Northern New England Planning Conference – 10/21-23/26

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION NOW OPEN Come learn with Plan NH! October 21 - 23, 2026 DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown | 700 Elm Street, Manchester, New Hampshire Plan NH is participating in the following two sessions: Thursday, October 22 | 11:15 AM - 12:30 PM Engagement: Community Zoning Discussions using 2 and 3 Dimensional Tools: Plan NH Community Design Charrette Program This presentation will examine the Plan NH Community Design Charrette Program as a proven model for advancing thoughtful planning in communities across New Hampshire. Over the past 30 years, the program has brought multidisciplinary volunteer teams together with local officials, stakeholders, and residents to address complex challenges including housing opportunities, economic development, village center revitalization, etc. The session will outline the structure of the charrette process, from pre-planning to community engagement to intensive design work and final recommendations. It will demonstrate how the process is grounded in bringing together local knowledge with a strong multidisciplinary team of planning and development professionals, resulting in clear, actionable strategies. Participants will gain insight into best practices for managing collaborative planning efforts, fostering inclusive engagement, and turning conceptual ideas into implementable next steps. The presentation will also highlight how the charrette model incorporates current priorities such as housing choice, sustainability, and economic development while utilizing visualization tools to support informed decision-making. Attendees will leave with practical lessons learned, replicable strategies, and a clearer understanding of how a structured, design-driven process can help communities move from vision to action. Tiffany Tononi McNamara, Plan NH - Emily Innes, Innes Land Strategies Friday, October 23 | 9:00-10:00 AM Regulating Expression: Murals, Signs and Constitutional Limits for Municipal Planners This session will explore the evolving intersection of zoning signage regulations and the First Amendment. A licensed attorney will present their recent experience with a case involving signage regulations in Conway, NH and the Federal District Court of NH’s analysis and decision. The case involved the question of whether a mural created by local high school students, highlighting many items sold by a local bakery, was a mural or a commercial sign. Around the same time, the Town of Conway also reviewed murals featuring white mountain scenery located at a local outlet shopping plaza and determined that the scenic murals were commercial signs. Municipal zoning and sign ordinances are often used as tools to promote aesthetics, traffic safety, and community character, yet they frequently regulate who can speak, where speech can occur, and how messages are conveyed. The session will examine the details of the Conway ordinance and subsequent case, as well as other recent legal developments and practical challenges local governments face in drafting signage ordinances. Attendees will gain insight into best practices for municipal professionals drafting signage regulations and navigating this developing legal area. The session is designed to foster discussion on how communities can regulate signs and murals responsibly while respecting the fundamental constitutional principles that govern expression in shared spaces. Tiffany Tononi McNamara, Plan NH - Derek Lick, Orr & Reno - Jodie Nazaka, City of Manchester