03/10/2025
Register for the 2025 APA-ISS Spring Planning Conference
Join us for a tool-rific time as we fill our Planners' Toolbox together April 24-25, 2025. These are high-quality, CM earning, sessions at the bargain price of just $75 for members, $85 for non-members, and $15 for students.
This virtual conference brings together professionals from all backgrounds to explore universal topics shaping the future of urban planning in Illinois.
Hammer out some CM credits thanks to Conference Chair, Scott Hanson, AICP at Crawford, Murphy, & Tilly Engineers.
Registration includes:
- April 24-25, 2024 - live Virtual Conference Sessions via Thinkific/Zoom
- Access to all recordings.
- A free pre-conference webinar recording from the APA-ISS 2021 Conference: The Carp Connection: Transforming a slippery problem into a savory solution
- 4/24 - 4/25 - St. Louis Metro Section/Region 5 Watch Party at the City of Collinsville
- 4/24 - St. Louis Metro Section/Region 5 Happy Hour - Old Herald Brewery & Distillery 115 E Clay St, Collinsville, starts after the last session (no RSVP necessary)
- 4/24 - Champaign-Urbana/Region 3 - Happy Hour - 5:00-8:00 pm - 25 O'Clock Brewery, 208 W Griggs, Urbana (no RSVP necessary)
- Any other mobile workshops and happy hours organized in conjunction with the ISS conference.
Session recordings and CM credits will be available to attendees post-conference. On-demand CM can be earned before December 31, 2025.
Schedule Overview
While the APA-ISS is a downstate organization, these topics are universal! We welcome all planners no matter where you live or work.
Click on the triangle bullets to expand the text and read session descriptions.
Thursday, April, 24, 2025
9:00 AM - 9:15 AM - Welcome & Announcements
- APA-ISS Director Lacey Raines Lowe and Conference Chair Scott Hanson, AICP welcomes everyone to the virtual conference.
9:15 AM - 10:15 AM - Bike Pedestrian Projects in Illinois (CM | 1.0)
- Twice the fun! Enjoy hearing about these two projects:
- Project #1: The CONNECT active transportation plan for the Springfield-Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission (SSCRPC), is the first holistic active transportation plan for the region. The project aims to enhance mobility for all and promote equitable, safe, sustainable, and multimodal transportation options, achieved through public-facing engagement and internal stakeholder coordination with agencies throughout Sangamon County.
- Project #2: TBD!
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM - Strong Towns: Challenges Faced by IL First-Time Homebuyers and What Planners Can Do to Help (CM | 1.0)
- For this session, Strong Towns Director of Events and Partnerships Chris Allen will focus on a specific segment of the housing market: First time homebuyers in Illinois. Mr. Allen will provide an overview of the unique challenges first time homebuyers in Illinois face in 2025 and provide insights and ideas into ways downstate communities can potentially adjust to ease some of the burden on this cohort.
12:00 pm - 1:10 pm - Lunch - Networking
- This is an informal time where attendees can virtually enjoy their lunch and chat.
1:10 pm - 1:30 pm - Bonus Session: Scraping Zillow Data (CM | 0.5)
- This will be a short pre-recorded session on how to use Zillow for your planning needs! More information coming soon.
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM - Prepping Good RFPs/RFQs (CM | 1.0)
- In this session, Travis Taylor, AICP (Collinsville, IL) and Andi Campbell, AICP (Alton IL) will team with Stephanie Brown, AICP (Chastain Engineers) to identify best practices in preparing RFQs that will lead to intended outcomes.
2:45 PM - 3:45 PM - Overview of Funding Options for Public Improvements (CM | 1.0)
- Emily Calderon, AICP with Moran Economic Development will lead this session detailing the many funding tools available in IL to governments financing a wide variety of projects. She will detail whether TIF or a Business District is the best option in your community, how Enterprise Zones in IL work, and whether CDBG funds can help bridge a funding gap for specific projects. She’ll also provide an overview of commonly used grant programs throughout the state.
Friday, April, 25, 2025
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM - Plat Act Exemptions: How County Maps and Plats, staff and planners, can work to improve understanding of the Plat Act (CM | 1.0)
- Lisa Mathenia, Chief Deputy of Madison County Maps and Plats, and Scott Hanson, AICP, Senior Planner with CMT Engineers and avowed “Plat Act Geek”, will team up to provide an overview of the 10 Plat Act Exemptions, run through some case studies, and then frame the conversation through a “planner’s lens” to identify pitfalls and best practices.
10:15 AM - 12:30 PM - An Equitable Approach to Zoning Notifications (CM | 1.0)
- The APA-ISS is thrilled that Jenny Baker, AICP, Clarion Associates, Denver, CO, will join us in leading a session examining the key equitable or inequitable aspects of conventional public notification practices. She will highlight potential new methods of notifying the public that go beyond the minimum requirements set long ago by state legislature for local public notices.
11:30 PM - 12:10 PM - Lunch - Networking
- This is an informal time where attendees can virtually enjoy their lunch and chat.
12:10 PM - 12:30 PM - Bonus Session - How to Use Canva (CM | 0.5)
- This will be a short pre-recorded session on how to use Canva for your planning needs! More information coming soon.
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM - Planning and technology – Using drones, artificial intelligence, digital twins, and laser scanners in planning (CM | 1.0)
- Session details coming soon! Speakers include Eldon Fritz, CMT; Karl Eson, CMT; Hamed Majidifard, PhD, Tiger Eye Engineering
1:45 PM - 2:45 PM - EcoCat in the Legal Hat: Developer environmental review - don't get sued! (CM | 1.0, 1.0 Sustainability)
- Numerous state and federal statutes require government agencies to consider the impacts of their actions (projects they authorize, fund, or perform) on environmentally sensitive and historically valuable resources. Learn how EcoCAT was developed to help state agencies, units of local government, and the public (as project proponents) initiate natural resource reviews for the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Act and Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act and the Interagency Wetland Policy Act of 1989.
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM - Recent Supreme Court Decisions Impacting Community Development (CM | 1.0, 1.0 LAW)
- Join attorneys Megan A. Mack and Erin M. Monforti, with Ancel Glink, for a discussion of City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson and Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, California - their historical and legal background, and implications for planners.
Not a Member? Grab a Membership Before You Register and Save!
If you are not an APA or APA-IL member, it isn’t too late to become one and save $$! The APA-IL Chapter Only membership is just $50/year. Not only can you save on the APA-ISS Conference now, but save on all APA-IL events in 2025 including the 2025 State Conference. Sign up today!