About the Sun Coast Section
Welcome to the Sun Coast!
The Sun Coast Section is a division of the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA). Our goal is to provide our diverse membership with an equally diverse range of professional development, networking and other opportunities.
Did you know that you can receive our section news and announcement emails for free even if you’re not a member? Please send us an email if you would like to sign up to receive our newsletters. Also, please be sure to follow the Section’s Facebook page, LinkedIn page, or check our listing below for upcoming events. We’d love to see you at an event!
2024-25 Sun Coast Section Executive Committee
Please see below for our 2024-25 Executive Committee members!
Comments or questions are always welcome. Below is a roster of our Section leadership. To get a hold of us, fill out this form.
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Chair | Nousheen Rahman |
| Vice Chair | Kyle Dost, AICP |
| Secretary | Elisabeth Staten, AICP |
| Treasurer | Alexis Boback |
| Communications Officer | Nicole Roberts |
| Professional Development Officer | Corinne Arriaga, AICP, MPH, CPH |
| Professional Development Officer | Connor Baird, AICP Candidate |
| At-Large (Citrus & Hernando) Area Director | Patrick Doty, AICP, CFM |
| Hillsborough County Area Director | Chad Davis, AICP Candidate |
| Manatee County Area Director | Alvimarie Corales, AICP |
| Pasco County Area Director | Kelsey Olinger |
| Pinellas County Area Director | Lorraine Duffy Suarez, AICP |
| Sarasota County Area Director | Monet Moore, AICP |
| Student Representative | Kristin Combs |
| EPG | Haley Busch |
| Immediate Past Chair | Katrina Corcoran, AICP |
Meet Our Section Sponsor
Mark S. Bentley, AICP, Esq., BCS
A tremendous thank you to Mark Bentley and Johnson Pope for their continued support of the Sun Coast Section as the Annual Sponsor. Below please find some information about our annual sponsor:
Mark Bentley is a partner at Johnson Pope in its Tampa office and practices in the areas of land use, eminent domain, administrative law and property rights. He represents both local governments and private property owners in land use and eminent domain matters. Mark has taught land use law as an adjunct professor for the University of South Florida’s Urban and Regional Master’s Degree Program, and now serves on the program’s Urban Planning Advisory Board. He is a former City Planning Director and has been a member of AICP since 1989. In 2001, Mark received the Suncoast Section’s Chairman’s Award, then in 2009, Mark received the Suncoast Chapter’s Planner of the Year Award, and in 2017, he received the Section’s Distinguished Service Award. Mark also serves as a special master involving disputed land use cases under Florida’s Land Use and Environmental Dispute Resolution Act. He is a frequent speaker at various seminars and events in the Tampa Bay area, as well as throughout the state of Florida and nationally, primarily focusing on eminent domain and land use law.
Johnson Pope is a full service firm that has been serving the Tampa Bay Area for over four and a half decades and is committed to helping its clients seize opportunities and solve problems through high quality representation in a timely and economical manner. The firm and its lawyers regularly receive awards attesting to its capabilities and results obtained for its clients, and notably, it is the only law firm on Florida’s West Coast providing full service offices in all three major cities in the Bay Area.
Learn more about Johnson Pope here.