-Free Live for IMLA Members

January 21, 2021 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Land Use Webinar-Update on Fair Housing Obligations for Local Governments:  Disparate Impact, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, and Others

CLE available to Kitchen Sink Subscribers and in some cases to others but fees may apply.

This session will review the basic obligations of local governments under the Federal Fair Housing Act, as well as recent changes in those obligations.  Topics to be addressed include protected classes, affirmative obligations and prohibitions, the requirement to affirmatively further fair housing, and recent disparate impact cases.

Speaker: Brian Connolly

Brian Connolly, of Otten Johnson Robinson Neff + Ragonetti, P.C., in Denver, Colorado, represents public- and private-sector clients in zoning, planning, development entitlements, and other complex regulatory matters. His practice encompasses a broad range of land use issues, including planned-unit developments, development agreements, and private covenants and restrictions. He also represents clients in land use and zoning litigation, initiatives and referenda associated with land use approvals, and real estate transactions. Brian has built a national reputation for his work on First Amendment issues related to local government regulation – including signs and outdoor advertising and other free speech issues – as well as fair housing matters in local planning and zoning, particularly in the area of housing for people with disabilities. In addition to representing clients in these areas, Brian serves as an expert witness in cases involving these and other land use topics.

Brian is a frequent writer and speaker on land use law topics at regional and national conferences. He serves on the advisory board of the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute and is the Chair-Elect of the American Planning Association’s Planning and Law Division. Brian has served as the editor or co-author of three books addressing land use law topics, including the planning and local zoning issues associated with group homes for people with disabilities, and First Amendment issues associated with signs and advertising. In addition to his work at the firm, Brian teaches Land Use Planning as an Adjunct Professor at both the University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder and the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Before practicing law, Brian was an urban planner in the planning department of Westchester County, New York. He also worked in planning capacities at the federal and municipal government levels.