Continuing a long tradition, attorneys Mark Bran­­­se and Ken­­ Slater organized and oversaw the arrangements and curriculum for the 2023 Connecticut Bar Association’s Continuing Education course, “CT Land Use Law for Municipal Land Use Agencies, Boards, Commissions,” that took place virtually via Zoom last Saturday, March 11^th. The event is sponsored by the Connecticut Bar Association Planning and Zoning Section. Attorneys Richard Roberts and Michael Zizka were among 12 other speakers. This year, in part due to new state mandated training requirements for municipal land use commission members, nearly 900 members of municipal land use agencies, boards, and commissions registered and participated.  Ken managed the day-long virtual question and answer portion of the program.

Mike Zizka’s session on Wetlands Law and Procedure reviewed procedures of municipal inland wetlands and watercourse agencies and how wetlands law impacts the zoning and planning process. Rich Roberts’ session on Conflict of Interest and Predisposition covered statutory provisions on conflict of interest, rules governing predisposition and predetermination, court decisions on conflict of interest, drawing the line between cases where disqualification applies and does not apply, and procedural problems when a question of conflict arises.

Ken, Mark, Mike, and Rich have also been very active working with the State Office of Policy and Management and UConn’s Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) in creating a format and curriculum to allow land use commissioners to comply with the newly imposed four-hour annual training requirement.  In addition to assisting with the outline of the subject matter, Ken, Mark, and Rich have each presented and recorded 90-minute training sessions for CLEAR on three different subjects presented in a live seminar that can be utilized by local officials to satisfy their legal obligations by reviewing the recordings.

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