Overview
Connecticut is truly a bastion of “home rule.” With no county government since the 1950’s, each of the state’s 169 municipalities is largely in charge of its own land use planning and regulation – which is accomplished by a small number of land use commissions peopled by community-minded volunteers.
The UConn CLEAR Land Use Academy (LUA) provides practical education for these critical local land use decision maker. Our program focuses on the fundamental knowledge and skills needed to serve effectively on a local land use commission. New land use commissioners and those considering becoming commissioners will find our workshops especially useful, as will current commissioners seeking to update or refresh their understanding of fundamental land use topics. LUA has been around (in various forms under various pseudonyms) for over 30 years.
Contact
Renata Bertotti
Assistant Land Use Planning/Climate Resilience Extension Educator
renata.bertotti@uconn.edu
(860) 345-5231
Instructors
Renata Bertotti
Basic / Advanced Training
UConn CLEAR
Assistant Land Use Planning/Climate Resilience Extension Educator
renata.bertotti@uconn.edu
860 345-5231
Renata Bertotti is an Assistant Extension Educator in Land Use Planning and Climate Resilience at the UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research. Renata is a visionary planning professional with two decades of experience in municipal planning, zoning, housing, and departmental oversight. She is an innovative thinker with passion for municipal and regional planning, public policy, environmental geography, and social subjects. As an Extension Educator at CLEAR, Renata strives to provide communities with tools and support to make land use decisions that balance natural resource protection with community growth.
Michael A. Zizka
Halloran & Sage LLP
Counsel
zizka@halloransage.com
(860) 297-4680
Michael A. Zizka is Counsel in Halloran & Sage's Hartford office. He has represented numerous municipal, corporate and individual clients in matters involving, among other things, environmental and land-use counseling; drafting and amendment of ordinances and regulations; siting and permitting proceedings; enforcement actions; and related litigation in state and federal courts.
Mr. Zizka is the author of What's Legally Required? A Guide to the Legal Rules for Making Local Land-Use Decisions (8th Ed. 2023), a manual widely used by municipal land-use officials in Connecticut. He is also the principal author of State & Local Government Land Use Liability (West Group), a national publication designed for government attorneys and officials. Mr. Zizka has been a frequent lecturer on land use and environmental issues.
Mr. Zizka has served as Town Attorney, Borough Attorney, land use counsel or special counsel in 60 Connecticut municipalities. He has often represented municipalities in litigation in both state and federal courts. Mr. Zizka has also represented many landowners, developers and development companies in permitting proceedings and judicial appeals.
Before becoming a lawyer in 1982, Mr. Zizka served as a hydrogeologist and environmental analyst for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. In that capacity, he participated in more than 100 environmental reviews of proposed development projects, analyzing water-quality, drainage, soil, and other geological and hydrological issues.
Mike has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® since 2011 and has been named "Lawyer of the Year" in the Hartford Region multiple times for Land Use and Zoning Law and/or Litigation-Land Use & Zoning. Mike is also well known in the area for his widespread community theater activities and for his on-air fundraising appearances as a volunteer for CPTV and WNPR.
Richard P. Roberts
Advanced Training
Partner, Halloran & Sage, LLP
Member, Planning and Zoning Law Section of the Connecticut Bar Association
roberts@halloran-sage.com
860-297-4695
Richard Roberts represents municipalities in the full range of their legal needs. He provides legal counsel to them in real estate acquisitions and sales, land use, charter revisions, drafting and review of ordinances, and property tax issues. He also provides legal counsel to individuals, partnerships, limited-liability companies and corporations in real estate acquisitions and sales, financing transactions, general business affairs and contracts and agreements. He represents lending institutions and borrowers in secured, unsecured, asset-based and non-traditional financing transactions as well as in various state and federal regulatory matters, including securities, banking and land use and zoning matters.
Mr. Roberts regularly presents seminars to attorneys, bankers, accountants and other professionals on topics that include commercial lending, limited liability companies and other forms of business entities, real estate and land title law. He is a member of the Connecticut Association of Municipal Attorneys. He has served as Republican Town Chairman in Wethersfield since 1995 and has been a member of the Wethersfield Planning and Zoning Commission since 1991.
Kenneth R. Slater, Jr
Advanced Training
Partner, Halloran & Sage, LLP
Member, Planning and Zoning Law Section of the Connecticut Bar Association
slater@halloran-sage.com
860-297-4662
Kenneth Slater practices primarily in the areas of land use and environmental law. Mr. Slater has extensive experience in land use matters, and he is frequently consulted to prosecute and defend administrative appeals to the Superior Court regarding the issuance or denial of zoning, planning and wetland permit approvals and enforcement matters. He also regularly serves as counsel to municipalities in land use matters. He is also experienced in complex land use matters involving constitutional and environmental claims and statutory remedies.
He also has significant experience in environmental law matters. He routinely represents current and former owners of real property regarding legal issues relating to transfer or remediation of contaminated properties and in the prosecution and defense of environmental cost recovery actions. He advises businesses, property owners, municipalities and individuals regarding environmental regulation, permitting and enforcement. He appears regularly before federal and state environmental regulatory and siting agencies and federal and state courts regarding environmental matters. He served as lead counsel in several appeals to the Connecticut Supreme and Appellate Courts involving important issues in land use law. He also lectures on a variety of environmental and land use law topics.
Mark Branse
Advanced Training
Partner, Halloran & Sage, LLP
branse@halloransage.com
860-241-4088
Mark Branse is a former Planning Director holding a Masters Degree in government from the Fels Institute of Local and State Government, Wharton Graduate School, University of Pennsylvania. He is also a former member of the Glastonbury Town Plan and Zoning Commission and a former member of the Glastonbury Redevelopment Agency.
Mark provides, or has provided, representation and/or legal consultation to land use agencies in more than two dozen municipalities and has represented applicants and neighborhood associations in more than 70 towns. He is currently Town Attorney of Franklin and Scotland, Assistant Town Attorney of Vernon, as well as Special Land Use or Planning Counsel for Andover, Barkhamsted, Bridgewater, Canterbury, Eastford, East Haddam, Griswold, Haddam, Killingworth, Marlborough, Middlefield, Montville, New Hartford, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Plainfield, Sherman, Warren, Westbrook, and Willington.
Mark is a past Chairman and Secretary of the Planning & Zoning Section of the Connecticut Bar Association and is a current member of the Executive Committee. He has conducted seminars under the auspices of the Connecticut Bar Association, the Connecticut Chapter of the American Planning Association, the Connecticut Association of Conservation and Inland Wetlands Commissions, the Connecticut Association of Wetland Scientists, the Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust, the Eightmile River Wild & Scenic Coordinating Committee, the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments, the Windham Council of Governments, the Council of Governments of Central Naugatuck Valley, the Connecticut Association of Zoning Enforcement Officers, and the Land Use Education Partnership, among others. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Land Use Academy.
The OPM Office of Responsible Growth
The Land Use Academy receives critical support from the Office of Responsible Growth. Established by Executive Order 15, the office coordinates state efforts to revitalize cities, preserve the unique charm of the state and build livable, economically strong communities while protecting natural resources.
The Connecticut Bar Association, Planning & Zoning Section
The Connecticut Bar Association takes the lead in providing legal instruction and curriculum advice to the Land Use Academy. Over the years, a number of member attorneys have donated their time to supporting the education of local land use commissioners through the Academy program.
American Planning Association Connecticut Chapter
A longstanding supporter of the Academy, APACC works to promote the practice of good planning in Connecticut by providing information about planning issues and techniques and building awareness of planning. Both leaders and members of the Connecticut chapter have been generous advocates of the Academy training series.
Regional Council of Governments
The nine Regional Council of Governments in Connecticut have long been key motivators of land use education among their member municipalities. Patently, the Academy benefits in many ways from their generous support in areas of marketing, logistics, and leadership.
Testimonials
Past attendees of the Land Use Academy remarked:
I am a complete beginner. There is absolutely no training on the local level—no one even tells you what to expect or what’s expected of you. These workshops are a godsend.
The hands-on learning was outstanding.
This was a very good presentation and I’m sure I will use much of the information presented.
I only wish that other members of our commission would have attended.
The instructor helped me a lot in understanding the topic.
I was reminded that there is so much to learn when you are a P&Z commissioner!
Superb…
Overall an excellent session; I have already put a couple of the principles I learned into action as a commissioner.
Being both an experienced Scouter and Engineer, I was very familiar with the subject [of map reading]. Nonetheless, even I, with all my so-called experience, learned quite a bit.
I have taken the workshop previously but still find [the instructor] and his material interesting.
For citation purposes: University of Connecticut’s Center for Land Use Education and Research. (May 10, 2022). Land Use Academy Overview. https://clear.uconn.edu/lua/about.