Thursday, October 2, 2025
Learn more about today's speakers by clicking here.
10:00 - 11:00 am
Reasoned Statements
Preston Rutter, Patricia Nilsson
South Banquet Room
Legal/Law
The sufficiency of reasoned statements has been the subject of two recent Idaho Supreme Court decisions, Veterans Park NA, Inc., v. City of Boise (2025) and NW Neighborhood Assoc. v. City of Boise (2023). This session will review what the court considered important in writing reasoned statements and a review of the pertinent section of the Local Land Use Planning Act. The panel will also present a template for reasoned statements for use by Idaho planners.
[Slide Deck Coming Soon]
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Creating a Safer Treasure Valley: One Step at a Time
Josie Gallup, Hunter Mulhall, Nick Foster, Tom Laws, Matt Degen
Home Federal Room
Community Engagement
Across Ada and Canyon Counties, agencies of all sizes are uniting around a shared vision: zero deaths and serious injuries from transportation crashes. This session explores the development and implementation of the recently completed Regional Safety Action Plan for the Treasure Valley and highlights complementary safety initiatives happening throughout the region—like the collaborative Good Move Campaign that launched in 2024. Attendees will gain insight into practical strategies for improving transportation safety, hear lessons learned from both large and small jurisdictions, and learn how cross-agency collaboration is paving the way for safer streets. Whether you're working in a rural community or an urban hub, this session offers scalable solutions to support a safer, more connected future for all road users. That’s a “good move”!
View the Slide Deck for Creating a Safer Treasure Valley: One Step at a Time
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Designing for the Future: A Comparative Look at Two Campus Master Plans
Céline Acord, Cheryl Hansen, Mark Andersen
Nampa City Hall
Plans
Join representatives from the University of Idaho and Idaho State University as they presenttheir newly completed long-range campus master plans. Learn how each university is planning for the future through strategic campus development, stakeholder engagement, and adaptable frameworks designed to meet evolving needs in higher education.
[Slide Deck Coming Soon]
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Walking Mobile Tour: From Framework to Future: Aligning Planning and Economic Development
Breanna Howe, Doug Critchfield, Ben Levenger
Walking Mobile Tour, 9:45-11:30 am
Economic Development
From Framework to Future explores the process behind synthesizing the numerous goals and objectives for revitalizing Downtown Nampa, into one Implementation Plan, rooted in market conditions and focused on economic growth. Developed through collaboration with the planning and economic development departments, and Nampa’s urban renewal agency, a feasibility study was produced to guide and encourage investment in Downtown. Using augmented reality visualizations, participants will be able to see potential future buildings and public spaces come to life at key sites. This interactive experience highlights a joint effort and an innovative approach to taking a concept and making it a reality.
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12:15 pm - Keynote Speaker
Keynote Speaker
Resilient by Design: Defying Gravity and Solving Wicked Problems in Planning
Nina Idemundia, AICP
Central/North Banquet Room
Keynote
As planners, we’re often asked to do more with less—and to keep showing up even when the weight of the moment feels impossible to carry. In my own journey, from Detroit to Los Angeles to Chicago, I’ve learned what it means to stay rooted in purpose, rise up when the headwinds are strong, and build resilience not just in systems, but in people.
This keynote goes beyond the buzzwords to explore what “resilient by design” really looks like on the ground. While the challenges may differ from Chicago to Idaho—from managing growth and preserving character to building equity into our everyday practice—the questions are the same: How do we keep solving wicked problems when the path forward is unclear? How do we transform setbacks into steppingstones?
Together, we’ll talk about the art and science of perseverance, uncover practical and emotional tools for thriving, and ignite the kind of purpose that turns uncertainty into possibility. Whether you’re feeling burned out or fired up, this is a call to reclaim your spark, lean on your planning community, and keep defying gravity.
View the Slide Deck for Resilient by Design: Defying Gravity and Solving Wicked Problems in Planning
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1:45 - 2:45 pm
Ready, Set, Go! Wildfire Evacuation Planning
Aaron Berger, Allison Tompkins
South Banquet Room
Sustainability
Wildfires are increasing in size, intensity, and frequency throughout Idaho. As planners, how do we prepare our rural communities to face these threats? How do we preserve evacuation routes that are resilient enough to withstand the impacts of wildfire and give residents a chance to escape for safety? We will explore the current tools in use throughout the West supporting community evacuation planning, including simulation models that capture the “Ready, Set, Go!” levels of warning and infrastructure constraints and opportunities to facilitate lifesaving evacuations. We will also delve into infrastructure design strategies used to harden the resilience of evacuation routes.
[Slide Deck Coming Soon]
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Your ADU Is My Duplex - Treasure Valley Cities' Differences in Accessory Dwelling Units
Rodney Ashby, Robin Collins, Caleb Hood, Jesi Lile
Home Federal Room
Housing
Accessory Dwelling Units are thought of as an answer to the housing crisis. Still, others see them as a modest and limited amenity to single-family dwellings, while others may argue they are a strain on infrastructure, parking, and traffic. Each city in the Treasure Valley handles ADUs differently – partly because they differ drastically in how they view their purpose. This panel discussion will review how the towns of Caldwell, Nampa, Meridian, and Boise view ADUs, how they regulate them, and highlight examples of challenges and benefits for the different approaches
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Planning in Practice: Partnering with Communities for Experiential Learning
Dr. Jillian Moroney, Sheil Krell, Elijah Davis
Nampa City Hall
Partnerships & Agreements
This panel discussion brings together students and faculty to share their experiences partnering with local governments and private entities through a range of experiential learning opportunities—including internships, class projects, and service learning. These collaborations provide students with hands-on, meaningful opportunities to apply planning theory to practice. Presenters will discuss strategies for building effective partnerships, designing impactful learning experiences, and aligning academic goals with community needs. The session will highlight successes, challenges, and lessons learned from real-world collaborations that have enriched student learning while contributing to community planning efforts.
View the Slide Deck for Planning in Practice: Partnering with Communities for Experiential Learning
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3:00 - 4:00 pm
Balancing Growth and Community Voices: Challenges and Strategies for Comprehensive Planning in Canyon County
Doug Critchfield, Nina Idemundia, Sheri Freemuth, Morgan Bessaw
South Banquet Room
Equity
Communities in Canyon County face significant opposition to sound growth policies from a vocal minority, often marginalizing underrepresented voices in public discourse. Barriers such as limited participation, language challenges, and capacity for access hinder community engagement. This session utilizes a recently completed comprehensive plan process, and one currently in progress, to discuss innovative and inclusive strategies for reaching these communities, tracking progress through technology, value assessment modeling, and bridge building. Join us to learn how to balance growth with community voices, ensuring that all perspectives are heard in the planning process.
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Idaho's Housing Future
Nicki Olivier Hellenkamp, Maureen Brewer, Kiah Jones, Deanna Dupuy, Alexa Roitman
Home Federal Room
Housing
As Idaho continues to grapple with evolving housing needs, this panel will offer a timely discussion on the relationship between cities and housing, with a particular emphasis on the Idaho context. We'll explore the current housing needs in Idaho and why factors such as affordability, accessibility, and stability are key to creating thriving communities across the state. This session will underscore the role that planning plays in addressing these challenges, including local case studies such as the City of Boise’s Modern Zoning Code.
[Slide Deck Coming Soon]
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Resilient Team-Building - Leveraging Personality Insights
Josh King, Allison Tompkins
Nampa City Hall
Career
Planners face increasing demands to manage internal and project teams amid changing community and political landscapes. This interactive session equips planners, project/department managers, and planning teams with practical, applicable skills to harness strengths and improve group collaboration. Participants will engage with personality assessment tools, exploring real-world applications for balancing strengths and weaknesses and improving communication, coordination, leadership, employee retention, and productivity. Session includes an introduction to using AI as a supplemental tool to analyze personality assessment results, drawing examples from real-life, recent workshops. The emphasis remains on practical, inclusive approaches that enhance team dynamics in diverse and changing community contexts.
[Slide Deck Coming Soon]
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Mobile Tour: Planners as Brokers: Nampa’s Industrial Development Success
Rodney Ashby, Morgan Treasure
Mobile Tour, 3:00-5:00 pm
Econ./Mobile Tour
Risks kept an industrial area in north Nampa from developing, but city planners used simple methods to broker a deal with many property owners to eliminate hazards. This mobile tour will highlight how planners incentivized development, protected residential land uses, designed infrastructure for industrial uses, and allocated limited dollars effectively. In just five years, the area is home to extensive manufacturing facilities and an 865,000 sq. ft. distribution center for Tractor Supply Company. Participants will tour the North Nampa Industrial Area and get a guided tour of manufacturing facilities.
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4:15 - 5:15 pm
County Roundtable
Michelle Fuson
South Banquet Room
Career
The session will help Planners to learn about new or upcoming issues by receiving updates from both the IAC and from the County Planning Directors/Planners. There will be information shared about planning issues that are going to be upcoming for Counties in the next legislative session and about what happened during the last. It is an opportunity for county planners to have dialogue and network with their colleagues about new and upcoming issues they are encountering and new concepts, technologies and plans they are implementing. If there is time, there will also be an update on any new case law pertaining to counties. ick or tap here to enter text.
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Elevating Transportation: Using Aerial Cable Cars as Transit
Dan Penrose, Shareefa Abdulsalam
Home Federal Room
Transportation
What is an aerial cable car and is it viable for urban transportation? We’ll explore how transit agencies are deploying this zero-emission, inexpensive and reliable transit system to overcome topographical challenges and urban constraints to meet community needs across the US, Canada and the world. Attendees will have an opportunity to participate in a tabletop exercise to plan an alignment through a challenging corridor to connect centers and link with existing transit.
View the Slide Deck for Elevating Transportation: Using Aerial Cable Cars as Transit
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City Roundtable
Morgan Landers
Pacific Source Room
Career
Open to city planners from all city sizes! It is an opportunity for city planners to have dialogue and network with their colleagues about new and upcoming issues they are encountering, and new concepts/technologies and plans they are implementing. Come hear from Planning Directors about new initiatives related to community engagement, efficiency improvements, commission and board relationship building, and the like!