21st CPTC Annual Conference
CPTC Annual Conference 2025
Saturday, March 15, 2025
The 21st CPTC Annual Conference will be held on March 15, 2025 at Holy Cross College, Hogan Center in Worcester. This is an all day conference for Massachusetts citizen and professional planners. The conference includes workshops, speakers and networking. Registration is required. The cost is $95 and includes a continental breakfast and buffet lunch. Free parking is available on site. Conference Policies & Location.
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Conference Schedule
8:00 AM – 8:30 AM | Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30 AM – 9:00 AM | General Opening/Welcome and Keynote Speaker: Representative Kristin Kassner
9:15AM – 10:45AM | EARLY MORNING SESSIONS
1 – Roles and Responsibilities of Planning and Zoning Boards (MIIA)
Join us if you are a new Board member or building inspector. This program will launch you into your role as a local official, introduce you to the functions of the two boards and the main tools of planning and zoning. This session will also include an introductory discussion of the Open Meeting, Public Records, and the Conflict-of-Interest Laws.
Speaker: Thomas Bott, Town Planner, Town of Carver
Registration: Register
2 – Creating Master Plans (MIIA) CM I 1.5
Local officials will learn why and how to prepare, adopt, and implement the master or comprehensive plan described in MGL Chapter 41, Section 81D. The session will identify the sections of a master/comprehensive plan and specific steps by which the plan will be carried out. The session will also discuss what kinds of goals and policies does a master plan typically include? Why is an implementation program such an important part of creating a master plan? Evaluating future conservation and development opportunities. The advantages of hiring a consultant.
Speaker: Alexis Lanzillotta, AICP, Principal Planner, Barrett Planning Group LLC
Registration: Register
3 – How NOT to Hold a Public Hearing (MIIA)
Attend a meeting of the Town of Danbury ZBA as it considers a special permit application, then join in the postmortem discussion of what the Board did wrong (or right) during the hearing, and how we can improve the public hearing process in our communities.
Speakers: Barbara Saint André, Esq., Director, Community and Economic Development, Town of Medway; Judi Barrett, Owner and Principal, Barrett Planning Group LLC; Maren A. Toohill, AICP, Town Planner, Town of Littleton, CPTC Board member
Registration: Register
4 – Clean Energy Projects – Consolidated Permitting and Solar Incentives CM I 1.5
Learn about the new law creating consolidated local and state permitting processes for solar and other clean energy systems as well as updates to the state’s financial incentives for solar projects, known as SMART. These changes are designed to increase the pace of deployment of progress toward meeting the Commonwealth’s ambitious climate goals while also providing new site suitability standards to steer projects away from important natural resources. Mass Audubon’s report, Growing Solar, Protecting Nature analyzed the potential for that. We will explain the new programs and changes that are coming to the way local projects will be permitted, and how planners can get involved in policy development.
Speakers: Kurt Gaertner, Asst. Secretary for Environmental Policy, MA Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs; Susannah Hatch, Chief of Staff, Department of Energy Resources; Heidi Ricci, Director of Policy and Advocacy, Mass Audubon, CPTC Board member
Registration: Register
5 – Open Space and Recreation Plans Update CM I 1.5
This session will provide the latest information on Open Space and Recreation Plans (OSRPs), including the basic requirements, best practices in preparing OSRPs and conducting outreach, and an update on the revised Open Space and Recreation Planner’s Workbook.
Speaker: Melissa Cryan, Grant Programs Supervisor, EEA Division of Conservation Services
Registration: Register
6 – What’s New with ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units) CM I 1.5
This session provides an overview of the recently passed ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) regulations. In summer 2024 the Affordable Homes Act amended the Zoning Act to allow ADUs up to 900 square feet to be built by right in single-family zoning districts. The session will explain what is covered in the supporting regulations, such as what rules are prohibited or those would be considered unreasonable. It will also cover future data collection requirements for municipalities. Staff will also provide an overview of the forthcoming Model By-law for towns and cities to use as a reference as they update their own local zoning rules.
Speaker: Catherine Neill, ADU Housing Coordinator, Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities
Registration: Register
11:00AM – 12:30PM | LATE MORNING SESSIONS
7 – Subdivision Surety CM I 1.5
Subdivision Surety is usually not top of mind – until something goes awry! Unfinished streets, overflowing catch basins, vanishing developers, unhappy residents, 20-year-old surety – many of us are familiar with the multitude of potential problems. This seminar will explain the ins and outs of subdivision security, and provide practical and valuable tips to help avoid the specter of half-finished subdivisions.
Speakers: Barbara Saint André, Esq., Director, Community and Economic Development, Town of Medway; Ilana M. Quirk, Esq., Director of Planning and Community Development, Town of Norwell
Registration: Register
8 – Use of Design Review (MIIA) CM I 1.5
Design review is a process that municipalities can undertake to improve the visual quality of structures and promote good design for the benefit of the public. This session will clarify the appropriate scope and authority for the use of design guidelines, the types of standards that can be implemented, and how that can be accomplished. The session will also explain how design review guidelines can be developed, administered and enforced in a fair and predictable manner.
Speaker: Emily Keys Innes, AICP, LEED AP ND, President, Innes Associates Ltd
Registration: Register
9 – Demystifying Development: A Peek Behind the Curtain of Permitting Projects
This session offers board and committee members a behind-the-scenes look at the intricate world of local permitting. A developer will share insights into the key factors they evaluate before submitting a project application, offering a valuable perspective on early-stage planning. An engineer will highlight technical considerations that often shape project feasibility, while a planner will provide clarity on regulatory frameworks and community dynamics. Designed to enhance understanding and improve decision-making, this session equips board and committee members with the knowledge to evaluate development projects effectively and confidently.
Speakers: Sam Randel, Founder, Randel & Co Development; Brittany Gesner, Director of Land Development, Worcester, VHB; Jenny Gingras, Director of Planning, Town of Westborough
Registration: Register
10 – Who Can Be Your Neighbor? CM I 1.5
This session will present case studies of housing developments designed and carried out to fit within neighborhood settings. Many of the examples will include affordable housing, which is complicated under the best of circumstances. It can be even more complicated in communities with limited infrastructure and utilities, limited market demand or unique market conditions (e.g., seasonal or resort towns). We will look at common and subtle regulatory barriers to housing, and consider how those barriers make it difficult to achieve equitable neighborhood and community development.
Speaker: Judi Barrett, Owner and Principal, Barrett Planning Group LLC
Registration: Register
11 – What Planning and Zoning Boards Need to Know about Conservation Commissions and Wetlands Law, Permits, Process, Policy, Land and Water Management, and Enforcement (MIIA)
Know what Conservation Commissions do, why they do it, where they are coming from, and speak their language. Take the mysteries out of the Wetlands Protection Act, Resource Areas, Riverfront rules, Stormwater requirements, Home Rule Wetland Bylaws, Conservation Commission regulations, appeals to MassDEP and court, and enforcement. Who needs what kind of permissions from whom to do what in or near where? What happens if there is non-compliance? Who is supposed to manage our public parklands? Who acquires our conservation lands? Who negotiates for conservation restrictions? Who deals with conservation grants and gifts? Understand your various overlapping and complementary roles, reduce inter-board confusion and conflicts, support each other, promote effective decisions, and protect and advance the public interest.
Speaker: Gregor I. McGregor, Esq., Founder and Senior Partner, McGregor Legere & Stevens PC
Registration: Register
12 – What is New with the Community One-Stop for Growth CM I 1.5
Since 2021, the Community One Stop for Growth has provided more than 1,100 grants, amounting to over $560 million in funding, to support community-focused economic development and housing projects across the Commonwealth. Join the Executive Office of Economic Development’s Juan Vega, Assistant Secretary for Communities and Programs, and Pat Shannon, Director of the Community One Stop for Growth, to learn about how the One Stop is continuing to evolve to support the needs of communities across the state, including exciting new programs focused on re-energizing downtown and commercial areas.
Speakers: Juan Vega, Assistant Secretary for Communities and Programs, Executive Office of Economic Development (EOED); Pat Shannon, AICP, Director, Community One Stop for Growth, EOED
Moderator: Jacqueline McPherson, AICP, Senior Program Manager, EOED, CPTC Board member
Registration: Register
1:45 PM – 3:15 PM | AFTERNOON SESSIONS
13 – Writing Reasonable and Defensible Decisions (MIIA)
This course covers some key points that will assist boards in writing clear and defensible decisions and why that is important. It describes criteria that should be contained in local zoning provisions and how they relate to the drafting of the decision and the conditions a board may impose when approving a special permit or variance application This session covers legal and procedural requirements for conducting a public hearing and the ramifications of failure to follow procedural regulations in the decision-making process.
Speaker: Bob Mitchell, FAICP, Planning Consultant, Boston, MA
Registration: Register
14 – Site Plan Review (MIIA) CM I 1.5
The Zoning Act does not contain any provisions for the review of site plans; however, the process can be a very effective tool for a board to review the details, aesthetics and impacts of a potential project. This course explains the legal issues when using site plan review; the difference between site plan approval and special permits; the review process; the types of conditions a board may impose; the reasons for disapproval; the appeal process and the types of information a municipality can require to be shown on a site plan. Additional material will be presented on how to incorporate site plan review into your zoning bylaw or ordinance.
Speaker: Jacki Byerley, AICP, Town Planner, Town of Andover
Registration: Register
15 – Regional Approaches to Historic Preservation Planning (MIIA) CM I 1.5
Regional Planning Agencies (RPAs) are an important link between local governments, state agencies, and community-based organizations. On this panel, RPAs in urban, suburban, and rural regions of the Commonwealth will share how they take different approaches to incorporating historic preservation and cultural planning into the broader objectives of their agencies. Together, they will explain how RPAs function, how local preservation staff and commissioners can build relationships with RPAs, and how RPAs can meaningfully help advance local preservation planning goals. The Local Government Programs Coordinator at the Massachusetts Historical Commission will moderate the subsequent discussion about how RPAs support efforts to integrate historic preservation into local, regional, and state planning.
Speakers: Shannon Walsh, Historic Preservation Planner, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC); Beth Giannini, Transportation Program Manager, Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG); Sarah Scott, Senior Land Use and Historic Preservation Planner, Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)
Moderator: Jennifer Doherty, Preservation Planner, Barrett Planning Group LLC
Registration: Register
16 – Drafting an Effective RFP for Planning Service CM I 1.5
Need to hire a planning consultant for your master plan, housing production plan or transportation study? Learn how to prepare a Request for Proposal (RFP) that will encourage the best-suited consultants to respond and help you hire the most experienced and most appropriate consultant. Get tips on the legal requirements for RFPs and learn why consultants can be reluctant or uninterested in submitting. This session will help you prepare an RFP that makes consultants excited to submit a proposal.
Speakers: Leonardi Aray, AIA, Managing Principal, Leonardi Aray Architects LLC; Sarah L. Raposa, AICP, Director of Planning & Development, Town of Mansfield; Kathleen McCabe, FAICP, Principal, McCabe Enterprises
Moderator: Mark Favermann, Principal, Favermann Design
Registration: Register
17 – Home Rule Legislation – What is Home Rule? (MIIA) CM I 1.5
Why would my municipality want or need a home rule act? What are common subjects for home rule legislation relative to land use, planning and zoning? Are there topics that cannot be the subject of a Home Rule petition? How is it started by the municipality? What does the Legislature do with it? What happens once it is passed by the Legislature? What if the municipality wants changes to the act? Donna Brewer and Andrew Bettinelli of Harrington Heep LLP will address these questions and more.
Speakers: Donna Brewer, Partner, Harrington Heep LLP; Andrew Bettinelli, Associate, Harrington Heep LLP
Moderator: Maren A. Toohill, AICP, Town Planner, Town of Littleton, CPTC Board member
Registration: Register
18 – Regional Planning Agencies: Who Are They? What They Can and Can’t Do for Your Community! (MIIA) CM I 1.5
Find out who your regional planning agency (RPA) or council of governments (COG) is and why they were created. Learn the wide range of services they can provide to your community. How do RPAs and COGs operate and what is their funding source? Learn about the regional perspective and sharing services with other communities. Find out what’s going on in the world of planning and zoning legislatively. Join us as two RPAs and one COG share their knowledge.
Speakers: Trish Settles, Deputy Executive Director, Regional Collaboration and Community Planning, Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Agency; Jessica Atwood, Director of Planning, Franklin Regional Council of Governments; Karen Chapman, Planning and Development Director, Montachusett Regional Planning Commission, CPTC Board member
Moderator: Karen Chapman, Planning and Development Director, Montachusett Regional Planning Commission, CPTC Board member
Registration: Register
Conference Policies & Location
- Location: Holy Cross College, Hogan Conference Center, 1 College Rd., Worcester MA (use Upper Campus Rd to access the Hogan Center) – plus code location: 65PR+XP Worcester, Massachusetts.
- The 2025 CPTC Annual Conference is an in-person event. Workshops will not be recorded.
- Continental breakfast and buffet lunch are included. Please contact coordinator@masscptc.org with any dietary restrictions.
- Payment is available by check or credit card (cc payment is only available online at the time of registration). Checks can arrive after the registration deadline. Please make checks payable to CPTC and mail to: Citizen Planner Training Collaborative (CPTC), c/o Urban Harbors Institute, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125.
- Cancelation Policy: Registering for the conference is a commitment to attend. Payment is required unless a written cancelation request is received by the CPTC Coordinator at coordinator@masscptc.org by Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. No refunds will be processed after that date.
- Please contact coordinator@masscptc.org with any questions.
Disclaimer
The use of the facilities of the College of the Holy Cross for this event does not constitute an endorsement by the College. The College of the Holy Cross does not endorse any candidate, or organization, in connection with this or any other political campaign or election.