Events/Programs

Upcoming Event - Places For Everyone: NHPA 2022 Spring Conference on 6/15

Join NHPA for its first in-person spring conference since 2019! Session topics will include a law update, affordable housing, placemaking, and outdoor dining and accessibility.

Register: View the event invite for more details, and to register. 

Conference Cost: $55* for Members; $70* for Non-Members* (*Price includes breakfast and lunch)

Conference Agenda:

8:30 a.m. Registrations - Register, network and enjoy a full hot buffet breakfast.

9:00 - 9:15 a.m. Welcome and Opening Remarks from NHPA President

9:15 - 10:15 a.m. Key Note Address (Guest Speaker TBD)

10:15 - 10:30 a.m. Break - Enjoy coffee and conversation with fellow planners

10:30 - 11:30 a.m. Concurrent Sessions

Track A: Law Update with Natch Greyes, NHMA

Track B: Economic and Cultural Vibrancy (Guest speaker TBD)

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Concurrent Sessions

Track A: Panel Discussion on Placemaking, Outdoor Dining and Accessibility with Beverly Zendt, Planning Director, Portsmouth; Anne Weidman, Access Navigators; and Nik Coates, Town Administrator, Bristol OR Angela LaBrecque, Town Planner, Meredith 

Track B: Housing Panel with Angela Pape, Monadnock Interfaith Project; Kaela Tavares, NCC, Regional Housing Plan, and Olivia Uyizeye OR Meghan Butts, UVLSRPC, Keys to the Valley

12:30 - 2:00 p.m. Lunch and 2022 NHPA Awards Presentation 

2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Plenary Session

An update to a presentation on Ending Zonings Racist Legacy with Jennifer Raitt, Director, Planning and Community Development, Arlington, MA

Upcoming Event - NHPA Field Trip to Franklin, NH on 6/2

Join NH Planners Association for a Field Trip to Franklin, NH on June 2. This professional development workshop, which will take place from 1-5 p.m., will highlight revitalization in Franklin, including an update and walking tour of Mill City Park. An optional whitewater rafting trip has been organized in the morning, and will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Register: View the event invite for more details, and to register. 

Workshop Cost: $35* for Members; $50* for Non-Members (*Price includes one drink ticket for networking at Vulgar Brewing at the end of the walking tour)

Add-on: $65 for Whitewater Rafting on the Class III and IV rapids of the Winnipesauke River with Outdoor New England.

Workshop Itinerary:

Optional //  9 a.m. Meet at Outdoor New England (376 Central Street, Franklin NH, 03235) for Whitewater Rafting.

12:45 p.m. Gather at Franklin City Hall’s Opera house, which will be the start of the guided walking tour led by Franklin’s Director of Planning, Seth Creighton, AICP.

1:00 p.m. Enjoy an informative tour of downtown Franklin to witness the successes and shortfalls of how brownfields grants, TIF districts, developer agreements, private investment, public investment, zoning code, and grassroot groups are working together to spur redevelopment. This revitalization is occurring in the form of 150-market rate apartments in an old mill, 45 permanently affordable units, 7 mixed use high-end condos, a senior living complex, a whitewater park, and….a gas station.

2:30 p.m. The tour will then stop at Trestle View Park to learn about the recently constructed whitewater feature, and then head into Mill City Park to learn about the phases of construction underway and still to come. This portion of the tour will be led by Marty Parichand of Mill City Park and Steve Whitman, EdD, AICP, of  Resilience Planning & Design, LLC.

4:00 p.m. The tour will end at Vulgar Brewing for networking. One drink ticket is included in the registration price!

Program: NHPA AICP Scholarship

Starting in 2021, the NH Planners Association started its scholarship program which can be used towards AICP certification for first time exam candidates, those in the AICP Candidate Pilot Program, and those who are repeating the test. 

The scholarship program will be provided on a rolling basis, with up to three (3) scholarships available for the May and November examination windows, each, with a maximum of four (4) available per calendar year. 

A candidate cannot receive the scholarship twice in the same 365 days. Scholarship recipients will be reimbursed up to the maximum of $220 which may be used for the Planning Experience Essay Fee or AICP Exam Registration Fee. The scholarship will be in the form of a reimbursement.

Download the complete details. 

Past Event: NHPA's 2021 Annual Meeting

NHPA held its annual meeting at Fratellos Italian Grill on Dec. 3! Members were asked to vote for Executive Committee members and by law changes! See the voting form that was used.

NHPA 2021 Annual Meeting Agenda

Past Event: UNH Student Presentations

In August 2021, UNH students shared the results of their research regarding the effects of the COVID pandemic on UNH facility utilization and community outreach strategies. View the UNH student presentations. 

NHPA's 2021 Spring Conference Summary

The 2021 NHPA Spring Conference was held as a three part webinar series.  The sessions were recorded and can be accessed through the links below. The sessions were recently approved for AICP CM credits. 

Collaborative Economic Development and COVID-19 

The Seacoast Economic Development Stakeholder are a group of economic development directors, chamber of commerce executives, and other public and private economic development stakeholders in the greater seacoast region that have held weekly teleconferences since March 2020 to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on our economy and businesses. The session demonstrates how peer learning and collective action have helped communities in the seacoast to respond to the pandemic and why these efforts are likely here to stay.

Speakers: Natalie Moles, Economic Recovery Coordinator, SRPC; Mark Laliberte, Business Resource Specialist, NH Department of Business and Economic Affairs; Robin Comstock, Economic Development Manager, City of Somersworth

Moderator: James Burdin, Senior Regional Planner, SRPC

Engagement in a Virtual World - Pros and Cons

Lisa Wise is an engagement specialist who will share her experience working on several municipal engagement campaigns during the recent pandemic. Chris Parker and Jen Czysz then discuss the pros and cos of in-person versus virtual planning board meetings. 

Speakers: Lisa Wise, Climate Adaptation Program Manager; Jen Czysz, AICP, Executive Director, SRPC; Christopher G. Parker, AICP, Assistant City Manager, City of Dover 

Moderator: Cordell Johnston, Government Affairs Counsel, NHMA 

Broadband Planning Panel - Access to a Growing Digital World

This session highlights the importance of broadband considering the lessons of COVID-19. As appointments, classes, jobs, and access to basic needs have migrated online, the need for broadband connection has expanded and become central to conversations around equity and recovery. 

Speakers: Carol Miller, Director of Broadband Initiatives, National Collaboration for Digital Equity; Dr. Robert McGlauphlin, Executive Director, National Collaboration for Digital Equity; Michelle Moren-Grey, Coos COunty Broadband Group; Glenn Coppelman, Carroll County Broadband Group

Moderator: Kaela Tavares, Community and Economic Development Planner

NHPA puts on multiple events each year from our annual spring conference and fall annual meeting to brown bags, webinars, and even planner therapy cocktail hours. We hope you join us at our future events and offer you the opportunity to look through our archives below for information on previous events. 

We were happy to host this year's NNECAPA conference at the Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire on November 13-15.

Check out the program (print friendly version available)

NHPA Brownbag Series: Municipal Regulations for Tiny Homes

Thank you for attending the Municipal Regulations for Tiny Homes session on Friday May 10th.

Speakers included:

Ben Frost, Esq. AICP--Director, Legal & Public Affairs, NH Housing

Steve Paquin, NH Building Officials Association

Robert Tardif, NHDES Administrator, Subsurface System Bureau