Regional Land Use Class Graduates 34 Leaders

On April 29, 2010, the Southern Finger Lakes / Southern Tier region saw its first graduating class of local leaders trained through Pace University’s award-winning Land Use Leadership Alliance program. Thirty-four participants from Tioga, Tompkins, Schuyler, Chemung and Steuben counties completed an intensive series of four-day courses on land use practice, law and community decision making in New York State.

The training, hosted by Watkins Glen International, received $10,000 in financial support from both Cargill, Inc.’s Watkins Glen plant and the Global Partnership Fund. Don Chutas, Cargill Salt's Plant Manager explained that "Cargill looks to partner with higher education institutions that provide access to the best people and ideas relevant to land use." According to Chutas, The LULA program accomplishes just that by providing environmental conservation education to the area's leaders.

Originally developed by Pace University’s Land Use Law Center, over 1,000 local land use leaders have attended the popular LULA trainings in the Hudson River Valley. Cornell University’s Community and Regional Development Institute (CaRDI), with financial support from Cornell’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) University Center, has taken the lead in partnership with both Pace and Albany Law School’s Government Law Center to make the training available in other parts of the state. The LULA training has won multiple awards, including the 2009 National Leadership Award for founder John Nolon from the American Planning Association.
Organizers for the training included the Cornell Cooperative Extension associations and planning departments for the five counties, as well as CaRDI and Farm Bureau. Organizers hope to offer future trainings in the region on an annual basis.