LANDS Annual Roundtable & Workshop in Mystic - An Unqualified Success!

NAHB’s sixteenth annual LANDS Roundtable & Workshop, held this year on May 14th and 15th in Mystic, Connecticut, was a great success and our best conference ever!  This year we achieved a record attendance level with more than 60 LANDS members contributing to the overall success of the Conference.  Members heard presentations by preeminent land use attorneys on Fifth Amendment takings law, due process and public use issues, water law issues impacting development on the East Coast with a case study involving development issues in New Jersey, barriers to affordable and workforce housing, and the latest on the Endangered Species Act.

During the lunch portion of this year's program, NAHB First Vice President David Pressly made a special presentation to Eric Santini, of Santini Homes, Inc., in recognition of his valuable contributions to protect civil rights of the nation’s home builders. David Pressly concluded with remarks to attendees on a builder’s perspective on proactive legal issues.

The afternoon session involved a spirited moot court where distinguished LANDS members stood in the shoes of the Supreme Court to hear arguments for and against land development issues raised in the San Remo Hotel, L.P. v. City & County of San Francisco case (recently decided by the U.S. Supreme Court).  Nine LANDS members graciously agreed to be part of the “judicial” panel and included Lisabeth Rothman, Art Wittich, Michael Fink, Steve Eagle (also acting as chief moderator), John Kassner, Greg Ugalde, John VanLuvanee, Joel Burcat and Ned Nicholson.  LANDS members also took on the role of attorneys to present both sides of the issues in the case – Tim Hollister represented arguments on behalf of the property owner and Ken Bley defended the government’s actions. 

As with past conferences, presentations and programs provided up-to-date information on legal trends in land use and environmental law for attorneys who represent NAHB members in jurisdictions throughout the United States.

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