Planning Commissioners Journal

Making the Case for Passion

Tip 21 of 25
from Elaine Cogan

view all Tips posted to date

Much planning is dispassionate. Citizens fill out the proper forms, pay the fees, meet the regulations, and receive approval from the planning staff or board. In our zeal to be objective and fair, it is easy to dismiss passion as an undesirable trait for planners and a suspect emotion for citizens.

 

To the contrary, passion is a powerful and admirable quality if it is not expressed in a hysterical or zealous, take-no-prisoners mode. It can be a positive model when you as a commissioner show a calm but passionate advocacy for the value of planning as a vital contribution to your community's present and future livability -- and when you recognize that citizens can also be rightfully passionate about their neighborhoods, the natural environment, schools, playing fields, or other matters of concern.

Empathizing with the passions of others may help inspire you and your fellow commissioners to deal constructively with controversy and find reasonable compromises.

 

Sometimes passion can cause you to be a loner. You may have patiently listened to all the arguments on a contentious issue, weighed the information, debated openly and fairly with your colleagues, and still reached a conclusion that is not supported by the majority on the planning board. This may not be a comfortable position and would be ineffective if you are too often on the losing side. However, if you can express that passionate disagreement with conviction while not disparaging those who have other points of view, you will engender respect, and may even win over some.

 

An effective planning board member realizes that passion can be one of the many effective tools that advance the cause in your community. 

This is one of the last few weekly installments of PCJ columnist Elaine Cogan's 25 tips for planning commissioners from her excellent Now That You're on Board publication.

The complete attractively-designed, spiral-bound, Now That You're on Board publication is available for purchase and delivery by mail.

Last Week on Planning News, Notes, & Quotes

 Follow our new "microblog" -- take a look at last week's postings:

• Denmark to Offer Electric Car Buyers $40,000 Tax Credit & Free Downtown Parking
• The Streetcars are Rolling
• From Steel to Green
• Bipartisan Mayors Launch Piedmont "Megaregion" Alliance
• Booming Trends

 

Unappealing by Day ... and Can Creep You Out at Night

"We're designing neighborhoods that are unappealing by day ... and can creep you out at night." That's one of the comments you'll hear from Tim Tielman, executive director of the Campaign for Greater Buffalo. The focus of this episode of his "Adventures in Buffaloland" series of broadcasts is on the downtown Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and how its design flaws & isolation from its immediate surroundings undermine what appears to be a good-looking piece of architecture. 

Tielman asks whether its design failures negative the economic benefits this massive investment might bring to the downtown area? As he notes, "the tragic irony: It’s the MEDICAL industry that is creating a built environment so harmful to public health and safety."

fyi, we've often covered urban design issues in the Planning Commissioners Journal. Take a look, in particular, at our publication: Taking a Closer Look: Design & Aesthetics. For a limited time, you can also download at no charge one of the articles from this publication: Ilene Watson's "An Introduction to Urban Design" (a 7 page pdf file). It connects to kinds of issues Tielman speaks about in this video.

Patience Has Its Rewards

Tip 20 of 25
from Elaine Cogan

view all Tips posted to date

Restraint and patience serve you well in many situations that confront the planning board. Here is one example.

You and the other commissioners have endured three hours worth of testimony from citizens. It is late in the evening and the arguments on both sides have become repetitious. You haven’t heard anything “new” in awhile. Some people are emotional or speaking in accented English or less than perfect grammar.

Still, as the meeting or hearing continues, it is important that you show the same patience with the last presenter as you did with the first. Of course, rude or disruptive behavior should never be tolerated, but neither should legitimate citizen expression be curbed. Avoid any clues that may indicate your impatience, such as tapping your pencil on the desk, whispering to your neighbor, interrupting or answering abruptly.

Be forbearing with applicants. You see all kinds on the planning board: from savvy developers who appear to know the zoning code better than you do, to inexperienced newcomers who are understandably baffled by all the rules and regulations. Put aside your biases and preconceptions. All applicants deserve your respect and patience as you consider their requests and decide how your community can be best served.

Be patient with  the other commissioners. You may know more than some about a particular subject and be inclined to rush to judgment after a cursory review of the situation, expecting them to take your advice without question. It is  important to listen carefully to each planning commissioner, as ill informed as you may think they are. Even if you hear nothing you did not know and your opinion does not change, everyone is entitled to participate in the process. Similarly, they may be more willing to be patient with you when you have to ask questions or carry on a discussion.

Show patience with your staff, especially in public. Ask questions for clarification, but not in an accusatory or demeaning manner. If you are dissatisfied with the contents of a report or its conclusions, wait until a less public opportunity. You can always ask to hold over a hearing if you need more information, but save your disagreements for private time when you are not embarrassing the people who work for you.

Have patience with the planning process. Yes, the procedures you have to follow may at times seem arduous and even unnecessary. Though in many cases they are there to protect your community from frivolous or precipitous action, they should not be sacrosanct and impervious to change. If the planning or approval processes can be improved to the benefit of the community, find ways to influence positive change. In the meantime, live with them, and each other, patiently.

This is one of the last few weekly installments of PCJ columnist Elaine Cogan's 25 tips for planning commissioners from her excellent Now That You're on Board publication.

The complete attractively-designed, spiral-bound, Now That You're on Board publication is available for purchase and delivery by mail.

Map of the Future

Thought you'd enjoy this very creative map we came across. Best to use + for close ups and then drag the hand icon within the map. Or go to From Umapper.com and enlarge map to full screen size (you'll see a full screen button on upper right corner of the map).

We Didn't Realize the Magic Kingdom Looked Like This!

As this is Thanksgiving weekend, and it's a good time to relax, we thought we'd post a video that really doesn't have a direct planning connection (unless you can think of one!). It makes uses of a photographic technique called "tilt-shift" -- if you're intrigued you can find several groups on Flickr where thousands of tilt-shift photos have been posted. For more about the Disney video.

Minor Irritants Can Become Major Problems

Tip 19 of 25
from Elaine Cogan

view all Tips posted to date

Members of planning boards and commissions should be chosen for their particular talents or backgrounds rather than their compatibility or congeniality. Still, it is important that you all work together, even though you may disagree on issues of substance. It may take concerted efforts to ensure that minor irritants do not become major problems and impede the smooth functioning of the  planning board.

Members themselves may, sometimes unwittingly, trigger the problems by:
-- regularly arriving late.
-- holding side conversations during the meeting.
-- talking to each other and/or the public in rude or patronizing tones.
-- expounding on every issue with a long-winded tirade.
-- demanding excessive amounts of information before rendering an opinion.
-- purporting to speak for the board when no official vote or stand has been taken.

 
Through this and similar behavior, individuals show disrespect for the other commissioners, the public, and for the planning process itself. Possibly, they may not understand the norms of behavior expected of them. More likely, by being chronically late arrivers -- or chatting or disrupting the meeting -- they   send the message that their business is more important than the board’s.

Always start your meetings on time and all but the worst offenders will soon mend their ways when they realize they miss important information or discussion if they arrive late.

Those who speak out of turn, are rude or condescending, or incorrectly speak on behalf of the commission, send the message that they need the limelight, no matter how much trouble it may cause. Be willing to interrupt them politely but firmly so that the public realizes they do not represent the rest of you.

It is important that each new set of commission officers make it clear to the media and to the public  that the chair (or sometimes vice chair) is the designated spokesperson. Even that individual should not speak for the commission until you have taken official action.

How do you deal with commissioners who have tedious opinions on every subject or who ask for additional information incessantly?

If the chair is not taking charge firmly, members have to take the initiative. After a reasonable time enduring this monologue or endless questioning, look at your watch and say you think you have heard enough to move on, asking for the agreement of the others. Paraphrase what has been said already, or ask the recorder to read the  record. Then, be willing to suggest that the board to take action, if only to defer the matter to a later time. The individual who caused the problem may complain or even abstain, but if you have the majority on your side, you can move on.

While it is important to have rules of conduct, they should not be so onerous nor rigid that they stifle discussion or so lax that they permit unbridled misbehavior. Be reasonable and fair, but willing to discipline members who consistently impede the work you are expected to accomplish. Sometimes, the chair or another volunteer must take the responsibility to talk frankly with the troublemaker “off line.”

Commission business is jeopardized when board members consistently put themselves and their whims above those of the public or their fellow commissioners. Difficult situations can be assuaged if the board has generally agreed on standards of conduct beforehand, and if members are willing to stand firm and united when they are abused.

This is one of the last few weekly installments of PCJ columnist Elaine Cogan's 25 tips for planning commissioners from her excellent Now That You're on Board publication.

The complete attractively-designed, spiral-bound, Now That You're on Board publication is available for purchase and delivery by mail.

Draft articles for our Winter issue now available for your review

From Planning Commissioners Journal Editor Wayne Senville:

I want to invite you to download, review, and comment on the initial drafts of articles scheduled for publication in the Winter issue of the Planning Commissioners Journal.

We've invited comments on draft articles since our very first issue in 1991 -- and virtually every article we've published has benefited from this feedback (including articles I've written!).

Go to: http://drop.io/pcjournal77

The articles posted for review as of this morning:

• Dealing With Contentious Public Hearings, by Wayne Senville
• Civic Responsibility: Too Often Missing, by Ric Stephens
• Building Your Planning Process From the Ground Up, by Joel Russell
• Some Parting Thoughts, by Elaine Cogan

I expect an additional draft article to be posted later today or tomorrow.

The Remarkable Johnson Wax Building

I'm a bit of a Frank Lloyd Wright junkie, and have visited at least a dozen of the homes he built. But I was especially struck by a visit two years ago to the Johnson Wax Building in Racine, Wisconsin, designed by Wright. It's a remarkable office space, still in active use. It includes many innovative features, and conveys a dramatic but surprisingly tranquil feel.  

So much of the focus in our thinking about architecture is about residential design -- and Wright was, of course, a master of that as well. But I think you'll enjoy and learn from this three part video series providing a tour of the Johnson Wax building. If you're ever in Racine, it's well worth a stop -- though I believe tours are only given on Fridays.

These three videos -- to be viewed in sequence -- provide a good overview of this special building in American architectural history.

For information on visiting the Johnson Wax Building.

Voting Is Not Always Necessary

Tip 18 of 25
from Elaine Cogan

view all Tips posted to date

How often does the planning board engage in an informal but productive discussion when a member interrupts by making a motion?

Most likely, someone will offer a second, and you soon can be down a formal path, following rules of order you may not have needed at all. A motion made prematurely or in the middle of a free and open conversation can stifle the very debate you need. Know when to cut off discussion, when to call for a vote and when  you can reach a decision by consensus, or general agreement. The goal should be to give everyone the fullest opportunity to contribute to the smooth running and decision-making process of your planning board.

 
First, it is important to acknowledge that most, if not all, decisions on legal matters require a recorded vote. Many other issues, however, are best resolved by reaching consensus. Voting yea or nay can polarize board members by creating a winner/loser environment. While striving for consensus may be a longer and time-consuming process, it also encourages the group to come to general agreement without forcing individuals to take sides.

The consensus-builder is often not the chair. The role can be played by anyone who has the patience, aptitude, and interest. She relies on her ability to listen carefully to what people say or mean when they may appear to be rambling, and also on interpreting non-verbal behavior or  body language.

If you aspire to be the consensus-builder, you probably have to listen more than you participate in the  discussion, all the while watching participants’ actions. Be alert for a momentary lull in the discussion, when it seems that all the points have been raised and the conversation is becoming repetitive. Head off a formal motion by using summary language such as “Now that it appears we have discussed all the options, it seems we generally agree on …” or “It is pretty clear that we want to …” or “We seem to have consensus on … .” Most times, members will nod in agreement and be relieved that someone is so perceptive. Thus, you can move on to another topic with impunity. If you have misread the situation, board members will most certainly tell you and the conversation can continue.

A consensus does not necessarily imply agreement. It can be reached when you are at an impasse  and have exhausted the points to talk about. In this situation, the consensus builder can say, “It seems we will have to agree to disagree at this time; why don’t we move on?”

Though most people find a consensus format very comfortable and preferable to constant voting, it may be unfamiliar and uncomfortable to some board members. Obviously, it can be used only if there is consensus to do so. Voting is a clear and direct method of reaching a decision. The consensus model is more intuitive and collaborative. Each has a proper place in the decision-making process of a well-functioning planning board.

We're pleased to be posting over the next half-year, on a weekly basis every Wednesday, PCJ columnist Elaine Cogan's 25 tips for planning commissioners from her excellent Now That You're on Board publication.

We hope this will provide a convenient opportunity for planning commissioners and other "citizen planners" to benefit from Cogan's years' of experience in working with communities. The complete attractively-designed, spiral-bound, Now That You're on Board publication is also available for purchase and delivery by mail.

Control the Meeting by Controlling the Agenda

Tip 17 of 25
from Elaine Cogan

view all Tips posted to date

Is this a description of your typical planning commission meeting? You start ten or more minutes late; go through the items prepared by staff in no priority order, often getting to the most important ones several hours later; leave the public comment to the end when everyone is tired and grumpy; and adjourn much later than anyone wants, with important business held over to next time when you follow the same bad habits. There are many ways to rein in runaway meetings. A good place to start is with the agenda.

Consider the items in order of their importance, not in the tiresome and non-productive usual sequence of  “minutes, old business, new business.” It makes sense to tackle business that requires your full attention when you are all at your freshest, and that is usually at the beginning of the meeting.

Allow ample and early time for issues that most concern the public. Too often, planners still put them last or next to last on the agenda even though they are well aware that one or more matters are certain to attract a  large, opinionated  crowd. It should be no surprise  when  people get restless and  angry if they have to sit through several hours of deliberations that do not concern them. Put the contentious or controversial issues on the agenda early, and give them the time they deserve. Do not be offended if most of the crowd leaves as soon as you turn to other matters.

 
Place together routine items that require little or no discussion and consider them in a group. Some bodies call this the “consent agenda” and require one motion and one vote to approve them all. But be careful that they are, indeed, routine items and not anything controversial you can be accused of “sneaking through.”

Do everything possible to help the public follow along what may appear to be technical or difficult procedures. Print sufficient agendas for all to  pick up as they arrive. Also, make sure there are sufficient copies of any graphics or explanatory material. Provide another handout with a  simple explanation of the board's processes. ... What general rules of procedure do you follow? What is the purpose of a first reading? Second? On what issues do you require simple majorities and/or unanimous votes? What is your appeals process? What are the names of all the planning commissioners? Contact information about key staff?

All planning boards and commissions have some form of agenda. Examine yours closely to see if it is the best you can have as a way of contributing to orderly and productive meetings.

We're pleased to be posting over the next half-year, on a weekly basis every Wednesday, PCJ columnist Elaine Cogan's 25 tips for planning commissioners from her excellent Now That You're on Board publication.

We hope this will provide a convenient opportunity for planning commissioners and other "citizen planners" to benefit from Cogan's years' of experience in working with communities. The complete attractively-designed, spiral-bound, Now That You're on Board publication is also available for purchase and delivery by mail.

Individual Article Downloads From Our Fall Issue Now Available

Subscribe to the Planning Commissioners Journal, and start with our Fall issue. Order online, or call our office: 802-864-9083. Note: government orders can call and request to be invoiced. OR order a print copy of the issue for $17.75 -- delivered by first-class mail OR download a copy of this issue for $16.75 (or $75.00 for license to print up to 20 copies) OR download individual articles from our Fall issue -- click on article titles below, and then use the download article button
Contents of our Fall 2009 issue
	Zoning for Religious Institutions by Eric Damian Kelly, Esq., FAICP The impact of zoning regulations on religious institutions is a complex and evolving area of law. A primer on key issues citizen and professional planners should be familiar with.
Planning for Public Transportation in Rural Communities by Hannah Twaddell There's a strong need for public transportation in rural communities -- with benefits both for individuals and local economies.
	Stand by Your Plan by Jim Segedy, FAICP, and Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, AICP Ten tips to help you better prepare and implement your community's long-range plan.
The Role for Planning in Sustainable Communities by Elaine Cogan Communities throughout the country are see growing interest in sustainable development. Some ideas on how to take sustainability into account.
	Where's Art in Planning? (free download; use link to download article as pdf file) by Ric Stephens It's rare that art is considered relevant to planning -- and that's unfortunate.
Considering the Regional Impacts of Local Actions by C. Gregory Dale, FAICP Do we have an ethical responsibility to take into account the regional impacts of local land use decisions?
	CircleTheUSA Three reports from PCJ Editor Wayne Senville's travels: -- are Cleveland, Ohio, planners' new strategies for the reuse of vacant land realistic? -- how a Detroit, Michigan, suburb is seeking to reshape its future. -- why regional planners in northwest Indiana are focusing on 46 miles of lakeshore.

Recent Back Issues:	Special Focus Issues:
Summer 2009: Libraries at the Heart of Our Communities | Learn to Speak So People Will Listen | Are We There Yet? | Circle the USA Reports | and more	Winter 2006: Bright Ideas: 21 creative planning-related ideas & programs you should know about
Spring 2009: Getting the Density You Want | Growing Safer: Improving Roadways for Everyone | Dialing for Citizens | Learning to Enjoy Your Service on the Commission | and more	Fall 2005: This Land Is Your Land: on "takings" and property rights, and how planners can respond
Winter 2009: Managing Stormwater Runoff: A Green Infrastructure Approach | Taking Low Impact Development from Research to Regulations | The ABC's of Transit-Oriented Development | and more	Fall 2004: Back to School for Planners: on the impacts of school location, and the relationship between planning and school boards
Fall 2008: Pattern Books: A Planning Tool | GIS & Planning | Where Do We Want to Go? | and more	Spring 2004: Sphere of Influence: water and its impacts
Summer 2008: Greenways | Developing at the Edge | An Introduction to Charrettes | and more	Fall 2003: Planning for Historic Preservation: an introduction to historic preservation planning
Spring 2008: Car Sharing | Revisiting Ex Parte Contacts | Chairing the Commission | and more	Winter 2002: Opening the Door: planning for affordable housing
Winter 2008: Downtown Futures: continuing a series of reports from planners across the U.S., focusing on downtown issues	Spring 2000: The Promise of America: an historical look at 10 successes & 10 failures that having affected America's cities