Recorded Webinars
Your Hour With APA Virginia Webinar Series, Sponsored by The Berkley Group
Your Hour with APA Virginia Chapter, sponsored by The Berkley Group, is a free webinar series happening on the fourth Monday of each month from Noon - 1 p.m. and is currently open to everyone; including members and non-members.
Members can receive 1 CM credit for watching live. All webinars are recorded and posted to our YouTube channel.
We are looking for webinar presenters! Interested in participating? Contact staff at gillian@bellatrixcg.com
Take a look at recent webinar recordings linked below!
Recently With "Your Hour With APA Virginia"
Foundations of Success: Navigating Procurement and Project Management in Planning
CM # 9295774
This webinar will discuss the essential steps in establishing a solid foundation for executing successful land use planning projects, with a focus on navigating procurement and project management. We’ll cover considerations such as project funding, scoping, timelines, procurement options, and RFP content. Additionally, the session will explore the role of local government staffing, public engagement, and steering committees in driving projects to successful completion. Attendees will leave with practical strategies to ensure their planning initiatives are effectively managed and ultimately brought across the finish line.
Michael Zehner, AICP, CFM, ENV SP Director of Planning & Community Development, Berkley Group, LLC
Rebecca Cobb, CZA Deputy Director of Planning, Berkley Group, LLC
Kate Jones, PLA Deputy Director of Community Development, Berkley Group, LLC
Exploring DRPT’s Open Data Portal and Interactive FY25 Six-Year Improvement Program (SYIP)
CM #9293123
In early Spring, DRPT launched a new Open Data Portal to provide interactive and static data to our partners, the public, and other stakeholders interested in exploring rail and transit data. This presentation will highlight the variety of data products the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) has publicly available including statewide rail and transit performance data, SMART SCALE projects, and the FY25 Six-Year Improvement Program (SYIP). Built entirely in house using ArcGIS and PowerBI, these tools will enable DRPT to better serve our partners and the public and serve as a model for open governance. The Draft Fiscal Year (FY) 2025-2030 Six Year Improvement Program (SYIP) allocates nearly $6.2 billion for public transportation and freight and passenger rail over the next six fiscal years. The program is available on DRPT's Data Portal. For the 2025 Fiscal Year, DRPT’s draft Six-Year Improvement Program allocates $392 million to local and regional public transportation providers, $426 million to WMATA for its metro rail and metrobus services, $16 million for VRE’s operating and capital budget. For rail, $18 million is budgeted for DRPT’s freight rail programs and $182 million for the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority to expand and sustain passenger rail in Virginia. Speakers: Taylor Holden Rail Planning and Data Manager, Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation Janet Mineva Rail Data Support Specialist, Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation Grace Stankus Statewide Transit Planner, Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation
DCR—State-Led Flood Resilience Planning
1 CM : 9290920
This webinar will introduce the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s approach and progress toward integrated intergovernmental flood resilience planning in Virginia. The presentation will highlight efforts to develop the Commonwealth’s first statewide Virginia Flood Protection Master Plan (VFPMP) since 2005 and integrating this plan with other regional and local flood resilience plans, including the Coastal Resilience Master Plan. DCR will also explain tools and products that it is developing to support local flood resilience planning, such as climate-informed flood models and public engagement tools. For example, DCR will share a new rainfall-driven, climate-informed flood model available for all localities near and east of I-95. Speakers: Carolyn Heaps-Pecaro Resilience Planner, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation Matt Dalon, PE CFM Program Manager, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Office of Resilience Planning
Expanding the Housing Landscape in Botetourt
1 CM | # 9279557
Communities across the Commonwealth struggle with providing housing that meets the needs of residents, both current and future. Appropriate housing must meet affordability needs, location needs, quality, and quantity. Though there is no perfect approach to housing development, learn and engage with Botetourt County to better understand how housing development can be approached from a local-planning perspective by collaborating with developers, citizens, businesses, and local government leaders. Attendees will learn more about a detailed, deliberate, and multi-year approach to developing a new type of housing stock in Botetourt and the efforts made to integrate housing into the character of the county.
Nicole Pendleton, AICP, CZA, CFM Botetourt County
Jonathan McCoy, MURP, MPA, CZO Botetourt County
Unlocking the Power of Data: Strategies for Managing, Analyzing, and Communicating Data in the Planning Field
1 CM | 9289280
Are you interested in learning how to effectively manage, analyze, and communicate data in your planning documents? Join us for this informative webinar to explore techniques for making your data more meaningful and effective. Speaker: Will Cockrell, AICP Senior Planner EPR, P.C.
Integrated Resilience: Coordinated Planning in the City of Petersburg
1 CM | 1 SR: #9287057
The City of Petersburg has been experiencing what has been described as a “renaissance” in recent years, driven by coordinated and cohesive community planning efforts. In the past year alone, Petersburg has made significant progress in updating its Comprehensive Plan, developing a Downtown Master Plan, completing multiple transportation studies, leading regional coordination in environmental resilience, and preparing for a Zoning Ordinance rewrite. This webinar will highlight best practices from Petersburg’s planning efforts and discuss how to effectively coordinate and prioritize planning efforts to maximize community impact.
Speakers:
Naomi Siodmok, AICP, Director of Planning and Community Development, City of Petersburg
Luke Peters, ENV SP, Planner II, Berkley Group
Caroline Vanterve, AICP, Planner II, Berkley Group
"Storytelling Not Yelling Toward Inclusive Public Engagement"
Speaker: Asa R. Eslocker, Renaissance Planning
In this engaging storytelling session, participants will learn how storytelling can shape how we see and form our cities, communities, and ourselves – especially toward more inclusive engagement. Authentic storytelling has the potential to engage underserved communities, breakdown polarizing barriers, and realign planning projects for inclusive long-lasting change. More communities, agencies, and planning departments are expanding their focus on equity, justice, and inclusion goals, but often lack the tools or approaches to achieve these goals. Storytelling makes complex planning challenges easier to understand and has the power to synthesize different voices when identifying common hopes, aspirations, and visions of place....
CM # 9283516
"Solar Revenue Impacts"
Revenue impact (e.g. real estate, M&T exemption, energy revenue sharing, siting agreements) of utility scale solar photovoltaic (electric energy) systems (VA Code 58.1-3660 and 58.1-2636)
Revenue impact (e.g. ground-mount solar panels, roof-top solar panels, solar shingles) of residential and mixed-use solar installations (25kW or less) (VA Code 58.1-3661 effective 01.01.23)
CM #9281563
"Planning for the Infrastructure of the Digital Age"
This session will be about the trends we are seeing in data center development and forecasts for energy demand in Virginia and overall PJM territory going forward. For localities, data centers are a very attractive economic development opportunity, they are known for having low traffic counts, few service costs, and high tax revenue. This session will outline the land use impacts of data center development including externalities like transmission lines, substations, and energy generation facilities and potential implications for surrounding land uses that should be considered when reviewing these proposals. As the digital age continues to flourish with incredible amounts of information available at the click of a button and data intense machine learning programs becoming widely available, the infrastructure to make it all possible is resulting in major land use changes and infrastructure expansions....
CM #9275604
"Mapping Suitability for (Sub)urban Agriculture and Planning Local Food Systems "
Urban agriculture is becoming increasingly common in many areas across the Commonwealth. However, individual instances of urban agriculture, especially non-commercial forms (i.e., community gardening) are often short lived. In many cases, political jurisdictions often approach urban agriculture development without intentionality and do not have the internal agricultural knowledge needed to proactively plan local food systems. The presenters will
discuss their geospatial research within the Greater Richmond Area identifying prime (sub)urban agricultural land to mitigate the issues surrounding site selection. Examples will be provided of how partnering localities have utilized the results and the implications for their zoning modernization processes.
CM #9277071
"Critical Media Analysis to Inspire and Evaluate Praxis"
Popular media narratives around an issue like gentrification or bike lanes frequently are at odds with what planners know to be evidence-based best practices. In order to properly engage broad-based coalitions, planners need to debunk myths and frame arguments incisively.
CM #9270433
"What's Next Is Now: Managing Disruption in a Rapidly Changing World"
From cryptocurrency to climate change, the world is changing before our very eyes. How can we track emerging issues and better prepare our communities to successfully manage disruption? This session will help planners recognize and understand drivers of change and learn how to address them to create more equitable, healthy, and resilient communities. The speakers will begin by presenting a scan of current trends and emerging issues, and then share a practical approach to incorporating a future focus in their work. The session will include audience polling to find out what emerging issues participants are experiencing in their work, as well as case studies of communities that are finding innovative ways to manage change. Our future depends on our ability to respond quickly and thoughtfully to disruptive emerging issues. This session will equip planners to help their communities get started.
CM # 9267292