Media Contact:
Russell LawsonMarketing Director
Direct: (804) 783-6799
Cell: (804) 240-8862
Fax: (804) 783-7291
Katz and Cornwell Address Conservation Easements At Middle Peninsula Green Infrastructure Forum
(October 19, 2005)... Phyllis C. Katz and James E. Cornwell, land use and local government partners with the law firm of Sands Anderson Marks & Miller, spoke on conservation easements and how to address them in a locality's comprehensive plan, on October 19, 2005, at the Middle Peninsula Green Infrastructure Planning Forum.
"Strong Plans - Flourishing Communities" was the first in a series of Green Infrastructure Planning workshops in the Middle Peninsula, Northen Neck, Hanover, New Kent, Caroline and Charles City counties, and was scheduled for Wednesday between 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. It was held at the Rappahannock Community College, South Campus in Glenns, Virginia, before an anticipated audience of local planning commissioners, town council/board of supervisors member assigned to local planning commission, local planning staff, board members of land trusts, Virginia Association of Counties representatives, and Coastal Program (Middle Peninsula, Northern Neck and Hanover, Caroline, New Kent, Charles City counties) representatives. Katz and Cornwell discussed the concepts and use of conservation easements in an in-depth afternoon session.
Among the topics covered by the attorneys' presentation were: current federal and state law; practical local government tools for promoting conservation easements and other land conservation measures; purchase of development rights; taxation and the preservation of open space, farm lands, riparian lands, and forests; local tax incentives (land use taxation, agricultural and forestal districts); and state and federal tax incentives (riparian buffer tax credits for timber lands and more).
Katz's legal practice includes serving as county attorney for local governments in the central area of the state, as well as offering corporate and government clients advice on employment issues and employment litigation. Cornwell is the managing partner of the Radford office of the firm, as well as serving as county and city attorney for governments, and as counsel for industrial development and other authorities in the state. In addition, he has a robust land use practice centering in environmental, zoning, condemnation and eminent domain matters for governmental and corporate clients.
Founded more than 150 years ago, Sands Anderson has 76 lawyers practicing among its offices in Richmond, Blacksburg, Fredericksburg and McLean, Virginia, and the Research Triangle of North Carolina. In 2008, it was ranked 9th in the Virginia Lawyers Weekly annual listing of the state’s largest law firms. Sands Anderson provides a full range of legal services to corporations and businesses, healthcare providers, financial institutions, state and local governments, the insurance industry and individuals.