National Trust for Historic Preservation Annual Conference in Spokane - Oct 31 - Nov 3

Following up on Matt's post about the rise of historic preservation in land use planning, and also the excellent new casebook by Bronin and Byrne on the subject, I thought it was worth noting that the National Trust for Historic Preservation annual conference will be in Spokane, Washington, this October 31 - November 3.  While this is typically a "practitioners" conference, I don't see why we shouldn't have more professors in the mix there, too.  (And for those of us in the inland Northwest, like myself, this will be a rare chance to catch this conference on our home turf.)  To wit, I will be moderating a panel at the conference on Thursday, November 1 at 1:30 entitled "Bridging Preservation & Environmentalism."  Here is the session description:

This session will offer tools to resolve gaps and conflicts between preservation and conservation. From the local level, panelist Hillary Gitelman, Planning Director of Napa County (CA), will discuss an issue in Napa involving landmarks on agricultural lands that were destined to demolition by neglect due to restrictive zoning. The issue created a conflict between preservationists, who supported narrowly crafted ordinances that allow reasonable reuse of the landmarks, and some environmentalists, who were concerned with development on rural lands. Attorney Sara K. Hayden, who represented Napa County Landmarks, a non-profit preservation group that supported the ordinances, will discuss legal aspects of the matter, and of other case studies from across the United States where communities, through effective ordinances and policies, resolved apparent conflicts between preservation and conservation. Earthjustice attorney Melanie Kay will provide a federal view on bridging the gap between Section 106 and NEPA reviews and compliance. Stephen R. Miller, associate professor of law at the University of Idaho, College of Law, will moderate.

There are many other interesting panels that I think land use lawyers would enjoy, practitioner and professor alike, so check out the schedule at the link above.  Registration is much cheaper now than if you wait till later, which is another reason I'm posting about this now.  

Incidentally, if you go, I hear you MUST stay at the historic Davenport.  Hope to see you there!

Stephen R. Miller