Conferences & Meetings

Friday January 22, 2021; 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.

Northern New England Legislative Update: 2020 was a strange year, and state legislatures and their processes were substantially impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.  This webinar will provide a state-by-state review of the outcomes of the 2020 legislative sessions in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont with a focus on matters of importance to planners. The panel will also provide a preview of their respective 2021 legislative sessions. Jared Woolston, AICP, Maine; Benjamin Frost, Esq., AICP, New Hampshire; and Alex Weinhagen, Vermont

Ben Frost is the Director of Public Affairs at New Hampshire Housing, where he coordinates federal and state legislative initiatives and provides direct technical assistance to municipalities to help them develop regulations promoting affordable housing and sustainable development. He frequently lectures on issues of affordable and workforce housing, planning and zoning law, and ethics. Ben has over 25 years of experience as a land use planner over 15 years as an attorney. Previously, he was a Senior Planner with the NH Office of Energy and Planning, he was the executive director of the Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission, and he was also a planner and administrator in local and regional government in New Hampshire and elsewhere. Ben is a member of the Governing Council of Housing Action NH, a low-income housing advocacy organization. He is the past chairman of the Municipal Section of the New Hampshire Bar Association and is a founding director of the NH Municipal Lawyers Association. He is a board member of the New Hampshire Sustainable Energy Association and he represents New Hampshire Housing on the NH Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy Board. He serves as the Treasurer of the NH Planners Association and as the Professional Development Officer of the Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Association and he is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. He is also a member of the legislative committees of the American Planning Association and the New Hampshire Bar Association. He serves on the Community Development Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Ben holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in Geography (with a Soviet/Russian focus) from Colgate University and Syracuse University, respectively and a law degree from Cornell Law School with a concentration in business law and regulation. He lives in Warner, NH, where he serves on the planning board.

 Alex Weinhagen is the Director of Planning and Zoning for Hinesburg, Vermont – a town of 4,500 people in southern Chittenden County. Like most small town planners, Alex wears several different hats, from land use planning to development review to GIS map making to economic development to neighbor dispute therapy. He has worked for the Town of Hinesburg for over 18 years, during which time the community has seen significant change and positive growth – both in terms of village area development and rural land conservation. He is extremely fortunate to work in a community with a long term commitment to progressive planning. He served as VPA’s Legislative Liaison and on the NNECAPA Executive Committee from 2016-2020, and served on VPA’s Professional Development Committee for several years prior to 2016.  Alex has a MS in Wildlife Biology from the University of Vermont, and a BS in Zoology from the University of Rhode Island. In his previous profession, he spent time chasing after all manner of wildlife including black-backed woodpeckers, cormorants, and woodcock. He resides in Burlington, Vermont.

 Jared Woolston, AICP is the Town Planner in Brunswick Maine and the Legislative Liaison for the Maine section of NNECAPA.  Jared served as the Maine Association of Planners (MAP) Legislative and Policy Committee (LPC) Chair for the 129^th Maine Legislature (2019-2020) and is currently the at-large MAP Board member for Southern Maine.  Jared has a BA in Environmental Planning & Policy and a master’s degree in Policy, Planning, and Management (MPPM) with a concentration in Community Planning and Sustainable Development from the Muskie School of Public Service.   

Members: $25.00

Non-Members: $35.00

Register Today

South Burlington City Center: From Concept to Construction - thanks to those that joined us for this session. View the powerpoint

CM Credits:

Eligible for 1.50 CM's. APA CM credits listing site:

The 2019 Annual Conference was held at the Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire on November 14-15. For sessions and other information, click below.