CCATO's 2017 Spring Conference is Quickly Approaching...
Register Today! 
Conference Date - Thursday, March 9, 2017

 
Register today for CCATO's 2017 Spring Conference! 

When: Thursday, March 9, 2017

Where: 
The Desmond Great Valley Hotel & Conference Center
1 Liberty Boulevard
Malvern, PA 19355 

Online Registration Form - Municipal Membership

Online Registration Form - Affiliate Members/Teaming Partners (Table Registration) 

Registration begins at 8 a.m., General Session at 9 a.m. and Breakout Sessions Begin at 10:45 a.m. 

Please take the time to visit with all of our Affiliate members and exhibitors. CCATO’s Affiliate members and other teaming partners make available invaluable knowledge and resources; take the time to get to know them!    
 
9:00 a.m. -- 10:15 a.m. General Session

• Opening remarks
• Audit Committee Report
• Brian O’Leary, Executive Director, Chester County Planning Commission 
• Tesra Schlupp, PennVest - Financing Clean Water for Pennsylvania  
• PSATS Update -- Elam Herr, Assistant Executive Director

10:45 a.m. -- 12:00 p.m. Breakout Session (please choose one session per attendee)

Moderator and Panelists Biographies 

Stormwater User Fees: A Legal and Equitable Way to Achieve MS4 Regulatory Compliance

The presentation will discuss the legal and regulatory framework for municipalities to impose user fees to fund  the municipality’s MS4 permit requirements and operation and maintenance of stormwater management  facilities. The presentation will focus on the Borough of West Chester’s implementation of a Stream Protection  Fee which was enacted in 2016 with an effective implementation date of January 1, 2017.

Moderator and Panelist: Kristin Camp, Esq., Buckley, Brion, McGuire, Morris, LLP
Panelist: Michael A. “Mac” Cotter, Manager, Borough of West Chester and Member of the CCATO Executive Board
Panelist: Courtney M. Finneran, Project Manager with CH2M 
 
Electronic Billboards - Then and Now

A historical perspective on billboards and litigation in Pennsylvania since 1905 will open the panel topic. The  state of the law on billboards in the Commonwealth will be discussed generally and tactics and defenses used  in the Chester County Outdoors v. Borough of Phoenixville, an electronic billboard case. Other recent new sign  ordinances will be presented as examples of how to limit billboards and digital signs through municipal  ordinance provisions and zoning strategies to control and mitigate the impacts of electronic billboards. A  discussion on dark skies will highlight how light interacts with the environment around it, how to measure it and  where as well how much lighting is acceptable, what nuisance lighting is and the importance of preserving our  dark sky.

Moderator and Panelist: Anthony Verwey, Esq., Partner, Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees LLP
Panelist: John Snook, Senior Advisor, Brandywine Conservancy  
Panelist: Stan Stubbe, Stubbe Consulting LLC

Planning Issues Facing Chester County

One of a township’s most challenging jobs is managing land development and preservation. With new demographic, technological, and social trends, Chester County’s landscapes are facing unprecedented pressures. Learn how the County, municipalities, and non-government organizations are working to address these pressures, and some of the legal obstacles they face in doing so. Topics to be discussed include the latest on the County Planning Commission’s Landscapes, the Natural Lands Trust’s mixed-use zoning, the Brandywine Conservancy’s riparian buffer protection efforts, and the impact of the Agriculture, Communities and the Rural Environmental Act (ACRE) on the local regulation of land management activities. Moderator and Panelist: Brian O’Leary, AICP, Ex. Dir., Chester County Planning Commission

Moderator and Penelist: Moderator and Panelist: Brian O’Leary, AICP, Ex. Dir., Chester County Planning Commission
Panelist: Mark L. Freed, Esq., Curtin & Heefner, LLP and Member CCATO Executive Board 
Panelist: Ann Hutchinson, Senior Director of Municipal Planning, Natural Lands Trust
Panelist: John Theilacker, AICP, Associate Director, Brandywine Conservancy

The Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act: Planning and Zoning Considerations 

When Governor Tom Wolf signed into law the Medical Marijuana Act, the growing, processing and dispensing of medical marijuana became legal in Pennsylvania on May 17, 2016. Currently, the PA Department of Health is accepting permit applications for growing/processing facilities and dispensaries across the state. These applications require evidence concerning compliance with local zoning ordinances. Since townships may not exclude reasonable commercial uses within their boundaries, the new legislation has significant implications for supervisors and planning commissions. This break out session will focus on the provisions of the law that pertain to land use issues.

Moderator: Amanda Sundquist, Partner, Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees LLP
Panelist: Cuyler Walker, Esq. 
Panelist: William Roark, Esq., Principal, Hamburg, Rubin, Mullin, Maxwell & Lupin
 
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. Lunch 

• Chester County Update -- Mark Rupsis, Chester County Chief Operating Officer - Michelle Kichline
• Lewis H. Marshall Award
• Announcements

2:00 p.m. Afternoon Session

Opiod Use, Misuse, and Overdose in Chester County

Opiod use and mis-use, and all of its deleterious impacts, is an issue that knows very few boundaries, one that can have profound impacts on our communities, and one that should concern us all. What is the prevalence of opiod use and mis-use in Chester County? What resources and information is available to municipalities that can be disseminated to our residents? What can local government do to combat the problem of opiods?    

Moderator and Panelist: Vincent Brown, Director, Chester County Department of Drug and Alcohol Services
Panelist: Ethan Healy, Board Member, Good Fellowship Ambulance & EMS Training Institute 
Panelist: Kathy Collier, Prevention Program Director, Chester County Department of Drug and Alcohol Services. 
Panelist: Michael Noone, Esq., First Assistant District Attorney, Chester County District Attorney's Office