124th Certified Planning Commissioners Program: January 28 - April 9, 2027

The  ​​Virginia ​​Certified ​​Planning ​​Commissioners’ ​​Program ​​(CPC)  ​​​​is ​​designed ​​to ​​provide ​​the ​​legal ​​and ​​technical  ​​background ​​needed ​​by ​​citizen-planners ​​and ​​decision ​​makers.  ​​The ​program ​covers ​the ​"what" ​and ​"why" ​of ​planning ​in  ​Virginia ​in ​addition ​to ​reviewing ​the ​principals ​that ​guide  ​the ​community ​planning ​process.
Program ​participants ​will ​also  ​learn ​how ​to ​handle ​and ​respond ​to ​the ​range ​of ​issues ​that  ​come ​before ​a ​local ​planning ​commission and will engage in  role-play and scenarios to put what they have learned to work.

The CPC class consists of three parts:

Opening Session:

• January 28, 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM and
• January 29, 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM

At-home Study: January 30 - April 7

Closing Session:

• April 8, 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM and
• April 9, 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM

Students at the Opening and Closing sessions will hear from planning experts,  practitioners, and educators about the fundamentals of land use, zoning,  and planning. Participants will obtain/purchase textbooks for the at-home study portion, which includes a series of simple assignments to guide students through the texts. We anticipate the course will require a time commitment of two to three hours each week.

PLEASE NOTE: The opening and closing sessions for this program will be conducted in-person at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. We do offer a virtual program once per year.