Plenary Sessions
Welcome and Creative Repurposing: West Ballroom 1 & 2
Many communities often face the situation where a large, specialized building, like a church or school, is now vacant. Creative solutions to repurpose the building involve a multitude of considerations. This session discusses how a local government can help market, finance, and plan for reuse of these important structures. Examples from West Virginia will be used to inspire ideas in other communities.
Speaker: Andrew Davis, Director of Strategic Redevelopment, New River Gorge Regional Development Authority
Keynote
Welcome Mayor Elliott: West Ballroom 1 & 2
The Mayor of Wheeling, WV will be providing the keynote address on May 21.
Speaker: Mayor Elliott of Wheeling, WV
Lightning Round
Lightning Round: West Ballroom 1 & 2
The lightening round will be a fast-paced review of legislative developments, exciting news on citizen planner education, and state programs relating to land use planning.
Breakout Session #1
Balancing the Impacts of Short-Term Rentals: West Ballroom 1
Short-term rentals offer a boost to tourism and economic development to communities across West Virginia. However, those benefits must be balanced against the land use impacts, including impacts on affordable housing and community character. This session discusses how local governments can create the appropriate balance in their communities while respecting the rights of the owners of visitors and residents.
Discussion Leaders: Ryan Simonton, Attorney, Kay Casto & Chaney PLLC and Katie See, Assistant Director, Brownfields Assistance Center at WVU
Moderator: Jesse J. Richardson, Jr., Lead Land Use Attorney, Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic
Land Use FAQs: West Ballroom 2
This session discusses what to do about NIMBY, nightmare, and nuisance land uses entering your community or, worse, becoming your neighbor. Before you whip out the pitch forks and torches, those who sign up for this session will have an opportunity to submit questions to the session moderator. Think shooting ranges, backyard chickens, food trucks, tattoo parlors, vape shops, cannabis, telecommunications, multi-family housing, solar panels and wind turbines, agritourism and barn weddings, flashy billboards with foul language, and drug houses. With audience led questions and facilitated discussion, we will offer two sessions to cover even more what if scenarios.
Discussion Leader: Kin Sayre, Attorney, Bowles Rice LLP
Moderators: Christy DeMuth, Land Use Planner and Jared Anderson, Land Use Attorney, Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic
Floodplain Management using Legal & Planning Tools: Terrace Room
This session briefly introduces legal and planning tools effective at reducing impacts from flooding. Tools include floodplain overlays, setbacks, floodplain ordinances, and non-regulatory tools such as deed restrictions. After introducing a variety of tools, hypotheticals will be discussed covering common questions. In addition, the panel will discuss HB 171 impacting the regulation of agriculture with flood regulation as an example.
Discussion Leaders: Ray Perry, Code Enforcement Officer, Logan County and Melissa Scott, Hardy County Planner
Moderator: Kat Garvey, Director, Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic
Breakout Session #2
Guns, Lawyers, and Land Use: West Ballroom 1
The United States Supreme Court decided a landmark Second Amendment case in 2022 that subjects governmental actions, including land use planning and zoning, to heightened scrutiny. The decision placed Second Amendment rights on the same level as other constitutional rights. In addition, the West Virginia legislature has acted to address zoning in the context of the sale and storage of firearms. This session addresses this new era of firearms and land use regulation, providing best practices for local governments, as well as areas in which local governments should exercise caution.
Discussion Leaders: Ryan Simonton, Attorney, Kay Casto & Chaney, PLLC
Moderators: Jesse J. Richardson, Jr., Lead Land Use Attorney, and Jared Anderson, Land Use Attorney, Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic
Planning for Healthy Communities: West Ballroom 2
Comprehensive planning has the potential to move the needle on a community's health by planning for healthy lifestyles and building a sense of place and, importantly, by involving health professionals in the planning process. This session reviews considerations for developing and implementing health-oriented comprehensive plans.
Discussion Leaders: Christiaan Abildso, Associate Professor, West Virginia University School of Public Health and Shae Strait, Director of Planning and Development, Fairmont
Moderator: Christy DeMuth, Land Use Planner, Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic
Here Comes the Sun – Balancing Agriculture and Renewable Energy: Terrace Room
Summary: Wind turbines and solar panels impact communities in a variety of ways, including competing for land with agricultural land uses. This session will explore the types/sizes of renewable energy projects, the community cost/benefit of each, and how WV state law affects the development of those projects (this will touch on the degraded land requirement and lack thereof). The planning & development issues relevant to each type of project will then be presented along with a rundown of the best practice planning/zoning recommendations that can help communities manage this type of development.
Discussion Leader: Melissa Scott, Hardy County Planner
Moderator: Katherine Garvey, Director, Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic
Breakout Session #3
Regulating Religious Land Uses: West Ballroom 1
The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Person’s Act (RLUIPA) protects individuals, houses of worship, and other religious institutions from discrimination in land use laws, including zoning. Local governments must be exceptionally careful in granting or denying permits, reviewing conditional use permits, and issuing variances for the surprisingly broad category of uses protected by RLUIPA. This interactive session will engage participants with various fact patterns from real cases and local government actions to better understand how to navigate land use regulation in compliance with RLUIPA.
Discussion Leader: Katie See, Assistant Director, Brownfields Assistance Center at WVU
Moderator: Jesse J. Richardson, Jr., Lead Land Use Attorney, Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic
Land Use FAQs: West Ballroom 2
This session discusses what to do about NIMBY, nightmare, and nuisance land uses entering your community or, worse, becoming your neighbor. Before you whip out the pitch forks and torches, those who sign up for this session will have an opportunity to submit questions to the session moderator. Think shooting ranges, backyard chickens, food trucks, tattoo parlors, vape shops, cannabis, telecommunications, multi-family housing, solar panels and wind turbines, agritourism and barn weddings, flashy billboards with foul language, and drug houses. With audience led questions and facilitated discussion, we will offer two sessions to cover even more what if scenarios.
Discussion Leader: Kin Sayre, Attorney, Bowles Rice LLP
Moderators: Christy DeMuth, Land Use Planner, Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic
Open Meetings are For Everyone: Terrace Room
Local officials must have a thorough understanding of the Open Governmental Meetings Act (a.k.a. “Sunshine Law”). OGMA establishes requirements for providing notice, setting the agenda, taking meeting minutes, and other procedural aspects of holding transparent and participatory public meetings. This session will involve an interactive voting tool to allow participants to test their knowledge and guide the discussion.
Moderators: Jared Anderson, Land Use Attorney and Katherine Garvey, Director, Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic