Registration info for 2020 Intro to Planning and Zoning Workshops **Now Online**

Update: We are cancelling all remaining in person workshops this year as we are prioritizing the health and safety of all. We are now opening registration for four online workshops.

Please register at least one week in advance as we will be mailing the workbooks to you so you can follow along and take notes as we move through the presentation. Participation will require a computer with a strong internet connection, but all interaction will take place through chat and interactive questions on the screen. No microphone or camera are necessary for participation.

For now we are capping each of these workshops at 25 individuals so register soon. We may add more dates in the future depending on demand. The cost to participate is $25 per registrant. Thank you for your flexibility.

The dates and times for these workshops are:

  • Thursday April 23, 2020                 5:00-8:30 pm
  • Tuesday April 28, 2020                   1:00-4:30 pm
  • Thursday April 30, 2020                 5:00-8:30 pm
  • Saturday May 2, 2020                     1:00-4:30 pm

To register for the Spring 2020 Introduction to Planning and Zoning workshops please click here.

Registration link now up for Planning and Zoning Workshops

The link to registration for the Spring 2017 Introduction to Planning and Zoning workshops can now be found by going to the “Intro to Planning and Zoning Workshops” link on the left side of the screen.

Reminder that the dates and locations are:

April 18 – Waterloo – Waterloo Center for the Arts, 225 Commercial Street
April 24 – Johnston – Hilton Garden Inn, 8600 North Park Drive
May 2 – Dubuque – Hotel Julien, 200 Main Street
May 8 – Fairfield – Fairfield Arts and Convention Center, 200 North Main Street
May 10 – Fort Dodge – Iowa Central Community College, One Triton Circle
May 15 – Davenport – **River’s Edge at 700 W River Drive **NOTE CHANGE OF LOCATION**
May 16 – Council Bluffs – Hilton Garden Inn – 2702 Mid America Drive

Thank you for your patience!

Intro to Planning and Zoning Workshops coming in April and May

The dates and locations for the Spring 2017 Introduction to Planning and Zoning workshops are:

April 18 – Waterloo – Waterloo Center for the Arts, 225 Commercial Street
April 24 – Johnston – Hilton Garden Inn, 8600 North Park Drive
May 2 – Dubuque – Hotel Julien, 200 Main Street
May 8 – Fairfield – Fairfield Arts and Convention Center, 200 North Main Street
May 10 – Fort Dodge – Iowa Central Community College, One Triton Circle
May 15 – Davenport – **River’s Edge at 700 W River Drive **NOTE CHANGE OF LOCATION**
May 16 – Council Bluffs – Hilton Garden Inn – 2702 Mid America Drive

The link to registration will soon be found by following the “Intro to Planning and Zoning Workshops”  link to the left.

Iowa County Annual Fiscal Condition reports for FY 2015 released

Iowa Government Finance Initiative County Annual Fiscal Condition reports, FYE 2015 released

The Community and Economic Development (CED) unit of ISUEO has released the Iowa Government Finance Initiative (IGFI) Annual Fiscal Conditions report, Fiscal Year Ending (FYE) 2015 for the 99 counties in Iowa. In addition to including the updated revenue and expenditure data for all the counties in Iowa for FYE 2015, the report also includes select county level socioeconomic data released by the U.S. Census data earlier this year.

The IGFI reports are a valuable resource to communities in Iowa, especially those that are small and primarily rural in nature to learn about the economic, demographic and fiscal changes taking place and potentially use them as they plan for their future. The FYE 2014 and 2015 county reports can be accessed by clicking on the ‘county reports’ tab at http://igfi.extension.iastate.edu/.

IGFI is the public finance outreach program from ISU Extension and Outreach that provides resources and works with Iowa local governments on a host of issues including finance and community economic development. The team working on county reports consists of Biswa Das, Cindy Kendall, Liesl Eathington, Chris Seeger, Bailey Hanson and Sandra Burke. Questions on the report can be sent to Biswa Das at bdas@iastate.edu or Cindy Kendall at ckendall@iastate.edu.

Intro to Planning and Zoning workshop brochure now available

You can now download a brochure describing the Intro to Planning and Zoning workshops by following this link and going to the top of the page.  For those in your city/county/office who may be interested in the workshops but are not readers of this blog (shame on them!) please print a copy and distribute.  Reminder of the dates and locations:

Monday, March 21 – Okoboji – Arrowwood Resort, 1405 Highway 71

Tuesday, March 22 – Clear Lake – Best Western Holiday Lodge, 2023 7th Ave North

Tuesday, April 5 – Decorah – Hotel Winneshiek, 104 East Water Street

Wednesday, April 6 – Cedar Rapids – Clarion Hotel & Convention Center, 525 33rd Ave. SW

Monday, April 11 – Sioux City – Bev’s on the River, 1110 Larsen Park Road

Tuesday, April 19 – Creston – Supertel Inn & Conference Center, 800 Laurel Street

Spring 2016 Intro to Planning and Zoning workshop dates and locations

Here are the dates and locations for the Spring 2016 Introduction to Planning and Zoning workshops:

Monday, March 21 – Okoboji – Arrowwood Resort, 1405 Highway 71

Tuesday, March 22 – Clear Lake – Best Western Holiday Lodge, 2023 7th Ave North

Tuesday, April 5 – Decorah – Hotel Winneshiek, 104 East Water Street

Wednesday, April 6 – Cedar Rapids – Clarion Hotel & Convention Center, 525 33rd Ave. SW

Monday, April 11 – Sioux City – Bev’s on the River, 1110 Larsen Park Road

Tuesday, April 19 – Creston – Supertel Inn & Conference Center, 800 Laurel Street

The link to the on-line registration page will be provided here in January.

Links to law presentations from 2015 APA-Iowa Annual Conference

The powerpoint presentations from the 2015 APA-Iowa Annual Conference held in Sioux City on October 14-16 are now available here.

Thursday afternoon session on Signs and Cell Towers, by Peter McNally, Dustin Miller and Gary Taylor

Iowa APA 2015 Cell Towers
Iowa APA 2015 Signs

Friday morning AICP Law session by Gary Taylor

Iowa APA 2015 Law session

Municipal Zoning for Local Foods in Iowa Guidebook now available – Webinar scheduled.

Municipalities in Iowa and across the nation are increasingly recognizing the multiple benefits of urban agriculture; however, zoning regulations can unintentionally impede urban agriculture. To respond to this challenge the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University funded Gary Taylor and Andrea Vaage to develop the Municipal Zoning for Local Foods in Iowa guidebook. The guidebook provides science-based guidance and sample zoning code language designed to reduce the barriers to, and promote production and sales activities commonly associated with urban agriculture.  Although written for Iowa, the guidebook contains practical information and code language applicable to any local jurisdiction.

The guidebook can be found by going to the top of this page and clicking on the “Local Food Systems projects” tab.

To develop the guidebook the authors collected zoning code language from 84 municipalities across the nation on a variety of topics related to urban agriculture, and also researched practice-oriented scientific publications from a variety of sources, such as the United States Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and Cooperative Extension publications from several university Extension services. The result is guidebook chapters that address the following common urban agriculture uses: aquaculture, bees, chickens, goats, front-yard gardens, community and market gardens, gardening on vacant lots, urban farms, season extenders, composting, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) drop-sites, farm stands, farmers markets, food trucks and pushcarts, and urban agriculture districts. Each chapter provides a general description of the activity, and the science-based information on standards and best practices associated with the activity; the public health, safety and welfare concerns commonly associated with the activity; a summary of the commonalities found among municipalities’ codes; and sample code language taken from municipalities that vary both in size and location.

A webinar will be hosted by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach on September 30, 2015 from noon to 1:00p.m. Central time to inform participants of the issues associated with zoning and urban agriculture, and to introduce the guidebook to planning officials and city staff of Iowa municipalities.

To access the link to the webinar you can again go to the top of this page and click on the “Local Food Systems projects” tab.

An APA webinar, also on Reed v. Gilbert

Just after I posted the last message I received information about another webinar on Reed v. Gilbert, this one offered by the APA Planning and Law Division.  Information below and here:

A Sign Regulation Apocalypse? Understanding the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision In Reed v. Town of Gilbert

July 21, 2015
1:00–2:30 p.m. EST

CM | 1.50
L 1.50
CLE credits also will be available

The Planning and Law Division of the American Planning Association is pleased to host the upcoming webcast A Sign Regulation Apocalypse? Understanding the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision In Reed v. Town of Gilbert on Tuesday, July 21st from 1:00 to 2:30 PM EST. Registration is $20 for PLD members and $40 for nonmembers.

On June 15, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Town of Gilbert, Arizona’s sign code. In a rare unanimous decision, all of the justices of the Court agreed that the Town’s code violated the core First Amendment requirement of content neutrality, and the majority opinion provided new insight on what it means for a regulation to be “content neutral.” The Court’s decision is expected to put thousands of sign codes at increased risk of legal challenges, which could mean increased legal costs for local governments, as well as potential negative impacts on communities’ aesthetic concerns. This program will include presentations by some of the nation’s leading scholars and practitioners on First Amendment and land use issues. Panelists will discuss the facts of the Reed case, the Court’s rationale for its decision, some of the important questions and unanswered issues stemming from the case, and some helpful practice pointers on sign code drafting and enforcement.

Speakers include Brian J. Connolly, esq. of Otten Johnson Robinson Neff + Ragonetti, P.C. in Denver, CO; Daniel R. Mandelker, esq., Howard A. Stamper Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis; John M. Baker, esq. of Greene Espel PLLP in Minneapolis, MN; and Susan L. Trevarthen, esq., FAICP of Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman, P.L. in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Webinar on the fate of sign ordinances after Reed v. Gilbert

The State and Local Legal Center in Washington, D.C. is hosting a free webinar on Reed v. Gilbert.  The National League of Cities is a co-sponsor. The information is below:

Revising Sign Ordinances After Reed v. Town of Gilbert Webinar
Wednesday August 19, 1:00PM – 2:15 PM ETD
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7566733836947059201
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

In Reed v. Town of Gilbert the Supreme Court ruled that Gilbert’s sign code violates the First Amendment. Many, if not most, communities must now revise their sign codes. Most sign codes apply different rules to different categories of signs based on content, which the Supreme Court now generally prohibits. Discuss the practical implications of this case for local governments with John M. Baker, Greene Espel.

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