Saint is founder, chairman, CEO and treasurer of The Saint Consulting Group Inc., which helps real-estate developers and industrial plant builders win government permits or thwart competitors’ projects, through political action.

In a series of VNC interviews, Saint explained that 25 years of political skirmishing has taught him and his colleagues a lot about the strength of passion, over intellect.

Saint’s work has traditionally centered on major retailers’ development projects – often headline-making “big-boxes.” Now, his portfolio also includes wind-to-energy farms, healthcare facilities, landfills, mining operations and other projects facing land-use conflicts.

‘Nowhere is Safe’: Saint Reaches $30MM in NIMBY Wars

http://www.venturenashville.com/news.php?viewStory=191

Winners and Losers In the 2008 Election Cycle

Plastered along the faux-Grecian columns of Denver’s Civic Center Park, giant red, white and blue banners fairly scream at the few dozen people gathered on this gray February day to protest the “land grab” of private property by Denver’s Regional Transportation District.

“RTD: You may take our property from us, but you will never take us from our property.”

“RTD: We tear down buildings just because we can.”

FasTracks to Private Property

http://www.cobizmag.com/articles.asp?id=2363

You Can Pay For It Now Or Pay For It Later
by Saint Consulting’s Christopher M. Hopkins

Being a good corporate neighbor takes a lot of time and effort—but the rewards are significant.

Rohrer’s Quarry, Inc. experienced the benefits first-hand when it recently won permits for a new concrete plant in Lititz, Pennsylvania.

Rohrer’s has a long history of community involvement, from community open houses (last year’s attracted more than 3,000 visitors) to school tours and participation in the “Pennsylvania Rock Hound Kit” program sponsored by Pennsylvania Geologic Survey.

Nick Keable, vice-president of UK operations at Saint Consulting, presented the research at the ‘Delivering housing growth: overcoming opposition’ conference on 8 July, which showed increasing ‘nimbyism’ (‘not in my back yard’ attitudes) among Brits over the last three years.

Keable was presenting results of a survey of 1,006 of UK adults in mid-February undertaken by ComRes on behalf of his firm. The South West was statistically the ‘most nimby’, with the North East the least.

Developers Suffering Amid Downturn and ‘Nimbyism’

In Your Face

The relief of no longer having to deal with irrational neighborhood opponents and their trumped-up arguments can be one of the most satisfying parts of successfully permitting your quarry or plant and opening for business. You’ll never have to deal with those meddling troublemakers again.

It’s an appealing pipe dream. But sitting back and expecting your vanquished foes to “live and let live” won’t cut it.

You may not know it now, but eventually you’ll find yourself needing zoning relief or public approvals for change in your operations or an expansion. You might even want to open a new facility in another community miles away.

After You Beat Them, Join Them

Mr. McGuinty questioned whether it “is in the public interest” to raise the proportion of the corn-derived additive to 10 per cent of all gasoline. The province has maintained five per cent ethanol content at gas pumps since Jan. 1, 2007.

But increased worldwide ethanol production is being blamed for soaring food prices, as rising grain prices put pressure on meat, dairy and poultry producers.

Food Prices Prompt Rethink of Ethanol Policy

Know what’s like the Khian Sea? Philadelphia’s proposed casinos. The big boxes of slots keep moving in search of a final resting place.

Turns out citizens don’t want them in their neighborhood. Which is a problem because Philadelphia, you may have noticed, is a city of neighborhoods. Local and state representatives, who like to get reelected, are fighting the current locations.

A Toxic Cargo: Slots In Phila.

Most Canadians – 53%, up from 45% last year – would now oppose construction of a local ethanol plant, according to the Saint Consulting Group’s second annual national survey of responses to various real estate developments.

Nimbys Turn Against Ethanol

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=641366