2025 Nebraska Planning Conference – The Aftermath

Though the weather made this year’s conference quite challenging, attendees of the 2025 Nebraska Planning Conference have left better trained to deal with the planning and zoning issues in their daily jobs. Blustery winter weather blew through the state the day before the conference started and continued into the following day. The interstate was shut down, and travel plans were delayed. But the conference continued on as attendees trickled in throughout the first day as conditions improved.

Three days of sessions provided an excellent learning opportunity in the planning and zoning field.

Rural Planning at the Nebraska Planning Conference

As it was a planning conference in Nebraska, planning and zoning issues for small towns were at the forefront of much of the discussion. Some of these sessions were:

• Brownfield Redevelopment for Small Communities – the Chadron Experience
• Rural Confluence: Where the Niobrara Meets the Missouri, and Science meets Community
• Infill Housing using Pre-Approved Plans
• Planning for Active Mobility in La Vista (I already posted on this subject)
• Connect MoPac: How Community Engagement Made a Long-Envisioned Trail Connection Possible
• The Planning Dating Game: How to select a consultant

Possibly my favorite presentation of the conference was “Creative Placemaking: A Panel of Nebraska Cities and Their Creative Districts”. Moderated by Kyle McLaughlin, AICP, the session included a panel of four representatives of Creative Districts in Nebraska. Creative Districts is an initiative of the Nebraska Arts Council (@NEArtsCouncil) that is being used in 34 locations throughout the state and has been very successful.

Welcome Keynote Speaker: Joe DeAngelis

Each year the Nebraska Planning Conference (#NEPC25) has two different keynote speakers. A Welcome Keynote speaks on the first day of the event, and a Conference Keynote speaks the following morning. This year’s Welcome Keynote was Joe DeAngelis (@hazardsplanner), Planner and Research Manager at APA.

Joe talks with Nate Woiwode of Nature Conservancy’s North American Water Program in the video below about Naturally Resilient Communities, a discussion along similar lines as his presentation at the conference.

Conference Keynote: Sue Schwartz, FAICP

Returning to the Nebraska Planning Conference for the Conference Keynote was Sue Schwartz, FAICP. Now the APA President, Sue has presented at the conference multiple times in the past. Since her last visit, Sue has also done a TED Talk. I’ve posted the video to the TED Talk below to check out.

Watching a Different Type of Crane

Many planners are used to seeing cranes. Depending on the size of the project under construction, a variety of cranes may be witnessed during our site visits. But the Nebraska Planning Conference offers the opportunity to watch a different type of crane. The annual migration path of the Sandhill Crane routes through the Kearney area of Nebraska, makes it an ideal location to watch flocks of these interesting birds. Even this year, amidst the wintery weather, some of the conferencegoers trudged out in the cold to see the hordes of cranes nearby.

Throwing Bags for Scholarships

One of the highlights of the conference was the third annual Nebraska Planning Conference Cornhole Tournament! Sixteen teams faced off in the tournament, with proceeds going to a scholarship fund for planners at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). This year’s field of 16 teams provided plenty of excitement and over $2,000 in donations to the scholarship fund.

Closing out the Nebraska Planning Conference

Once again, NEPC proved to be an affordable source of planning and zoning information for small-town city clerks, planning commissioners, and rural county zoning administrators.