Learn more about Community Benefits Agreements and how they are used.
Across the country, communities, developers, and elected officials are quarreling about the siting of significant economic development real estate projects. On the one hand, areas starved of capital and population need investment and jobs to continue to grow. On the other hand, neighbors concerned with adverse uses and groups concerned with equitable development seek fairness in a market-based, amoral process.
Enter the Community Benefits Agreement. Community Benefits Agreements are contracts, the result of which will avoid litigation and additional needs for dispute resolution after the fact. At the same time, Community Benefits Agreements are also an indication of competing interests, those of a broad and sometimes undefined community and developers.
Join this discussion to learn more about Community Benefits Agreements and how they are used nationwide in complex, dense land use and economic development projects. We tackle definitional issues, practical aspects, and enforcement concerns and discuss case studies to make the subject relevant to practitioners, industry leaders, and implementers.
Learning Objectives
- You will be able to describe community benefits agreements.
- You will be able to discuss the leverage community organizations have to negotiate CBAs.
- You will be able to explain issues, practical aspects, and enforcement concerns.
- You will be able to identify alternatives to CBAs.
Agenda
- Community Benefits Agreement Defined
- What Terms Can Be Included in a CBA?
- What Leverage Do Community Organizations Have to Negotiate CBAs?
- What Determines Whether CBAs Can Be Enforced?
- Alternatives to CBAs
- Case Studies
- Discussion and Questions
Speakers
Edward W. De Barbieri,
Albany Law School- Professor at Albany Law School
- Teaches courses in community economic development, housing, and state and local government law
- Worked as a legal services attorney at the Community Development Project of the Urban Justice Center (now TakeRoot Justice) and as an Equal Justice Works fellow
- Author of the 6th edition of Local Government Law, part of West Academic’s hornbook series and articles examining efforts to develop parts of the country in need of capital and population
- Spent his final year of law school conducting research in Ireland as a Fulbright fellow
- Graduate of Yale Divinity School, where he concentrated in religious ethics and participated in the Community and Economic Development Clinic at Yale Law School
Who Should Attend
This live webinar is designed for attorneys, municipal and elected officials, zoning board members, developers, presidents, vice presidents, owners, planners, architects, engineers, consultants, project managers, contractors, bankers, and public works officials.
