2026 APA Winter Workshop

Join your fellow planners of the St. Louis Metro Section of the American Planning Association for the 4th Annual Winter Workshop! Date: Tuesday, December 8th Time: 12pm to 4pm (Doors open at 11:30am) Location: City Winery (3730 Foundry Way) Winter Workshop Cost: $40 CM Credits: 2 CM Join your fellow planners of the St. Louis Metro Section of the American Planning Association for the 4th Annual Winter Workshop on Tuesday, December 8th at the City Winery! This event will include two engaging educational sessions, catered lunch, and the annual Section Awards. Following lunch and educational sessions, individuals may purchase add-on tickets for the social event at Puttshack St. Louis. Registration Deadline: Monday, November 30th at 4pm Schedule • 11:30 am - Doors Open • 12:00 pm - Lunch and Awards Presentation • 1:30 pm - CM Credit Session 1 • 2:45 pm- CM Credit Session 2 Educational Sessions Law Session (1 Law CM) The intersection of property rights and community needs can result in contentious projects in communities. Join us for this informal discussion on how planners and city attorneys can work together for successful project outcomes through what are often contentious projects. Specific examples from the City of Chesterfield, Missouri will include condemnation for a public trail, litigation relating a TIF district and blighting of a property, and litigation regarding zoning and site plan issues will be used to highlight skills and strategies for project success. Presenters Chris Graville, Attorney- Graville Law Firm Chris Graville concentrates in the areas of local government, employment law, and civil litigation related to real estate, eminent domain, land use regulations, and zoning. Chris was born and raised in Ballwin, Missouri where he graduated from Parkway West High School. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Missouri–Columbia. Chris began his career trying cases as a public defender in Montgomery County and then served as the Chief Trial Prosecutor for the Warren County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, where his primary focus was prosecuting crimes against children. He has personally tried more than a dozen jury trials, and hundreds of bench trials, argued several appeals, and appeared before countless Judges throughout Missouri. He has served as special counsel, judge, and prosecuting attorney for municipalities located in St. Louis County, St. Charles County, and Warren County. Currently, Chris serves as the City Attorney for Chesterfield, Des Peres, and the Village of Innsbrook. He also serves as the Prosecuting Attorney for Ballwin and Lake St. Louis. Chris continues to expand his practice by representing businesses, individuals, non-profits, and other organizations in both litigation and transactional contexts. Chris has been recognized for his outstanding service to the City of Overland, the City of Clarkson Valley, and the Village of Riverview. He has also been recognized as a top 100 Trial Lawyer by the National Trial Lawyers Association. Justin Wyse, Director of Planning- City of Chesterfield Justin Wyse has nearly 20 years of experience in city planning. Justin was involved in the update to the City of Chesterfield comprehensive plan, which resulted in the focus of redevelopment of the Chesterfield Mall. Envision Chesterfield was awarded the 2022 Outstanding Planning Practice award from the St. Louis Section of the Missouri Chapter of the American Planning Association. Justin has worked for the City of Chesterfield for nearly 15 years where he has earned the respect and regard of many throughout the community. Justin is a member of the American Planning Association, Institute of Transportation Engineers, and works with the Urban Land Institute through their Urban Plan program that exposes a variety of groups to the development process. I’m Right... Right? – Better Ways to Say What We Need to Say (1 CM) What’s our role as planners? What are the expectations for how we interact with developers, with elected officials, and with consultants? Have we been taught to believe that these are adversarial relationships or do we think they should be? Do we understand what our role is when we are able to hire a consultant to work on a project? And do we think what the hell just happened when we provide a technically correct answer to an elected official and they still get upset with us? There’s lots to unpack here but that is because there’s lots we are responsible for. We focus our time learning the code, researching requirements and best practices to become technically proficient, yet we don’t learn what our role is in terms of partnerships and how to work with these other entities. At this interactive workshop, attendees will divide into groups of 3-4 people; each will be assigned the role of a planner, a developer, or a consultant. Then each group is given a real-world scenario to play out. We’ll all return as a single group and report back, sharing how things went, what could have gone better, and explain some techniques to achieve positive outcomes. Presenter Aimee Nassif, Principal- Confluence Planning and Landscape Architecture Aimee Nassif recently started as Principal at Confluence Planning and Landscape Architecture, working in their Kansas City office. Prior to starting at Confluence, Aimee served as Deputy Director of Development for the City of Lee’s Summit. Aimee’s team was comprised of current and long-range planning, project management, development engineering, and building codes administration. Aimee was responsible for a host of Unified Development Ordinance updates, directed the City's housing efforts, and developed the department’s Strategic Plan. Aimee has been in the planning field for over 23 years and been a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners since 2008. She has served on several regional community planning efforts with the Mid America Regional Council (MARC), Eastern Jackson County Public Health, and United Community Services of Johnson County. Before joining the City of Lee’s Summit, she served as the Chief Planning and Development Officer in Olathe, Kansas for 6 years which is also in the Kansas City area. Prior to her move to Kansas City, Aimee served as Planning and Development Services Director in her hometown of Chesterfield, Missouri.