Planning Commissioners Journal

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

Reports from Leg 2 of "Circle The USA"

From PCJ Editor Wayne Senville:

I'm back from the second segment of my planned "Circle the USA" travels, covering Detroit; Troy and Flint, Michigan; and Elkhart County and northwestern Indiana.

 

I've filed the following reports. Take a look, and sign up for our Circle the USA blog feed and/or email updates.

 

-- When Rouge Turned Green

-- Preservation or Demolition?

-- Campus Martius Park in Downtown Detroit

-- A Suburb Plans for Change

-- Not Giving Up on Flint, I

-- Not Giving Up on Flint, II

-- Good or Bad Signs in Indiana?

-- A Main Street Succeeds in Tough Times

-- Planning for 46 Miles of Lakeshore

My next segment will include several days in the Chicago area, followed by stops in Kankakee County, Illinois; Dubuque, Iowa; and southern Wisconsin.

 

Again, check out our Circle the USA web site where announcements and reports will be posted.

Zoning Wars

From PCJ Editor Wayne Senville:

There's an interesting article posted online by Michael Saint, titled Carl Von Clausewitz, An historical yet timely perspective on "Zoning Wars."

Saint is founder, CEO, and chairman of The Saint Consulting Group, which provides consulting services related to land use politics. With Saint's permission, I'm reposting some brief excerpts from his article:

"When Prussian solider and writer Carl Von Clausewitz wrote his classic book, "On War" in the 1830's, his words were directed at the philosophy, strategy and tactics of successful ground wars in Nineteenth Century Europe. But his ideas are equally relevant to real estate zoning battles in 21st Century America. Twenty years ago, most commercial and residential real estate projects were easily approved at the municipal or county level. Development was seen as beneficial -- a sign of progress and growth, a source of new jobs and tax revenue for the community, a wellspring of new opportunity for the business community, and an example of accomplishment that local politicians could cite as a reason for re-election. All that has changed. Today from small towns in the Midwest, to suburbs on both coasts, to cities in the South, citizens are organizing to oppose all kinds of new projects: big box category killers (Wal-Mart, Home Depot), shopping malls, power plants, cellular phone towers, residential subdivisions, apartment complexes, affordable housing, office buildings, industrial parks and even churches, schools and playgrounds. ... To be successful, the modern real estate developer must assume every proposal will be opposed and that every project will require a campaign using the kind of battle strategy and analysis that Von Clausewitz brought to the battlefield two centuries ago. COMMIT ENOUGH RESOURCES ... Real estate developers must commit sufficient resources to defeat the opposition, or face wasted opportunities, contentious hearings, long delays, and ultimate defeat. Few contests are won cheaply these days. GET GOOD INFORMATION ... These days, devising a successful strategy requires polling, detailed political research, and analysis to identify likely opponents and tactics to neutralize or marginalize them; to identify potential supporters and methods of motivating them; ... BUILD A CROWD ... Neutralizing the crowd, so that public officials can safely vote in favor requires the developer to produce as big a crowd at the hearing as the opponents do -- not an easy task in a NIMBY world. ...

Personally, I've seen all of the factors Saint mentions come into play during the ten years I've served as a member of the Burlington, Vermont, Planning Commission. While NIBMYism can be a motivating force, I've also seen neighbors and neighborhood groups -- not just developers -- need to heed Saint's advice: marshall their forces, do "opposition" research, and turn out their supporters in large numbers. In some places, it's the developers who seem to have the inside edge.

One problem underlying all this is that land use hearings typically follow the adversarial model used in our legal system. Too rarely are consensus building techniques employed. In part, I believe that's because planning departments simply don't have the financial resources to provide for this. As a result, many times planning commissions or zoning boards have to leave it to the proponents and opponents of a project to come in with their own experts, and argue their case.

Planning commissioners and zoning board members, like judges, are often left in the position of having to evaluate often conflicting testimony. Sometimes staff can allocate the time to provide independent information and analysis, but many times not.

I'd be interested to hear your comments. How do controversial land use applications play out in your city? Are there better ways of doing business?

p.s., we've run a couple of articles related to the above. One is on the use of land use mediation. The other focuses on the growing use of charrettes -- a useful (but sometimes expensive) approach to resolving issues without needing to go to war.