There are still a couple of online training opportunities available for Planning Board and ZBA members who have not completed their yearly training require-ments of four hours.
The first online option available:
The NYS Department of State Land Use Training Unit is offering its two most basic courses: Planning Board Overview and Zoning Board of Appeals Overview on its website:
http://www.dos.state.ny.us/lgss/OnlineTrainingHelp.htm.
NYS Dept. of State Local Government Services must register each student and assign a UserID and Password (even if only to "preview" the program). To register, you must send an email to:
LocalGovOnlineRegistration@dos.state.ny.us with the following information:
Each course is divided into subject "modules" (similar to traditional chapters). At the end of each module the student is expected to complete a short quiz in order to move on to the next module.
The number of modules and pages varies for each course. At the end of the course the student is required to take a final exam and answer a minimum of 75% of the questions correctly in order to move on to display a "certificate of completion." Each course is designed to take approximately two hours to complete. Throughout the course there are web links to reference materials, such as NYS Statute, and DOS land use publications and legal memoranda. The linked materials are designed to supplement what is discussed in the course. Students are encouraged to view these materials to get a better understanding of the subject matter.
If you want to contact the Training Unit for general online training questions unrelated to registration, please send an email to:
LocalGovOnlineTraining@dos.state.ny.us.
For technical questions related to online course user problems or questions related to online course subject matter, please send an email to:
LocalGovOnlineHelp@dos.state.ny.us
Also you may call (800) 367-8488 and ask to speak to a staff member of the Land Use Training Unit.
It is up to each municipality to decide if this is an acceptable form of training and it is suggested that students present to their municipalities a printed copy of their passing test results and certificate of completion upon completion of each course.
The second online option available:
If your municipality is a member of either NYMIR or the New York Planning Federation, you are eligible to use the Land Use Training & Certification School. The New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal Land Use Training Program for Local Government Officials is an online training program designed to teach the basics of New York land use law. The program is made available to governmental officials, planning and zoning board members ,municipal risk managers and others for noncommercial purposes. The program has nine tutorials and a glossary with links to definitions and various New York State statutes. The program is produced by the Pace University Land Use Law Center and the New York Planning Federation. It is made available through the New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal, which is owned by the 530 New York Municipalities it insures. You can download the program FREE! from NYMIR http://nymir.org/zoning_reg.shtml or the zip file (1.6 meg) from NYPF:
http://www.nypf.org/NYMIR_land_use_training.zip.
