» Monthly Archives: February 2010
Dealing with an angry mob – developers should engage community, seek mutual gains
By Patrick Fox,President, The Saint Consulting GroupA client recently asked me how to deal with an angry mob. If you are confronting an angry mob of residents opposing your project at a public hearing, you’re not alone. I can tell you it is happening across the US and Europe with greater intensity and frequency. But ...
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Organizing, implementing an appropriate site selection methodology
(Editor: Anthony Colavolpe is managing principal in the New Haven, Ct. office of Citron Group LLC, an international real estate and advisory services group. This article is reprinted from Shopping Center Business, February 2010 © 2010 France Publications, Inc.)
Site selection has evolved over time. Today, metrics can help you better locate — or relocate -- stores ...
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Don’t let your project become the third rail in land use politics
By Owen Eagan,Senior Vice President for Transportation, The Saint Consulting GroupRecently, the issue of transportation gained political undertones in Hawaii as the governor’s race started to unfold there (See “Honolulu rail project: political football or policy football?” http://bit.ly/aZeYY7). Now, transportation has taken center stage in the Texas GOP primary race for governor, even becoming the ...
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NIMBY Wars: security, confidentiality essential to land use politics
(Editor’s Note: Experience shows that security and confidentiality are crucial concerns for clients and land use political consultants and that most project strategy documents eventually wind up in the wrong hands; never put in writing anything you don't want opponents to know)
By P. Michael Saint, Robert J. Flavell and Patrick F. Fox
Because clients accept their land use ...
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NIMBY Wars: avoid clumsy amateurs; they don’t know land use politics
(Editor’s Note: As we have discussed so far in NIMBY Wars, novice political operatives think that simply inviting people to a hearing will produce turnout. A seasoned political campaign manager knows that mobilizing citizens requires a lot more than that. It's important to avoid clumsy amateurs.)
By P. Michael Saint, Robert J. Flavell and Patrick F. ...
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NIMBYism in UK: discuss at Royal Geographical Society, 3 March
21st Century Challenges (www.21stCenturyChallenges.org) will hold a live discussion event at the Royal Geographical Society in London on 3 March 2010 at 7 pm on the issue of NIMBYism in the UK.
For context, please note that some 85 percent of Britons oppose more development in their local communities, making Britain even more NIMBY than the USA ...
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Citizen group should think twice on ShopRite class action lawsuit
(Jeffrey Gould has written for The Saint Report about SLAPP suits and legal rights to protect public participation in the development process. Here he looks at a citizen group in upstate New York that is threatening to sue ShopRite because the supermarket chain has filed a lawsuit to stop Walmart from building a store.)By Jeffrey GouldVice President and ...
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Open Meeting Laws – know your rights against closed door decisions
(Ed: Katie Ann Lewis has written for The Saint Report about storm water runoff and the impact of erosion on development . Here she provides a detailed look at open meetings laws and analyzes the recent Wyoming Supreme Court decision on closed-door meetings. She also reviews Open Meeting Laws as they apply to executive session, mediation ...
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NIMBY Wars: project scope study takes political pulse of community
(Editor’s Note: The first step for a professional land use manager to direct a campaign for your project is to carry out a scoping study that takes the political pulse of the community and evaluates the political, social, demographic, geographic, and other aspects of the community as well as to identify site-specific issues.) By P. Michael Saint, ...
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Classic wind project support dilemma: like it, won’t pay for it
North American WindPower recently reported that a poll by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's Center for Policy Analysis found that while Massachusetts electric ratepayers generally support wind energy, this support erodes rapidly if wind projects contribute to an increase in electric bills. The poll found that 55% of respondents would not pay more for electricity produced ...
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