Sara Cecilia Bronin ( Galvan)Columbia Law Review, Sara Galvan, Retrieved July 13, 2015 is an American lawyer, professor, and architect. She served as the chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation from 2023 to 2024.
Early life and education Bronin graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2001, where she earned degrees in architecture and the Plan II honors program. She attended Magdalen College, Oxford, on a Rhodes Scholarship. While there, she co-founded the Oxonian Review and served as its publisher. In 2003, she graduated with a master's degree in economic and social history. She earned a Truman Scholarship for public service, which she used for law school. She spent one year at Columbia Law School before transferring to Yale Law School and was senior editor of the Yale Law & Policy Review and graduated in 2006.
Career
Bronin currently serves as the Freda H. Alverson Professor of Law at the George Washington University Law School. Bronin was previously a professor at Cornell University at its school of Architecture, Art and Planning and associate faculty at Cornell Law School.Cornell AAP, Sara Bronin, Retrieved July 9, 2021 Prior to Cornell, she was a professor of law at the University of Connecticut School of Law. Her interdisciplinary work focuses on how law and policy can foster more equitable, sustainable, well-designed, and connected places.Sara Bronin, Texas Law Review, Solar Rights for Texas Property Owners, Retrieved July 13, 2015, Volume 89:1, pages 79+
She is the co-author of a land use treatise,Sara Bronin, The Law of Zoning and Planning and books on land use and historic preservation law.Sterk, Pealver, and Bronin's Land Use RegulationBronin and Rowberry's Historic Preservation Law in a Nutshell In addition, she has written dozens of articles,SSRN eLibrary including a 2021 article on road design and federalism in the Iowa Law Review,Sara Bronin, Rules of the Road: The Struggle for Safety and the Unmet Promise of Federalism, a 2021 book chapter on the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation,Sara Bronin, Adapting National Preservation Standards to Climate Change a 2020 article called "Zoning for Families" in the Indiana Law Journal,Sara Bronin, Zoning for Families and a 2009 article on Solar Rights.Sara Bronin, Solar Rights She also led the research team behind the Connecticut Zoning Atlas, a groundbreaking project that is the first interactive GIS map of all zoning regulations in a single state.Desegregate CT Zoning AtlasUConn Today Drawing from that project, she founded the National Zoning Atlas in 2022, which aims to depict key aspects of zoning codes in an online, user-friendly map.
In 2012, she argued in the Vanderbilt Law Review that a primary obstacle blocking "building-related renewable energy" (BRRE) projects was not siting considerations but legal obstacles preventing developers from allocating renewable energy costs to end users.Michael P. Vandenbergh, J.B. Ruhl, Jim Rossi, VANDERBILT LAW, VOLUME 65, NOVEMBER 2012, NUMBER 6, Symposium: Supply and Demand: Barriers to a New Energy Future, Retrieved August 10, 2014, "....Sara Bronin provides that component in her case study of building-related renewable energy ("BRRE")—the incorporation of renewable energy generation capacity into inhabited structures....." She is working to coordinate the land use portion of the forthcoming Fourth Restatement of Property. She is a past president of the Connecticut Hispanic Bar Association.Award Recipients 2011, Retrieved July 13, 2015, "...HBA RECOGNITION AWARD RECIPIENT: Sara Bronin, CHBA Past President..." She has served as an expert witness and as a consultant to cities, state agencies, and private firms interested in creating or facilitating places of value. Among other projects, she served as lead attorney and development strategist for the 360 State Street project, a mixed-use, transit-oriented, LEED-Platinum project in New Haven, Connecticut.Yale Law School, Speaker: Sara C. Bronin, Retrieved July 13, 2015WILL HOROWITZ, September 24, 2008, Yale Daily News, Developers seek to allay concerns about Shartenberg, Retrieved August 10, 2015, "...Sara Bronin, legal and developmental consultant ... stressed that the development ... is being executed in what she called a community-oriented way. The project at 360 State Street..." She wrote an amicus brief to the Texas Supreme Court, joined by legal scholars and nonprofit organizations, to support the City of Houston's successful defense of an attack on its historic preservation ordinance. She studied microgrid efforts around the United States as a means of preventing energy sprawl and handling energy blackouts.Jon Schuppe, November 15, 2012, NBC News, After Storms' Massive Blackouts, One State Explores High-Tech Solutions: Devastating storms have prompted Connecticut to embrace experimental microgrids, Retrieved July 13, 2015, "....Sara Bronin ... studied microgrid efforts around the country..."Sara Bronin, Connecticut Law Review, Curbing Energy Sprawl with Microgrids, Retrieved July 13, 2015 She advocated efforts to limit use of water and energy in architectural building standards.April 1, 2010, Portland Business Journal, Should states force cities to go green? (Nashville), Retrieved July 13, 2015, "..Author Sara Bronin ... cited the profound energy consumption and emissions of buildings as an impetus for states to become more involved in both local land-use policy and green-building standards...." She has also submitted written comments to federal agencies, including one to the Department of the Interior on proposed changes to the National Register of Historic Places regulations.Sara Bronin, Comment in Opposition to Proposed Revisions to National Historic Preservation Act, No. 1024-AE49 (U.S. Department of the Interior)Sara Bronin, Public Comment on Proposed Revisions to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways - Proposed Rule; Notice of Proposed Amendments to National Standards for Traffic Control Devices: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets And Highways; Revision Docket Id: Fhwa-2020-0001 Regulation Identifier Number (Rin) 2125-Af85 She has also testified many times before the Connecticut General Assembly about legislative matters, including most recently on statewide zoning reform proposals.Sara Bronin, TESTIMONY ON SB 1024 AN ACT CONCERNING ZONING AUTHORITY, CERTAIN DESIGN GUIDELINES, QUALIFICATIONS OF CERTAIN LAND USE OFFICIALS AND CERTAIN SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEMS
In 2021, Bronin founded a coalition of more than 70 nonprofit organizations called Desegregate Connecticut to advocate for zoning reform to enable affordable housing opportunities.Valerie Bannister, May 8, 2021, The Middletown Press, Dozens rally for zoning changes in Deep River, Retrieved June 5, 2021, quote=...Desegregate Connecticut, a coalition of people and non-profits founded by Sara Bronin, an architect and attorney, advocates for reforming zoning laws to create more housing, reduce cost the cost of living, promote diversity and save farmland and forests....Susan Haigh, Associated Press, Journal Inquirer, May 20, 2021, State House passes scaled-back zoning reform bill, Retrieved June 5, 2021, "... Sara Bronin, founder of Desegregate Connecticut, ..."https://www.desegregatet.org/coalition The coalition successfully advocated for the adoption of major zoning reform, adopted into Public Act 21-29 in 2021.Regional Plan AssociationAssociated Press, "Connecticut House passes scaled back zoning reform bill," May 20, 2021 "Sara Bronin, founder of Desegregate Connecticut, said the legislation “lays the groundwork” for a more equitable state and toward more inclusive communities."
In 2023, Bronin completed a report for the city of Boston which outlined the need for the city's zoning code to be overhauled.
Biden administration On June 24, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Bronin to head the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Hearings were held before the Senate Energy Committee on the nomination on September 21, 2021. The committee favorably reported the nomination to the Senate floor on November 18, 2021. Bronin's initial nomination expired at the end of the year and was returned to President Biden on January 3, 2022.
President Biden renominated her the following day. On March 8, 2022, the committee favorably reported Bronin's nomination to the Senate floor. Her nomination was confirmed on December 22, 2022.
Awards and recognition She is an advocate for historic preservation. She previously chaired Hartford’s Planning & Zoning Commission, chaired Preservation Connecticut, and served on the board of Save the Sound.Kerri Provost, November 20, 2014, Real Hartford, Family Faces Eviction from West End Home, Despite Paying Mortgage on Time, Retrieved July 13, 2015, "...h the chair of the Planning & Zoning Commission, Sara Bronin, .."Hartford Courant, "Sara Bronin steps down as chair of Hartford’s planning and zoning commission," July 23, 2020 The City of Hartford’s zoning code was awarded the 2020 Richard H. Driehaus Form-Based Codes Award from Smart Growth America and the Form-Based Codes Institute.Smart Growth America
As a licensed architect, she received the 2014 Alice Washburn Award of the AIA of Connecticut in the category of Renovations and Additions.Kate Hartman, 2014 Alice Washburn Awards, Connecticut Magazine, Connecticut Home: Ambitious Transformation: A Sensitive Architect Resurrects a Civil-War Era Brownstone in Hartford, Retrieved July 13, 2015 She won the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation Award of Merit, and she was one of 11 winners in the 2013 Hartford Preservation Alliance Preservation Awards for her design and rehabilitation of her family's Civil War-era brownstone in downtown Hartford. The American Institute of Architects praised the renovation for "its blending of styles and for bringing the traditional into the present." In 2019, Bronin won the Pro Bene Meritis Award from the University of Texas College of Liberal Arts, the highest honor bestowed by the college.University of Texas College of Liberal Arts
Personal life Sara Bronin is a fifth-generation Texan, born in Houston. She is of Mexican American descent.
Bronin was married to former Hartford mayor Luke Bronin.Connecticut Mirror, Mark Pazniokas, December 9, 2014, Malloy counsel Bronin leaving to explore Hartford mayoral run, Retrieved July 13, 2015Jenna Carlesso, December 2014, Hartford Courant, Luke Bronin May Make Run For Hartford Mayor, Retrieved August 11, 2015, "...His wife, Sara Bronin, teaches at the University of Connecticut's law school and is chair of the Hartford planning and zoning commission..." The two announced their divorce in September 2024. They have three children. She administered the oath of officeNote: an example of a Speech act to her husband during the mayoral induction ceremony.Russell Blair, January 2, 2016, Chicago Tribune, HARTFORD’S NEW MAYOR, Retrieved January 29, 2016
Publications Historic Preservation Law, 2d ed. (2021) Land Use Regulation, 3d ed. (2020) Historic Preservation Law in a Nutshell, 2d ed. (2018)
References
External links Official Law School biography