EDUCATION
Juris Doctor (cum laude) from the University of Connecticut School of Law, West Hartford, Connecticut (1979).
Masters of Governmental Administration with a major in planning from the Fels Institute of Local and State Government, Wharton Graduate School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1971).
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 1969.
PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
Admitted to the Connecticut Bar and the Federal District Court for the District of Connecticut.
Member of the Hartford County Bar Association and the Connecticut Bar Association,
Chairman of its Planning and Zoning Section and Member of the Connecticut Association of Municipal Attorneys.
Currently:
- Town Attorney Griswold and Scotland.
- Special Land Use Counsel to Canterbury Planning & Zoning Commission and Inland Wetland Commiossion.
- Special Land Use Counsel to Eastford Planning Commission and Inland Wetlands Commissions.
- Special Land Use Counsel to
East Haddam Planning & Zoning Commission, Inland Wetlands & Watercourses Commission.
- Special Land Use Counsel to
Enfield Planning and Zoning Commission
.
- Special Land Use Counsel to Middlefield Planning & Zoning Commission, Inland Wetland Commiossion, Watercourses Commission & Zoning Board of Appeals.
- Special Land Use Counsel to
Old Lyme Zoning Commission, Inland Wetlands & Watercourses Commission.
- Special Land Use Counsel to
Old Saybrook Planning Commission and Old Saybrook Zoning Commission.
- Special Land Use Counsel to
Oxford Planning & Zoning Commission and Oxford Zoning Board of Appeals.
- Special Land Use Counsel to
Westbrook Planning Commission & Zoning Commission.
- Special Land Use Counsel to
Willington Planning & Zoning Commission and Conservation Commission (Inland Wetlands Agency).
Consulting or Special Counsel to:
- Andover Planning and Zoning Commission.
- Bolton Planning and Zoning Commission.
- Enfield Planning and Zoning Commission.
- Trumbull Planning and Zoning Commission.
Former:
- Town Attorney of Andover, 1987 to 1989.
- Town Attorney of Cromwell, 1994-1998.
- Coventry Planning & Zoning Commission, 1995-1996.
- Columbia Planning & Zoning Commission, 1992-1999.
- New Britain Planning Commission, 1991-1998.
Special Counsel to:
- Consulting Counsel to the Borough of Stonington Planning & Zoning Commission.
- Back-up Land Use Counsel to the Town of Stonington Planning & Zoning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals.
- Appeared before land use agencies in more than sixty (60) towns; argued land use appeals before the Connecticut Superior Courts (Hartford, Middlesex, New London, Tolland, and Windham Counties) and the Appellate and Supreme Courts.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
2005 - Present Senior Partner in the Law Firm of Branse, Willis & Knapp, LLC
2000 - 2005 Senior Partner in the Law Firm of Branse & Willis, LLC
1985 - 2000 Law Offices of Mark K. Branse, Attorney at Law.
1983 - 1985 Partner in the Law Firm of Kroll & Branse, Glastonbury, Connecticut.
General practice, with emphasis in real estate, land use and municipal law.
1982 - 1983 Partner in the Law Firm of Twachtman, Tillinghast & Branse, Glastonbury, Connecticut.
General practice, with emphasis in real estate, land use and municipal law.
1979 - 1981 Associate in the Law Firm of Twachtman & Tillinghast, Glastonbury, Connecticut.
General practice, with emphasis in real estate, land use and municipal law.
1976 - 1979 Part-time Planning Consultant while attending Law School.
1971 - 1976 Town Planner/Director of Community Development of Glastonbury, Connecticut.
Resigned to attend Law School.
Worked on the comprehensive revisions to the Glastonbury Zoning and Subdivision Regulations and staffed the Town's Planning and Zoning, Water Resources, Conservation, and Economic Development Commissions; and, its Citizens Advisory and Community Beautification Committees; supervised staff, environmental planner and Block Grants Coordinator.
PUBLICATIONS:
Published article, "Site Plan Review: Ministerial Check for Compliance or Mini-Special Review?", Connecticut Real Estate Law Journal, Vol. 9, No. 5 (1992, p. 74).
COMMUNITY:
- Former Chairman of the Glastonbury Citizens Advisory Committee.
- Former President and Secretary of the Welles-Turner Memorial Library Board, Glastonbury.
- Former Secretary of the Glastonbury Redevelopment Agency.
- Currently, Member of the Board of Directors of the Diamond Lake Land Trust, Glastonbury.
- Former Member, Glastonbury Town Planning and Zoning Commission.
- Member, Glastonbury Chamber of Commerce.
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