Faculty

Faculty members consist of a core group of Hall Alminana, Inc. staff and a revolving staff of visiting faculty.  Together they comprise a wealth of practical Smart Growth experience. 

Core Faculty

Laura Hall, Smart Growth School Director
Principal, Hall Alminana, Inc.
Referred to as “[A]cclaimed CNU facilitator” by the editors of New Urban News, Laura Hall has brought divided communities to consensus visions for over 10 years.  In 2004, she facilitated the community process for the Central Petaluma SmartCode, which resulted in one of the first adopted SmartCodes in the nation.  She also headed the design team for the rebuilding and renewal efforts for the City of Pass Christian, Mississippi, in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina nearly destroyed it.  Hall received an M.A. in Landscape Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley.

Robert Alminana, AICP, LEED AP
Principal, Hall Alminana, Inc.
Robert Alminana has organized, managed, and participated in a diverse range of master planning, form-based coding, and architectural projects from 100 acres to 70 sq. miles in North America and Europe.  His work has twice been honored with the prestigious Driehaus Form-Based Code Award from the Form-Based Codes Institute.  Alminana co-authored The New Civic Art, Elements of Town Planning (Rizzoli, New York, Oct. 2003) with Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk.  He received an M.A. in Architecture from the University of Miami. 

Visiting Faculty

Kevin Colin
Associate Planner, Lamphier-Gregory: Urban Planning & Environmental Analysis
Kevin Colin is a reformed Euclidean Zoner now practicing Smart Growth in the San Francisco Bay Area.  During his prior 8 years of public sector employment, Colin gained an incisive understanding of city-making at the local government level. While with the City of Ventura, he facilitated many regulatory changes, including Form-Based Code calibration to implement a General Plan with Smart Growth policies. As a result of his efforts, the City approved higher quality projects in a system of improved clarity and consistency. Colin has a B.S. in Natural Resources Planning and Interpretation from Humboldt State University.

William Wright
Partner, Balch & Bingham
William Wright is a Partner in Balch & Bingham, LLP's Real Estate and Commercial Transactions Practice Group. He works with developers, municipalities, financial institutions, and other business organizations in real estate, financing, and land use matters with an emphasis on Smart Growth matters and Form-Based Code initiatives. Bill is a co-author of the SmartCode & Manual. He was selected to work with the Mississippi Renewal Forum for the redevelopment of the post-Katrina Gulf Coast and has worked on a number of Smart Growth development and Form-Based Code matters for private developers and municipalities. Bill was a recipient of the inaugural Driehaus Institute Form-Based Codes Award for his Form-Based Code work on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He also was a member of the team that received the CNU Charter Award for its work on the SmartCode. He is a member of the Alabama and Tennessee Bar Associations, the Congress for the New Urbanism, the Urban Land Institute, the American Planning Association and the Land Use, Planning and Zoning Committee of the ABA's Real Property, Probate and Trust Section.