental housing development and management located in Washington, DC. She has held program and policy positions at the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development and the New York State Division of Housing & Community Renewal. She attended Trinity College in Washington, DC, received an advanced degree in Government from Georgetown University, and is a graduate of Pace University School of Law.

Ms. Noonan has developed various programs which have assisted in the development of housing, including tax-exempt financing, mortgage insurance, and housing rehabilitation programs. She has advised State and local housing officials on designing and implementing affordable housing programs and plans. She manages the Yonkers Affordable Housing Office which is responsible for implementing a housing desegregation order. She has designed housing seminars and trained professionals nationwide. She is experienced in integrating the housing development process with health and human service programs.

She has fostered the creation of several Westchester not-for-profit organizations, e.g. The Preservation Company, Washingtonville Housing Alliance, and the New Rochelle Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation. The goal of these organizations is the development of housing which serves low income families and individuals of modest means. She has advised many civic groups, religious groups, and community organizations on appropriate roles for themselves in housing development and assisted them through the development process. Her services are primarily focused in the Hudson Region; however she has provided this service throughout New York State and in many areas throughout the country. She has a strong working knowledge of Federal, State, County and local housing programs and is skilled in integrating them to develop financially feasible and affordable housing developments.

She is the author of over a dozen guidebooks and manuals on housing programs and developing housing.