Total Credits: 5.5 CLE, 5.5 Real Estate Law Specialization
This year's program features current trends and issues related to land use law. The morning sessions will delve into strategies for addressing housing shortages at both state and local levels. The mid-morning break will precede a panel discussion aimed at demystifying State Trust Land, with experts shedding light on this complex topic. After a buffet lunch we will have a keynote presentation featuring Trevor Barger, Espiritu Loci Incorporated. In the afternoon the focus will shift to legal considerations in housing development, particularly regarding tort claims. A brief afternoon break will lead into sessions providing updates on legislative and case law. This year's conference will be a day of valuable insights and networking opportunities for attendees.
Sessions will include:
Seminar co-chairs:
Cameron Artigue, Gammage & Burnham
Hannah Bleam, AICP, Land Use Planner, Withey Morris Baugh, PLC
Christina Rubalcava, Senior Assistant City Attorney, City of Flagstaff
Faculty:
Yassamin Ansari, Former Phoenix City Council Member, District 7
Tiffany Antol, AICP, City of Flagstaff Zoning Code Manager
Trevor Barger, Espiritu Loci
Brett Burningham, AICP, Development Services Director, Town of Queen Creek
Brian Craig, AICP, Buckeye Planning Director
Karen Dada, AICP, Assistant Director, Real Estate Division, Arizona State Land Department
Tom Dorn, Dorn Policy Group, Inc.
Mark Edelman, AICP, Executive Planner, Arizona State Land Department
Chloe Plaisance, Gammage and Burnham
Kelly Schwab, Chandler City Attorney
Keri Lazarus Silvyn, Lazarus & Silvyn, PC
Robert G. Longaker III, PLA, AICP, Director of Planning, The WLB Group, Inc.
Jason Morris, Withey Morris Baugh, PLC
Alex Hayes, Withey Morris Baugh, PLC
See Handouts for full agenda
| 2024 Land Use Law Materials (31 MB) | 251 Pages | Available after Purchase |
Keri Lazarus Silvyn is a Partner/Owner at Lazarus & Silvyn, P.C. in Tucson, Arizona. She is a land use and zoning attorney emphasizing sustainable development and appropriate and responsible growth.
Keri has been practicing zoning and land use law in Southern Arizona for over 25 years. Her work focuses on advising private developers and local governments on application of zoning codes, compliance with state statutes, compliance with current land use case law, and effective public/ private partnerships. In 2012, she opened Lazarus & Silvyn, P.C. in Phoenix with her partner and father, Larry Lazarus, and currently runs the Tucson office with Partner, Rory Juneman. Keri has been named to BizTucson Magazine’s 2023 list of Women Leading the Region. Greater Tucson Leadership selected Keri as the Tucson Woman of the Year for 2013. She has been listed annually as one of America’s Leading Business Lawyers in the category of Real Estate: Zoning/ Land Use since the 2012 edition of Chambers USA by Chamber and Partners Publishers. Keri has been recognized annually since 2008 as a Best Lawyer in America. Since 2017, she has been recognized annually as Tucson’s Lawyer of the Year in the area of Land Use and Zoning Law. Since 2015, Lazarus & Silvyn, P.C. has been recognized annually as a Best Law Firm in Arizona. Keri has been appointed over the years to serve on many advisory committees and working groups to improve zoning entitlement and development processes based on her experience and ability to work with diverse stakeholders. She has also served on numerous community boards including her role as current Chair of the Board of the Tucson Airport Authority. The goal for all of Keri’s clients is sustainable, appropriate, economically feasible and responsible growth. Ms. Silvyn’s representation has included infill developments, medical campuses, retail developers, industrial complexes, office developments, large utility company projects, mixed use developments, continuing care retirement communities, local cities and towns and tax financing districts. Keri’s Contact Information: Lazarus & Silvyn, P.C., 5983 E. Grant Road, Suite 290, Tucson, AZ 85712 Email: KSilvyn@LSLawAZ.com
Kelly Schwab has served as the City Attorney and Risk Manager for the City of Chandler since November 2016. Ms. Schwab oversees the Law Department which consists of 33 people and 3 sections: civil, prosecution, and risk management. Prior to her tenure in Chandler, Ms. Schwab worked in Mesa for one year as an Assistant City Attorney and was in private practice representing several municipalities throughout the State of Arizona including Gilbert, Wickenburg, Oro Valley, Quartzsite, Youngtown, Litchfield Park, Clifton, and others. Her litigation experience includes insurance defense, civil litigation, and criminal prosecution. She has served as lead counsel in defending public entities on employment, civil rights, personal injury, & construction cases. Ms. Schwab obtained her Bachelor of Science from Arizona State University and her Juris Doctor from the University of Arizona. She is admitted to practice law in the State of Arizona and is also admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. District Court in the District of Arizona. She is actively involved in community and legal organizations. She currently serves as the Arizona representative of the International Municipal Lawyers Association and is a member of the Planning Committee for the conferences. She has served as president of the Arizona City Attorneys Association and the Public Law Section of the State Bar of Arizona. Ms. Schwab was awarded the 2000-2001 Arizona State Bar Outstanding Young Lawyer Award for exceptional service to the State Bar and the community. The Arizona City Attorneys Association recognized Schwab with its Distinguished Municipal Attorney Award in 2022.
Cameron Artigue has spent his entire career at Gammage & Burnham and has over 35 years of experience in zoning and land use litigation. He has handled well over 100 appeals in state and federal courts, and his name appears on more than 75 published opinions. This includes many notable cases in the areas of zoning, land use, and state lands. For more than 20 years, he has taught Land Use Law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at ASU, and also teaches at the W.P. Carey School of Business. Cameron is on the Advisory Board for the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute and is assuming co-authorship of Arizona Land Use Law, published by the Arizona State Bar as the definitive authority in this field.
Jason Barclay Morris is a graduate of the University of Arizona, College of Law, and a founding partner at the law firm of Withey Morris Baugh, PLC. His past experience includes work as a congressional staff member, and as partner with the Land Use Section for a major Phoenix law firm.
Mr. Morris’s practice is exclusively in land use, planning and zoning and government relations in Arizona, as well as the Southwest region. His client list includes significant development in every asset class and representation in some of the state’s most high-profile land use cases. His clientele includes national homebuilders, multi-family developers, master plan developers, landowners, family offices and Fortune 100 companies. Mr. Morris has also successfully litigated land use cases on behalf of property owners against Arizona municipalities.
He served as Chair of the City of Phoenix License Appeals Board and was the District 3 representative to the Maricopa County Transportation Advisory Board. He was also appointed by the Mayor to serve on the City of Phoenix Development Advisory Board. Mr. Morris was past-chair of Valley Partnership’s State Legislative Committee. In that capacity, he worked extensively on the Growing Smarter Legislation as well as opposing the Citizen’s Growth Management Initiative. He also served as an Ad Hoc Committee-member advising on the combination of the Planning & Development Services Departments at the City of Phoenix. Jason’s other honors include recognition as an outstanding community leader by the Phoenix Business Journal’s “40 under 40” Issue, and he was honored as one of the “Best of the Bar” by the Arizona Business Journal.
Mr. Morris is currently on the Board of Trustees for The University of Denver Sturm College of Law Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute. Additional outside boards and activities include Valley Leadership, Urban Land Institute, ASU Real Estate Council, and the Arizona Town Hall. He also served as President of the Arizona Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs and is a member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Board of Trustees.
CHRISTINA C. RUBALCAVA, Senior Assistant City Attorney, City of Flagstaff. Christina joined the City of Flagstaff in March 2016 and represents the Community Development and Engineering divisions. She previously was a partner in Phoenix at the law firm of Osborn Maledon where she represented clients in the areas of employment, education, and general commercial litigation. Before that she clerked for the Honorable David G. Campbell on the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Christina is a graduate of Arizona State University, B.A., 2005, and Stanford Law School, J.D., 2008.
Alex Hayes is a land use and zoning attorney at Withey Morris, PLC, joining the firm in 2021. Alex is a highly effective communicator and problem solver with broad experience developing and influencing public policy and land use regulation. With over a decade of legal, political, and government relations experience, he has a nuanced understanding of how to navigate complex regulatory environments and achieve desired results.
Tom Dorn, President of Dorn Policy Group Inc., has a diverse background in government and politics at the federal, state, county, municipal, district and tribal levels. His firm represents numerous multi-national corporations, trade associations and government entities. Major current and previous clients include 3M, American Medical Response, American Insurance Association, Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Highway Users, Aviation Coalition of Arizona, Barstool/Penn Gaming, Becton Dickinson, Cigna Healthcare, City of Phoenix, GlobalMed, HDR Engineering, Macquarie Capital USA, McLane Company, Netjets, Peabody Energy, Roche Diagnostics, Stride/K12, TC Energy and The CORE Institute. Prior to starting Dorn Policy Group, Inc. in November 2000, Tom was a Partner for three years at the Arizona public affairs firm Jamieson Gutierrez. There he was the chief legislative strategist and lobbyist for the firm’s notable clients including America West Airlines, City of Tucson, Cox Communications, Fiesta Bowl, Hitachi Data Systems, Hopi Tribe, Reliant Energy and Southwest Student Services. From 1994 to 1997, Tom served as the State and Federal Lobbyist for the Arizona Department of Transportation under Republican Governor Fife Symington where he was instrumental in the STEP 21 Coalition, a Washington D.C.-based effort to secure equitable highway financing nationwide. Tom also initiated development of federal legislation enabling the ultimate construction of the Hoover Dam Bridge now spanning the Colorado River. These significant policy efforts have led to subsequent opportunities for increased commerce along the CANAMEX Corridor and the future Interstate 11 connecting Phoenix and Las Vegas. From 1990 to 1994, Tom served Democrat Governor Rose Mofford as Legislative Director for the Arizona Department of Commerce where he
advanced business legislation pertaining to international trade, housing, finance, economic development and sports promotion. He also served as Legislative Director for the Arizona State Land Department where he advocated for policies relative to natural resource management, water, grazing leases, forestry, urban planning and environmental protection. Early in his career, Tom served as a Congressional intern Washington for the late Arizona Congressman Jay Rhodes and then as a Government Relations Assistant to legendary Arizona lobbyist, Ambassador P. Robert Fannin from whom he learned honor, knowledge, skill and tenacity are the pillars of successful advocacy. Tom holds both a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Arizona State University (ASU). He is active in numerous organizations including the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, Arizona Tax Research Association, Arizona Town Hall, Economic Club of Phoenix, Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, Scottsdale Bible Church, State Society of Arizona and serves on the boards of the Arizona Highway Users and Paradise Valley Christian Preparatory. Tom has three daughters and lives in Phoenix.
Hannah Bleam, AICP is a land use planner at the law firm Withey Morris Baugh, PLC. Prior to joining Withey Morris Baugh PLC, she held positions with the City of Phoenix Planning and Development Department as the sign section supervisor and a Village Planner for Central City, Encanto, Paradise Valley and North Mountain villages. These positions provided her with extensive knowledge of rezonings, planned unit developments, general plan amendments, text amendments, signage, community outreach, zoning adjustments, and other land use matters. Hannah is a graduate of Elon University, B.A., 2009, and the University of Oregon, Masters of Community and Regional Planning, 2012.
Chloe Plaisance is an associate attorney at Gammage & Burnham, where she specializes in zoning, land use, and real estate transactions. Chloe received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2018, and a Juris Doctor degree, magna cum laude, from the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law in 2023. While in law school, Chloe was honored as a Willard H. Pedrick Scholar and served as a Staff Writer and Articles Editor for the Arizona State Law Journal. In her law practice, Chloe assists landowners and real estate developers with obtaining land use entitlements and navigating the development process in cities and counties throughout Arizona.
Brian Craig serves as the Development Services Director for the City of Buckeye, guiding a Department inclusive of Planning, Building Safety, Civil Engineering, and Permitting staff. Before relocating to Arizona, Brian received bachelor’s degrees in Geology and Environmental Geography from the University of Northern Iowa and an Urban Planning Master’s degree from the University of Iowa. Since taking on his current role in Buckeye in 2021, Brian has focused the Development Services Department into one which prioritizes speed to market and responsive communication, improving service delivery to development partners in a community consistently ranked amongst the fastest growing mid-sized cities in the country. Brian has more than 17 years of public sector planning and development experience and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).
Mark Edelman, AICP, Arizona State Land Department, Executive Planner – Special Projects and Economic Development Initiatives
Mark Edelman first joined the Arizona State Land Department in 1997 and began his current tenure in 2008. During that time, Mark has served ASLD in a variety of planning-related positions and completed several large-scale infrastructure development and entitlement efforts to enhance the value and market-readiness of State Trust land. Recently named as ASLD’s Executive Planner, Mark’s work focuses on State Trust land in the Phoenix metropolitan area. He coordinates public- and private-sector efforts to support the attraction and retention of major employers and the development of residential communities, and to serve Arizona’s economic growth with vital road, utility and drainage infrastructure. Mark received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara and his Master of Environmental Planning degree from Arizona State University. Get in touch with Mark: Arizona State Land Department | 1110 West Washington Street | Phoenix, Arizona 85007. Phone: 602-542-6331 Email: MEdelman@azland.gov
ROBERT G. LONGAKER III, PLA, AICP, is a seasoned land use planning professional with 26 years of planning and development consulting experience in the public and private sectors, primarily in Southern Arizona. Rob specializes primarily in private land development consulting. He focuses on achieving balance between acquiring zoning and other land entitlements that meet the needs and goals of the client, while also being reasonable and supportable by the governing jurisdiction. Rob effectively and efficiently manages development projects, overseeing the disciplines of land planning, landscape architecture, civil engineering and hydrology. He is skilled at preparing physical site plans for residential, commercial, office and mixed-use developments. Rob also handles all aspects required in the preparation and processing of rezonings, both straight rezonings and master planned developments. His work also involves due diligence reports, General Plan amendments and fiscal impact assessments. He is also actively involved in business development, client relations, public presentations, marketing and employee recruitment and development. Rob received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Bucknell University and Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Arizona.
Yassamin Ansari served on the Phoenix City Council from 2021 to 2024, and at the she was elected was the youngest person and the first Iranian American elected to public office in the state of Arizona. She represented one of the most diverse districts in the fifth largest and fastest-growing city in the United States. She enacted policies to create a sustainable and equitable future for Phoenix. Ansari resigned her City Council seat on March 28, 2024, to focus on her congressional campaign. Ansari worked as a senior policy advisor on the climate action teams of both U.N. Secretaries General Ban Ki-Moon and Antonio Guterres, as well as principal advisor to former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres at Mission 2020. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and her master’s from the University of Cambridge.
Tiffany Antol, AICP, is the Zoning Code Manager for the City of Flagstaff. She has more than 25 years’ experience working in planning and the public sector. Tiffany began with the City of Flagstaff in 2013 and has held various planning positions during that time. She holds a BA in Geography/Urban Studies form San Francisco State University and a MS in Planning from the University of Arizona.
TREVOR BARGER, Espiritu Loci, Trevor is a strategic planner known for applying traditional planning techniques to non-traditional projects, particularly non-profit organizations like Childhelp, the Phoenix Zoo, Consolari, the Sea Water Foundation, the Sonoran Desert Center, and the Firelight Center. His talent for communicating complex ideas simply and clearly has made him a respected figure in the local development community. Trevor's presentations, enhanced by elegantly crafted graphics and comparative analyses, cover a range of topics including regional employment growth, design guidelines, and urban density. Trevor is an accredited Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners and a Certified Urban Designer (FAICP CUD), Trevor holds a Bachelor of Science in Design focused on Housing & Urban Development from Arizona State University (1995) and a Masters of Science in Planning from the University of Arizona (1997). Trevor's professional journey includes roles at Swaback Partners (1998-2003), founding Espiritu Loci (1997-present), and serving as Principal at Arizona Strategies (2017-present). Additionally, he is an Associate Faculty Member at ASU and an Adjunct Faculty at Taliesin West. Active in professional associations like the American Planning Association (APA) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI), where he co-chaired Arizona's Technical Advisory Panel (2008-2011), Trevor is also dedicated to community service. His contributions include serving on the Giving Tree’s Advisory Board, chairing the Advisory Committee at All Saints Roman Catholic Newman Center Tempe, and participating in various boards and commissions in the City of Tempe.
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