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<br />VOLUNTARY TRAINING PROGRAMS
<br />The University of NorthAlabama. The univer-
<br />sity's Office of Continuing Studies and
<br />Outreach offers a large number of classroom
<br />and home study programs on comprehensive
<br />planning, zoning and subdivision regula-
<br />tions, planning and zoning law, local board
<br />duties and responsibilities, meeting manage-
<br />ment, and dispute resolution. A planning or
<br />zoning board member who completes several
<br />of these courses in on-site training formats
<br />will become a "certified Alabama planning
<br />and zoning official." Mayors, city council
<br />members, professiol1als, and citizens are
<br />encouraged to take these courses and
<br />become certified. Each course runs a half day
<br />or a full day at a cost ranging from $79 to
<br />$139.
<br />Lincoln Land Institute. After years ohon-
<br />ducting classroom training for land-use pro-
<br />fessionals in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the
<br />institute now conducts place-based training
<br />programs-albeit selectively. In conjunction
<br />with institutional partners in various regions
<br />of the country, the institute's training pro-
<br />grams put land-use and design tools into the
<br />hands of the local leaders responsible for
<br />malcing key decisions about growth and con-
<br />servation. Training is concentrated in areas
<br />with mounting development pressures and
<br />where leaders are committed to changing
<br />land-use patterns. Practical case studies are
<br />used to demonstrate how leaders have con-
<br />fronted and resolved land development prob-
<br />lems in other locales. Programs are supple-
<br />mented with materials from the institute's
<br />publications progra'm and leaders are assisted
<br />by technology-based information programs.
<br />The institute has a free Citizen Planners
<br />Resource Kit that includes publications on a
<br />variety of smart growth techniques and a film,
<br />Making Sense of Place, together with free
<br />online access to courses for citizen planning
<br />officials.
<br />Mayors' Institute. Few training programs
<br />involve chief elected officials. A notable
<br />exception is the New Jersey Institute, which
<br />conducts programs modeled after the
<br />Mayors' Institute of City Design. Carried out in
<br />conjunction with the Regional Plan
<br />Association, the institute gathers a half dozen
<br />mayors and a resource team of professional
<br />designers and planners. Mayors talk about
<br />the planning and design problems faced by
<br />their communities to which the resource team
<br />responds, triggering in-depth discussion.
<br />
<br />Mayors learn from local examples discussed
<br />by the resource team and the team members
<br />and chief elected officials learn from one
<br />another.
<br />, Georgia Department of Community
<br />Affairs. The department's Office of Planning
<br />and Quality Growth conducts a two-day work-
<br />shop designed for local board members and
<br />
<br />GovernmentTrust and the Governor's Office of
<br />Planning and Budget. The partners present a
<br />two-day seminar on land-use practice.
<br />Individuals pay a modest fee to register. The
<br />participants are largely planning commission
<br />and zoning board of adjustment members,
<br />elected officials, and local staff members.
<br />Standardized materials are provided for par-
<br />
<br />Most training programs are geared
<br />toward planning and zoning board
<br />members with an emphasis on newly
<br />appointed volunteers-a strategy that
<br />is pragmatic and hard to debate.
<br />
<br />staff. Training includes sessions on land-use
<br />iaw, street design, green space preservation,
<br />ecological and economic considerations, and
<br />innovative regulations-the tools and tech-
<br />niques of effective planning and quality
<br />growth.
<br />Utah Certified Ot/zen Planner Seminar.
<br />This seminar series is run by the University of
<br />Utah's Center for Public Policy & Administra-
<br />tion in conjunction with the Utah Local
<br />
<br />
<br />. Involve local elected legislators who
<br />help adopt zoning and land-use
<br />laws; establish the standards that
<br />planning boards enforce; appoint
<br />members to boards; and determine
<br />whethe"r to provide training for their
<br />appointees.
<br />
<br />. Include a spectrum of stakeholders
<br />involved in localland"use decision-
<br />making and sensitizing board mem-
<br />bers to the full range of interests
<br />involved_
<br />
<br />. Provide training regarding innova-
<br />tive land-use strategies (smart
<br />growth, affordable housing, conser-
<br />vation strategies, and mixed use,
<br />higher density development), and
<br />community-based decision making.
<br />
<br />ticipants and are also available online.
<br />Sessions include the role of local boards; the
<br />basics of land-use regulation, zoning, and
<br />subdivision approval; and due process in pub-
<br />lic meetings. Trainees who complete the semi-
<br />nar receive a certificate of completion.
<br />Massachusetts Citizen Planner Training
<br />Collaborative. Seven planning groups, state
<br />agencies, and an academic institution
<br />formed the collaborative to provide training
<br />workshops, on-demand training, database
<br />services, and an annual conference for citi-
<br />zen planners. The core curriculum includes
<br />an introduction to zoning, subdivisi'On con-
<br />trol, and the roles and responsibilities of
<br />planning and zoning boards. Also provided
<br />are intermediate courses on n,onconforming
<br />uses, community participation, exemptions,
<br />variances, and special permits. Specialty
<br />programs are available on writing land-use
<br />decisions, reading subdivision plans, afford-
<br />able housing, and holding public hearings,
<br />Nearly three dozen trainers work with the
<br />collaborative to provide these courses on a
<br />recurring basis throughout the state. This
<br />program is assisted by the State of
<br />Massachusetts, whose legislation authorizes
<br />the State Department of Housing and
<br />Community development to establish a pro-
<br />gram for training local planning 'Officials.
<br />Michigan State University Otizen
<br />Planner Program. This program awards a citi-
<br />zen planner certificate through the Michigan
<br />State University extension to individuals who
<br />
<br />ZONING PRACTICE 4.07
<br />AMERICAN PLANNING P5S'OCIAll<211'S' 5
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