2025 APA UT Spring Conference
May 7-09, 2025
The Riverwoods Conference Center
615 Riverwoods Parkway
Logan, Utah 84321
This May, Logan will host planners from across the region for APA Utah’s 2025 Spring Conference. Over three days, attendees will engage in presentations covering both urban and rural planning challenges, offering valuable insights for professional planners, citizen planners, and elected officials. Sessions will explore a wide range of topics, including planning ethics, historic preservation, transportation, housing, and inclusivity.
Additionally, mobile tours will showcase real-world planning projects in the Logan area, providing hands-on case studies in local development.
Pickleball
MAY 7, 2025
6:00 – 7:30 PM
2840 NORTH 300 EAST
NORTH LOGAN, UTAH
Join APA UT for a casual night of pickleball. Pickleball equipment will be available.
American West Heritage Center
MAY 8, 2025
6:00 – 8:00 PM
4025 So. HIGHWAY 89-91
WELLSVILLE, UTAH
Join us at the American West Heritage Center for a fun and relaxed evening.
Area Activities
Use the QR code below to explore the various attractiona and activities available in the Logan area, including brochures on Logan Canyon, hiking trails, foodie trek and more.
Sessions
May 7, 2025 1:00 pm
Welcome Address Spring 2025
David Zook, Cache County Executive, will offer a brief welcome to kick off the APA Utah Spring Conference. With a deep commitment to community development, David brings valuable insight into the re...
May 7, 2025 1:15 pm
Community Engagement As Easy As ABCD
One of the many hats planners wear is that of community engagement facilitator. What does this look in small towns and rural communities? Learn how Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) breaks t...
May 7, 2025 2:15 pm
APA Utah Bylaw & Handbook Session
The APA Utah Board is working on updating our bylaws and draft an organizational handbook. These updates are crucial for ensuring that the chapter remains efficient, inclusive, and in alignment wit...
May 7, 2025 2:15 pm
ABCD Demo with Place It!
Join in a hands-on demo of Place It! to experience this creative placemaking approach to connecting with memories and place, working towards creative solutions to the many challenges facing communi...
May 7, 2025 2:15 pm
Wildfire Hazard Mitigation Strategy Preferences / We Live in an Agricultural Death Zone
As the threat from wildfire continues to grow, planners must embrace strategies that allow them to be proactive and help mitigate the threat. This session will cover the history of wildfire managem...
May 7, 2025 3:15 pm
Not All Stories Are Carved in Stone: Community, History, and Placemaking at Tom Owens Park
This session will introduce the Tom Owens Park project’s vision, emphasizing its focus on recreation, natural preservation, and community history. Attendees will explore key features like sustainab...
May 7, 2025 3:15 pm
Teamwork on Terrain: Effective Collaboration on Grading and Retaining Wall Regulations
Join us for an in-depth look at Lehi’s collaborative effort to address issues with their grading ordinance. Through teamwork between engineering, public works, parks, and the development community,...
May 7, 2025 3:15 pm
Placemaking
How do you get people to come back downtown when all they need to do these days is push a button or change the channel? Does your community have a gathering place that is recognized be the entire p...
May 7, 2025 4:15 pm
Having “The Talk”- How to Communicate with Utahns About Water
This session is a primer on Utahns’ water values and how to effectively discuss water issues with residents. Utahn’s highly value water and recognize that managing it well is essential to the state...
May 7, 2025 4:15 pm
Reimagining the North Logan City Center: A Pedestrian Mall Design Story
This session explores the development of North Logan’s City Center master plan, which establishes a vibrant downtown core centered around an inviting pedestrian mall. The presentation will walk thr...
May 7, 2025 8:00 pm
Shoot for the moon – even if you miss, you’ll land on practical applications of dark sky-friendly lighting
This evening tour will showcase shielded and customized light fixtures designed to minimize light pollution on the Utah State University (USU) campus. In partnership with USU’s Planning and S...
May 7, 2025 4:15 pm
Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land on an implementable dark sky ordinance
A star-filled sky connects us to nature and each other, but light pollution, growth, and development have made it invisible in many communities. From rural to urban areas, what if you could help re...
May 7, 2025 6:00 pm
Pickleball with APA UT
Join APA Utah for a fun and active break at the Cache Recreation Complex with a few friendly games of pickleball! Whether you’re a seasoned player or trying it out for the first time, all are welco...
May 8, 2025 8:30 am
Welcome: APA UT President
Kick off the conference with a warm welcome from APA Utah Chapter President, Jason Boal. Jason will share opening remarks, highlight key conference themes, and set the tone for a productive and ins...
May 8, 2025 9:00 am
Governor’s Office Planning: Housing, Built Here, and more!
Join us for a discussion on the latest efforts shaping Utah’s housing and development landscape. This session will cover the Housing Strategic Plan, the Governor’s Second Term Strategic Plan (Built...
May 8, 2025 10:15 am
Ownership Opportunities for Moderate-Income & Missing Middle Housing & Walkable Community Codes
The American Dream of homeownership is evolving as housing affordability remains a pressing challenge. While detached single-family homes have dominated residential development, alternative ownersh...
May 8, 2025 10:15 am
From Policy to Plow
Agricultural preservation requires a balance of policy, planning, and on-the-ground solutions. This session explores innovative tools and strategies to sustain working lands, support rural economie...
May 8, 2025 10:15 am
Why all the Conflicts?
Elected and appointed officials and planners frequently encounter conflict and criticism from community members. These criticisms are sometimes very personal, reflecting the deep emotional stakes i...
May 8, 2025 11:45 am
Lunch: The Utah Wellbeing Project – Supporting Planning in Utah Communities
The Utah Wellbeing Project is a partnership between a USU research team and cities and towns throughout Utah. Surveys provide data on residents’ wellbeing and other local perspectives that support ...
May 8, 2025 10:15 am
Innovative Streetscape Design for Safer Streets
This mobile tour will showcase recently completed streetscape projects in the region that focus on balancing the needs of a variety of street users (bicycles, pedestrians, vehicles) while improving...
May 8, 2025 1:15 pm
Self-Help Housing for Affordability & Farmington City: ADU’s As a Policy Tool for Homeownership
A discussion of the self-help housing program in Utah including the funding mechanisms, land development methods including a master planned community in Smithfield, housing types available, and a f...
May 8, 2025 1:15 pm
Making Sustainable Plans in a Hyper-Partisan World
In today’s hyper-partisan political climate, the pursuit of sustainable solutions faces unprecedented challenges. This session will explore how to develop and implement effective sustainabili...
May 8, 2025 1:15 pm
Catching up with Conditional Uses
When was the last time you updated your conditional use chapter? Are you caught up processing options? Are you having public hearings? What sort of notice are you sending out? There are many option...
May 8, 2025 2:30 pm
Agency Coordination: Early Engagement to Build Consensus
In a world of short attention spans and rapid change – more than ever, local entities are tasked with developing actionable plans responding to near- and long-term needs. This session highlights Mi...
May 8, 2025 2:30 pm
Familiar but Forbidden: Common Illegal Ordinances
Ever wonder if a common ordinance was legal? This is your chance to find out. We’ll discuss everything from subdivision plat approvals to internal accessory dwelling units and development agreements.
May 8, 2025 2:30 pm
Basic Land Use Regulations Workshop
Join Cache County, ULUI, and APA Utah for a free 3-hour training on foundational land use principles, zoning regulations, and best practices—all in an engaging, discussion- based format.
May 8, 2025 2:30 pm
Logan City Downtown Plaza, Center Street Revitalization, and New Library tour.
The Carol and Jim Laub Plaza, located at 55 North Main Street, Logan, Utah, opened to the public in the spring of 2024. It is programmed with activities year-round. The outdoor stage will feature a...
May 8, 2025 3:45 pm
Planning for conflict: An introduction to conflict competence for planners
Anyone who works in the public sector—very much including planners—will have to navigate situations in which people don’t see eye to eye and have different needs. In other words, they will have to ...
May 8, 2025 3:45 pm
I’m Biased, but I’m Trying Not to Be
The AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (planner’s ethics code) asks all planners to examine their cultures, practices, values, and positions to reveal and understand their conscious and u...
May 9, 2025 8:00 am
ULI Utah’s Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) Report – South Salt Lake & Seven Canyons Trust
ULI Utah’s Technical Assistance Panels are a hallmark program of ULI. They are an intensive, multidisciplinary effort that assembles seasoned ULI members who are experts in planning-related fields ...
May 9, 2025 10:30 am
2025 Land Use/Housing Legislative Update
In the 2025 Utah legislative session, 40 bills on land use and housing were introduced and 25 were passed. These bills added some 765 lines of code to the LUDMA, which is more than double what has ...
May 9, 2025 8:00 am
Short-Term Rentals, Long-Term Gains & Trailblazing: Long-Range Regional Recreation Planning
This session gives an overview of a new resource and online course from USU’s Gateway & Natural Amenity Region Initiative: “Understanding and Managing Short-Term Rentals: Maximize benefit...
May 9, 2025 8:00 am
Agricultural and Open Space Preservation in South Cache Valley
This mobile tour will highlight Open Space and Agricultural Preservation efforts in the region, showcasing sites with varying approaches to preservation of spaces that offer a regional and communit...
May 9, 2025 9:15 am
Introducing Utah’s Missing Middle Housing Toolkit
Join staff from the Mountainland Association of Governments, the Wasatch Front Regional Council, Alpine City, and the Office of the Property Rights Ombudsman as they introduce Utah’s Missing ...
May 9, 2025 9:15 am
APA Debates: The Great Growth Debate
Utah continues to grow quickly as it has for decades. Where and how growth unfolds is a constant debate in each community. What freedom should communities have to say no to growth? –OR–...
Presenters
Landscape Architect and Bioregional Planner
Bear River Association of Governments (BRAG)
Director
Wallace Stegner Center Environmental Dispute Resolution Program, University of Utah
Accommodations
TownePlace Suites Logan
488 South Main Street
Logan, Utah 84321
Distance from Venue: 0.4 Miles
801.609.2060
APA Rate: Starting at $169/night + Tax
SpringHill Suites Logan
4635 South Riverwoods Parkway
Logan, Utah 84321
Distance from Venue: 200'
801.609.2060
APA Rate: Starting at $169/night + Tax
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