Commercial

Zoning Isn’t Your Problem

• by Nick Labadie
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Looking at the potential issues a project may face and taking the steps to minimize them early will help keep you on budget and on schedule. When developers, investors or builders look at a new project, everyone knows to consider the zoning and the entitlements necessary for the project to happen. What often gets pushed down the priority list, or not thought of at all, are the corollary issues that may have a bigger impact on the project than the zoning itself. It is not enough to simply confirm that an appropriate zoning district is available and apply standard estimates for timing and costs for processing the applications for those entitlements. There is almost always a zoning district that will accommodate the desired use. But the zoning district itself is not what poses the greatest threat to the ultimate approval. Instead, it is often politics; neighborhood opposition; the property’s history; general, comprehensive or specific plans (where applicable); or even traffic concerns. Any one of these can derail your schedule, budget or both—and in a big way. You don’t haveto leave them up to chance though. Each one can be researched and planned for well before any money goes hard. Politics One of the first steps in considering the viability of any project is having a meeting or discussion with the local elected official of the district where the project is located. This may be either a councilperson or county supervisor—or the most influential—if the local elected officials serve at-large. This meeting isn’t about just giving a polite heads-up. Local elected officials must balance a complex and interwoven pile of issues, agendas, goals, stakeholders and problems, many of which were inherited, all while trying to responsibly reflect the desires of their constituents. Many factors that won’t turn up in any research but are within the elected official’s realm of responsibility can impact your project. For example, there may have been significant  community discussion about the property you are looking at, and plans laid for it despite it not being owned or even tied up by the jurisdiction or community. That is something you need to know before making an application for a project that may be completely different. Elected officials themselves may have plans for municipal projects that are not yet on paper but will impact your project. These kinds of projects may range from large open space plans to significant infrastructure upgrades or studies in progress for specific area plans. They may also have strong personal preferences on certain aspects of development that can be easily incorporated into a project early on. You must also consider the interrelation of the elected officials’ interests, concerns and agendas. The balancing act elected officials must perform and the fact they may be elected by different demographic groups can put them at odds on various issues. Analyzing how this will impact your project is a critical component of the research you should be conducting before committing to a project that will require city, town or county approvals. Neighborhood Opposition You’ve likely seen a project get absolutely destroyed by opposition from neighbors, neighborhood organizations, or other interested and organized parties in the community that may or may not be geographically close to the project. Of course, you believe your project will benefit the community. It very well might, but it is difficult to foresee how everyone in the community will view it when you cannot know what is tinting the lenses they are viewing it through. What may seem like an obvious and eminently appropriate change of zoning from a technical, professional and societal perspective may seem like the end of the world to neighbors or community groups. Often, such opposition is due to misconceptions, miscommunications or fears associated with past experiences. As the applicant for an entitlement, you are often unfairly greeted with distrust and skepticism rather than the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the quality of the project, true intent and willingness to communicate with the community. Likewise, the community often forgets that projects like yours are the only way cities and counties improve infrastructure, build roads, extend utilities, construct and maintain parks, and generally create progress and growth that is a critical component of a healthy city. With a good project, neighborhood opposition can almost always be overcome through communication and open dialogue. Most often, community outreach involves treating the community as one large group and hosting multiple public meetings, conducting focus groups, sending surveys and attempting to identify and solve problems. That may be appropriate in some cases, but there are rarely issues in a community that apply across the board. Embracing a multifaceted approach that includes research, required notification, meetings with key players and individuals and continuing communication is much more effective. At the earliest stage of your project research, you should investigate the history of neighborhood opposition to projects in the area. Your zoning consultant should have some idea of the larger issues in the area, but specific research should be done to identify projects in the immediate vicinity that have had significant neighborhood participation—both positive and negative—to identify key issues and players. City or countywide research can also be helpful if the project is more unique and there are comparable projects elsewhere in the city or county. This research does not need to take forever or blow out a budget. You can often find and identify issues quickly. The jurisdiction will typically have requirements for public notification and outreach that you must conduct. Follow up with all responses from this step. Either identify the issues and work to resolve them or thank the respondents for their support and request they voice that support in an email or letter to the jurisdiction, or better yet, attend a hearing. When someone supports a project they likely will not participate in the process unless they are asked. However, you can be sure that folks who aren’t happy will engage. It is important for everyone’s voice to be