Please select tickets to let us know which parts of the afternoon you will be attending.

Download the agenda here.

VCC's Better Development Symposium & Awards, May 25th, Harrisonburg

Valley Conservation Council invites you to explore downtown Harrisonburg as we learn and share with planning and development colleagues.

This afternoon event takes you to three different downtown venues starting with lunch at Clementine Cafe (153 S. Main), followed by talks at Blue Nile Restaurant, (181 North Main St.) and culminating with presentation of the Better Models for Development Awards at the Court Square Theater (61 Graham Street). All these venues are within a few blocks.

A walking tour of this energetic downtown will showcase reuse of historic buildings as well as new designs for modern uses.

Lecture sessions will bring in speakers from the public and private sectors to discuss “Elements of Livability” and “Master Planning for Traditional Neighborhood Developments.

Speakers include:

Vito Cetta, AIA, is a recently retired developer from Albemarle County. He developed some of the most attractive and successful projects constructed in Crozet under Albemarle County’s Neighborhood Model and the Crozet Area Plan.

John D. Hutchinson, AICP, has more than 20 years of experience in land conservation and preservation in Virginia. He served as planning consultant for the Town of New Market on its Annexation Area Master Plan. The plan was adopted enthusiastically by both the county and the town. John currently is the director of preservation and planning for the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation.

Sara Hollberg, AICP, a land use planner with the Valley Conservation Council, manages “better development” initiatives, including regional workshops, presentations, and the annual awards program. Her latest project, Better Models for Development in the Shenandoah Valley 2010: Meeting 21^st Century Challenges, provides timely material for educational outreach to the public and local officials.

Thanh Dang, Harrisonburg Public Works Planner, helped the city win its recent ‘bike friendly’ award from the League of American Bicyclists and a perfect 10 (one of only three localities in the state) on the Virginia Active Transportation index.

Adam Fletcher, Harrisonburg City Planner, works on the city’s open space planning.

Scott Rogers, a realtor with Coldwell Banker Funkhouser Realtors in Harrisonburg, avidly follows the local real estate market and blogs at harrisonburghousingtoday.com.

The Awards are based on the "Principles for Better Development" outlined in VCC's book, Better Models for Development in the Shenandoah Valley 2010. Learn more about the principles and the book.

Click here for parking information and to print out a map of Downtown Harrisonburg. Learn more about Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance.