In collaboration with the New York State Energy Research Development Authority (NYSERDA) and other regional partners, Pace University’s Land Use Law Center will bring its award-winning training program, the Land Use Leadership Alliance Training Program (LULA), to municipalities within Western New York. All municipalities are invited to participate. The program will focus on clean energy and responsible land use planning.
The curriculum for this program will be comprehensive, addressing key topics such as: the land use system, dynamics between local and state authority, planning and regulatory techniques that balance clean energy development and the protection of natural resources, agricultural lands and other local and state resources, and public engagement and consensus building tools which participants can use to engage nontraditional and traditional audiences in their communities.
The program will be offered free of charge. Continuing legal education credits for attorneys can be provided and the program also satisfies the training requirement for local board members. CM credits for planners and credits for code enforcement officers are also being considered. In addition, the Center will provide a high-level assessment of each participating community’s land use plans and regulations that identifies any existing clean energy efforts. Please see attached the sample agenda from the spring 2025 LULA program held in the Finger Lakes and quotes below from participants in that program.
The program comprises three full-day sessions from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm scheduled for Monday, September 29 – Wednesday, October 1 with sessions taking place at the University of Buffalo Center for Tomorrow (125 Service Center Rd, Buffalo, NY 14228). Please note that the program includes breakfast, lunch and snacks. The program will also include one or more off site visits to projects or sites in the region. Additional travel and logistics details will be shared in advance of the program.
The program will serve as a land use retreat for local land use leaders to brainstorm, vision, and proactively plan for their community’s energy future. It is a requirement that participating individuals attend all three of the sessions to complete the program. Participants can be planning board or zoning board of appeals members, local elected officials, environmental committee members, staff, or local landowners.
Space is limited, so if you or someone from your municipality is interested in participating, please register at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WesternNYLULA by September 5th.