The Central Virginia Planning District Commission is proud to launch the Central Virginia Regional Housing Policy Workshop. This event is designed for municipal officials, planning departments and commissioners, zoning officials, utility directors, and economic development staff.
Join us for a specialized workshop training on new housing policies and ideas shaping housing development, affordability and supply in our region.
This event will be valuable for municipal officials, planning departments and commissioners, zoning officials, utility directors, and economic development staff to understand how local policies and practices impact housing development in our region, as well as to understand the recently passed housing bills in Virginia. The workshop will provide a practical, solutions-oriented approach to identifying and removing barriers to housing development and affordability in Central Virginia.
The workshop training content will address several key themes essential to strengthening the local housing ecosystem:
Understanding the housing development landscape and market challenges specific to communities
Identifying regulatory and policy barriers that may be limiting new housing development
Exploring successful approaches from similar communities that have overcome housing challenges
Developing practical strategies to support small-scale and incremental development
Establishing next steps for potential policy updates and regulatory improvements
Each session will include opportunities for discussion, collaborative problem-solving, and development of location-specific action plans. The format will balance educational content with interactive elements to maximize engagement and practical outcomes.
Continental breakfast, refreshments, and sandwich bar lunch are included in pricing.
Aaron Lubeck is a designer + builder practicing in Durham, North Carolina. A former resident of seven college towns, he specializes in complex neighborhood infill projects, zoning codes, and incremental development.
Aaron is the author of Green Restorations: Sustainable Building in Historic Homes (New Society), and a former lecturer at Duke University’s Nicholas School for the Environment.
Aaron is an excellent speaker. He forces attendees to think as he explores new frontiers for urbanism and community design. - Bob Chapman, New Urbanist developer.
As President of Trinity Design | Build, he presided over multiple ambitious sustainable retrofits, including the first privately-developed LEED Platinum building in North Carolina. When not sketching site plans on his iPad, he can be seen lobbying for bicycle boulevards, tossing frisbees to his poorly-behaved golden retriever, and singing songs from North Carolina in his cover band.
Find him at:
www.southernurbanism.org
www.faith-housing.org
www.rocketshopnc.com
Areas of expertise: green building, faith-based housing, neighborhood infill
Sheila Herlihy Hennessee (she/her) has more than a decade of experience engaging faith communities in the work of advocacy, especially around housing. She currently serves as the Director of Faith Organizing for the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. Her two focuses are engaging congregations and the public in the work of justice and advocating for affordable housing policies statewide. Sheila coordinates VICPPs congregational liaison network of more than two hundred faith communities, and she is the author of "Virginia Congregations Building Affordable Housing: A Match Made in Heaven." Previously, Sheila led a local campaign on increasing funding for affordable housing through an interfaith community organizing effort. She has presented in both English and Spanish on a number of topics at the local, state, and federal level, and consistently is able to build connections across religion, political party, and geography to achieve more just policies.
Lyle Solla-Yates serves on the Charlottesville Planning Commission, works and teaches about zoning and urban planning at the University of Virginia School of Architecture, and contributed to "How to Streamline Housing Permitting in Virginia" with the Mercatus Center. His proposal to permit single stair residential construction at the fourth floor was adopted for the 2024 Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code expected for release in 2027.
Areas of expertise: green building, faith-based housing, neighborhood infill
Event Schedule
8:30 AM Registration, Continental Breakfast, and Networking
9:00 AM Housing & Zoning 101: An Introduction to Incremental Development- Aaron Lubeck, Designer & Builder, Incremental Development Alliance
10:00 AM BREAK
10:15 AM How to Streamline Housing Permitting Lyle Solla-Yates, Planner & Educator, Charlottesville Planning Commission
10:45 AM BREAK
11:00 AM Faith in Housing: Understanding Virginia’s New Policy Shelia Herlihy-Hennessee, Director of Faith Organizing, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy
11:30 AM LUNCH and NETWORKING Sandwich Bar
12:30 PM Policy Panel w/ Event Speakers Aaron Lubeck, Incremental Development Alliance Lyle Solla-Yates, Charlottesville Planning Commission Sheila Herlihy-Hennessee, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy
Facilitator – Alec Brebner, Executive Director, Central Virginia Planning District Commission
1:00 PM CLOSING
Central Virginia Regional Housing Workshop 2026 Sponsors
We would like to thank our sponsors and partners for helping put this event on.
