Citizen Influence on Real Estate Development

Last week, I talked about NIMBY and CARE citizens who are against any real estate development project because they want to maintain the status quo in their community. These citizens are typically transplants from another state and did not grow up in the town. It seems most of these people moved to a specific location for a specific reason. They will lobby against future development so that their reason for moving remains valid. Their position on real estate development is not sustainable. After all, communities must grow but they want to make it difficult for any real estate developer to succeed.

NIMBY’s and CARE’s attend planning and zoning hearings and use environmental, traffic, and existing infrastructure as reasons for local government to either stop the project or have the politicians impose conditions. By the way, they attend all of the hearings and always ask the same questions regardless of the development proposal. These objectors are easy to address since most of their objections are emotional rather than factual.

The land development process is changing again and not for the better. During this economic disaster, local governments are being influenced by another level of objectors. Instead of attacking each real estate development project, it is their intent to use local ordinances to change HOW development occurs by inserting a new definition on “sustainability” through “stakeholder collaboration”. On the surface, it sounds good but if they succeed, our use of our land will be further restricted --- if not taken off the market through over regulation.

Local Government prepares a “land use’ plan

A zoning plan is then prepared consistent with the land use plan

A developer purchases a tract of land and prepares the project design based upon the zoning

                      a. the developer submits the plans to government staff for review and approval

                      b. the developer submits the plans to the planning board for review and approval

                      c. Now, local planning offices are holding “design charrettes” to prepare design concepts with  public input on how the property is to be developed

and it only gets worse from here…………………………..