ZPLU Section Honors Four

The co-chairs of the NCBA Zoning, Planning & Land Use Section’s Chapter 160D Committee were honored by the section on Friday, April 5, for their contributions to the proposed addition to the N.C. General Statutes.

Thomas E. Terrell Jr., David W. Owens, Robin Tatum Currin and LeAnn Nease Brown received the Zoning, Planning & Land Use Section Award of Excellence during the section’s annual meeting and CLE at the N.C. Bar Center.

Andy Petesch, section chair, presented the award.

“To say their contributions furthering our Section’s goals, many of which address good governance principles, has been exemplary is likely an understatement,” Petesch said.

Terrell, Currin and Brown are all former chairs of the Zoning, Planning & Land Use Section and Owens has served on the section council.

The 160D Committee has worked over a period of years on this collaborative project. The purpose of proposed 160D is to modernize land use and zoning regulations first written in the early 1920s.

Changes proposed in the work represent clearer language, consensus updates and codification of settled law. To achieve the goals of this work, the committee not only studied existing statutory and case law but reviewed and considered thousands of comments and met with numerous stakeholders.

“Each committee member has worked in this area of practice for decades, so our collective perspectives reflect the spectrum of interests in this area of law,” said Brown. “Working with Robin, Tom and David on this project has been a pleasure and privilege. I have benefitted much from our robust discussions around the drafting table.

“The Section’s presentation of this award to us is very meaningful. 160D is a work focused on good government principles and stakeholder inclusion; goals that are the focus of the ZPLU Award of Excellence. We are honored this work has been recognized for meeting these goals.”

The award has previously been presented to Mike Brough (2013) and David W. Owens (2014).

The legislative proposal (Senate Bill 422 and House Bill 448: Planning/Development Changes) has been filed and committee hearings are anticipated soon.

About the recipients:
Thomas E. Terrell Jr.  practices in the Greensboro offices of Fox Rothschild, which he joined in 2000. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the UNC School of Law, and also holds a master’s degree from the University of Chicago.

David W. Owens is the Gladys Hall Coates Professor of Public Law and Government who has served with the UNC School of Government since 1989. He is a triple Tar Heel with bachelor’s, master’s and law degrees from UNC.

Robin Tatum Currin serves as city attorney for the City of Raleigh, a position she assumed last year, and previously served in that capacity for the City of Asheville. She is a graduate of the North Carolina Central University School of Law and also holds two degrees from N.C. State University.

Brown is a member/manager of Brown & Bunch in Chapel Hill and serves as president-elect of the North Carolina Bar Association and the North Carolina Bar Foundation. She is also a triple Tar Heel with bachelor’s, master’s and law degrees from UNC.