Tiffany Zezula

Adjunct Professor Tiffany B. Zezula is the Deputy Director for the Land Use Law Center at Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University in White Plains, NY, and Staff Attorney for the Housing Action Council. She is the primary trainer and national coordinator for the Center’s award-winning Land Use Leadership Alliance Training program for local officials, environmentalists, planners, and developers. The Training Program has been modeled and transferred to more than six states and has been tailored to tactical numerous land use issues, including fair and affordable housing. The program has trained over 3,000 leaders in the Hudson Valley Region alone, including over 350 leaders in the Hudson Valley on the specific topic of fair and affordable housing.

Prof. Zezula also provides strategic assistance to local governments on comprehensive planning, revitalization strategies, land use, and the formation of affordable housing committees. Her work includes developing public engagement strategies and conducting feasibility analyses on town center developments. She conducts assessments and audits for municipalities in sustainable development, resiliency, state certification programs, and streamlining development processes. Prof. Zezula also provides strategic assistance to local governments, including assistance in developing comprehensive planning. She has worked in select communities in the creation of affordable housing committees advocating for affordable housing policy reform and education of citizens to the topic. Prof. Zezula also worked closely with the New York Council of Churches and the Attorney General’s Office supported Mission-Based Housing Partnership to assist religious leaders with the repurposing and revitalization of church and mission-based property into affordable housing.

Prof. Zezula also works with a variety of planning firms in the region in the development of public engagement outreach and facilitation. All efforts culminate in a final report delivered to the administration regarding the citizen’s vision for future revitalization and cultural and economic services.

Finally, Prof. Zezula oversees running the Center’s annual conference. The Center’s annual conference is a significant educational event in the region, with more than 250 attorneys, business professionals, planners and local leaders in attendance to learn about national, regional, and local innovations, challenges, and best practices. She also coordinates a yearly affordable housing summit bringing industry leaders, municipal officials, syndicates, and lawyers together to discuss trends and solutions to affordable housing.

Prof. Zezula is a frequent national speaker on collaborative governance and local decision-making. She is also a frequent guest presenter at the Yale School of Forestry and an adjunct professor at Haub Law on Environmental Dispute Resolution and Sustainable Development Law. She received her JD cum laude from Haub Law in 2003 along with a certificate in Environmental Law. She is a certified mediator in the State of New York. Prof. Zezula also serves as a Board Member to the United Way of Westchester and Putnam County.

• BS, Tulane University
• JD, Elisabeth Haub School of Law

• Environmental Dispute Resolution LAW 797N
• Sustainable Development Law Survey LAW 633

• Local Housing Initiatives, 21 N.Y. Zoning L. & Prac. Rep., November/December 2020, at 1 (with Jessica Bacher).
• Increasing Coastal Community Resilience through Facilitated Land Use Training, Assessment, and Amendments, 41 Zoning & Planning L. Rep., November 2018, at 1 and 19 N.Y. Zoning L. & Prac. Rep., November/December 2018, at 1 (with Jessica Bacher).
• Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing: The Search for Solutions that are Just Right, NY Planning and Zoning Law Report (Fall 2012) (with John Nolon).
• Managing Climate Change through Land Use: Creating the Human Infrastructure for Collaborative Decision-Making at the Local Level, ACResolution (Fall 2009) (with Jessica Bacher).
• Open Ground, Environmental Law Institute (2003). Contributing researcher and author, having researched and co-written numerous sections (with John Nolon).
• Editor of Starting Ground Series: Intermunicipal Cooperation and Smart Growth (2003).
• The Beach Zone: Using Local Land Use Authority to Preserve Barrier Island , Envtl. L. in N.Y., Parts I & II, Vol. 13, Nos. 10 & 11 (Sept. & Oct. 2002) (with Jessica Bacher).
• The Beach Zone: Using Local Land Use Authority to Preserve Barrier Island, Pace Envtl. L. Rev., Summer 2002.