The examples below cover most property sectors including wind energy, retail, theme parks, and urban redevelopment. They illustrate how the gathering of real-time intelligence - what we call political due diligence – and the creation of campaign strategies and tactics can mitigate objections, neutralize the opposition and rally community support.

• Saint Model Outcomes – actions speak louder than words in land use politics
• Saint Model Outcomes – help developers find and rally latent support
• Saint Model Outcome – local group is key to winning support for theme park
• Saint Model Outcome – video, local outreach win town board vote on retail move
• Saint Model Outcome – politics of planning wins referendum to protect development
• Saint Model Outcome – coal-fired power plant must respond to local concerns
• Saint Model Outcome: counter opposition to urban renewal, find your own support
• Saint Model Outcome — a wind farm case study on how to build community support

Saint University, the academic and corporate training arm for The Saint Consulting Group, offers corporate training and professional development seminars drawn from a quarter century of winning land use battles in the US, Canada and UK.  For more information about The Saint Consulting Group, visit www.tscg.biz

Earlier this year The Saint Report began publishing case studies called Saint Model Outcomes to give some examples of our experience from 25 years in land use politics.

Actions speak louder than words, and to win land use battles political campaign strategies and tactics gain far more leverage than traditional PR or consultation approaches.

These seven case studies come from projects managed by The Saint Consulting Group, where we identified latent support for a project, or created a counter-voice to balance opposition groups in the planning process. Some used video petitions and canvassing to generate community advocacy. All persuaded elected officials it was in their electoral interest to listen to wider voter sentiment, not just the vocal NIMBY minority.

Each example outlines a business challenge, our approach and the outcome. Out of respect to our clients’ confidentiality, the circumstances of each case study are redacted without obscuring the lesson of each model outcome to help developers:

• find and rally support
• create grassroots coalition 
• use video petitions and canvassing
• win referendum to protect development 
• respond to local concerns
• counter opposition, find your own support
• win community support for a wind farm

You’ll find them all on our blog under Saint Model Outcomes.  You can also contact us at http://tscg.biz/contact if you wish more information about The Saint Consulting Group.

Paul Mindus is director of UK business development for The Saint Consulting Group, email mindus@tscg.biz, phone +44 207 592 7050

So often developers find themselves drowned out at public hearings by opponents who object to wind farms blotting a landscape, trucks raising dust and traffic dangers and many other reasons why some people oppose development.

Take wind farms, for example. The Saint Index has established public support for renewable energy, yet developers can get locked into a sterile debate with their opponents and NIMBYs instead of reaching out and identifying wider support.  

Below is a link to case studies we have published on The Saint Report that show it is possible to unlock that latent support, rather than just try and combat the small scale opposition you face on each application.

People only support planning applications for three reasons: they either receive direct benefits, indirect benefits or because they are ideological fellow travellers.  This third group is where all the support for wind farm applications comes.

So we identify supporters, organise them and then point them at their local politicians.  This balances the debate and makes politicians vote sensibly, rather than appease a small band of protestors.

Check out our case studies. We call them Saint Model Outcomes, and let us know what you think.

Nick Keable is vice president, UK Operations, for The Saint Consulting Group, email keable@tscg.co.uk, phone +44 207 592 7050

By Jay Vincent
Regional Vice President – Midwest, The Saint Consulting Group

Today’s Saint Model Outcome is a case study on developing a theme park.

Our client wanted to construct a 275-acre, $175 million educational theme park on a site previously used as farmland.  The project required Planned Unit Development (PUD) approval by the County Commission. The developer was also seeking Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to fund road improvements and sewer connections.  Immediately though, a well-organized opposition group formed prior to submission of site plans, objecting to the project’s proximity to their neighborhood, increased traffic and noise, and noncompliance with the Community Land Use Plan.

Over a 12-month period, opponents collected more than 3,000 signatures on petitions against the project.  The opposition’s early successes resulted in the County Planning and Zoning Committee recommending rejection of the application.

Following the defeat at Planning and Zoning, we were brought in to help secure final approval of the PUD and TIF by the County Commission.

With the opposition so firmly entrenched in the community we knew we needed to mount a door-to-door campaign to speak with abutting and nearby residents to understand their concerns and to identify supporters.  Once that was complete we knew how to develop a grassroots coalition across each County Commission District to apply pressure in support of the project on each commission member.  We then used this coalition to generate a letter writing campaign to commission members, the mayor, and the media.  All of this was designed to build a neighborhood support group which grew to more than 140 residents.

This group was the lynchpin to our client’s success. With our assistance, the group staged a media event and rally in support of the project.  We also helped them collect over 85 personal letters from abutters and local neighbors addressed to members of the County Commission; circulating a petition of support; and turning out more than 50 speakers for public hearings.

We also thought organizing a coalition of small business owners throughout the county was necessary to give the County Commissioners cover to vote for the project.  This coalition enlisted the formal support of eighteen small business members and began a petition drive to grow the organization.

Before the proposal went before the County Commission, we ran radio and newspaper ads to generate supporter turnout to the event. We also put together a job fair to highlight the economic impact of the project.  Over 200 applications were received and considerable favorable press coverage from all media outlets.

When the time came for a vote before the County Commission, we matched the opposition speakers virtually one-for-one, and gave political cover to commission members who had previously voiced their support quietly.

The result:  We secured a majority vote of 12-9 in favor of the project.

Jay Vincent is regional vice president, Midwest, for The Saint Consulting Group, email:vincent@tscg.biz, phone 312 212 8889

By Saint Consulting Staff,
The Saint Consulting Group

Continuing our series of case studies to illustrate the politics of planning, this Saint Model Outcome looks at overcoming local opposition to a retail project.

Our client wanted to close an existing 35,000-SF store and construct a new 50,000-SF store a half a mile away. The proposed project required the super-majority approval of the town board. Neighbors vehemently opposed the new development and retained a local attorney to fight it.

Before we arrived on the project, the neighborhood group had persuaded three of seven town board members to oppose the project. With those votes, a majority was tough to reach as one board member was conflicted out.  That is why we were brought in to help our client win the vote.

We used the existing store and its customer base to educate local residents and build a massive support base within the community.

Our campaign included production of a 20-minute video demonstrating the need for the project, its benefits to the community, and supportive comments from various locals, including the mayor.  We used data from our canvassing, to send targeted mailings and flyer drops outlining key issues.  The message called on supporters to telephone and write letters to key officials.

After gaining some traction in the community and identifying supporters, we began placing full-page ads in the local newspaper with names of project supporters, inserting letters to the editor, and guest columns.  With the vote on the client’s project approaching, we identified our most likely swing vote and focused intense political pressure on him to reconsider. We published his home phone number in the newspaper with the message that his vote was the only thing stopping this project which resulted in hundreds of phone calls.

We then began visiting door-to-door in the targeted board member’s neighborhood, obtaining permission to erect signs, and encouraging his neighbors to talk with him.  This resulted in record-breaking, standing-room-only attendance at the hearing. We also handed out printed baseball caps, visibly demonstrating that the majority of attendees approved of the expansion proposal.

The result: an overflow crowd spilled onto the street as the town board voted 3-2 to approve with one abstention. The board member we had targeted voted in favor of the proposal.

For more information on The Saint Consulting Group, see www.tscg.biz

By Jay Vincent,
Regional Vice President – Midwest, The Saint Consulting Group

In our continuing series of Saint Model Outcomes, this case study looks at retail redevelopment and campaigning against an opposition referendum.

Our client filed plans to build a retail complex with a 65,000-SF anchor, along with various retail out-parcels of 20,000-SF. The site slated for this expansion was an open field at the center of a resort community of 12,000 residents, where development had traditionally been small-scale. A citizens group, funded by our client’s competitor, circulated a petition and filed a zoning petition to limit commercial buildings to 35,000-SF. The petition was allowed onto the ballot for a town-wide referendum.

As a reaction to the call for limiting retail, the local board of selectmen sponsored another ballot initiative to limit retail development to 65,000-SF. Our client hired us to defeat the anti-development initiative only one month before the January referendum. We initiated an intensive community outreach program during the holiday season – a time when residents were preoccupied with other matters.

We began by recruiting and establishing a steering committee to campaign against the organized and well-funded opposition group. Under our direction, members of the community became the public face of the campaign. We then conducted a poll to determine how best to convince local residents that the proposed development would not destroy the character of their town.

Given the time constraints, we focused our energies on just one referendum issue – the proposal to limit businesses to 35,000-SF. The selectmen’s initiative, if approved, would not have affected the size of the developer’s proposed store. Based on the poll results, we developed a media schedule and campaign, which included the production and placement of TV, radio, and newspaper advertisements, a direct mail program, a letters-to-the-editor program, and large public signs.

In order to identify our supporters and to persuade undecided voters, we also conducted a grassroots outreach program. This effort included phone calls and door-to-door visits.
On the day of the referendum, we leveraged that activity by conducting a “get out the vote” effort to make sure our supporters turned out in full force.

On Election Day, the competitor’s ballot initiative to limit retail to 35,000-SF failed by a margin of 61% to 39%. The selectmen’s ballot initiative to limit retail to 65,000-SF failed by a margin of 52% to 48%.

The result: leveraging the support base we organized in the referendum campaign, our client won approval and built the retail complex.

Jay Vincent is regional vice president, Midwest, for The Saint Consulting Group, email:vincent@tscg.biz, phone 312 212 8889

By Ben Kelahan
Senior Vice President for Energy, The Saint Consulting Group

Our third look this week at Saint Model Outcomes from our experience in land use politics focuses on the proposed expansion of an existing hybrid (coal-fired and waste-to-energy) power plant.

The expansion included modifying the facility’s fuel blend to burn more waste, including tires, and upgrading technology in order to maintain compliance with emission regulations. The expansion required a voluntary annexation of land into the city, as well as the rezoning of two vacant parcels and the granting of a special use permit. All three petitions required votes by the Planning Board and City Council.

The facility was located in a residential neighborhood with 37 direct abutters. Twenty years earlier, residents abutting the facility filed a lawsuit alleging nuisance violations. The lawsuit was settled out of court, but many of the original plaintiffs remained in the neighborhood.

By Jay Vincent,
Regional Vice President- Midwest, The Saint Consulting Group

In the second in a series of case studies, this Saint Model Outcome looks at urban redevelopment.

For five years our client tried to secure approval to redevelop an entire city block of retail and commercial office space. Community leaders had initially favored the redevelopment and expansion, but then withdrew their support. Several enhanced project designs had been proposed over the years, each meeting with increased community resistance – particularly from a historical society seeking to preserve the dated, existing 1950s structure. By the end of the fifth year, local opposition was firmly entrenched.

We developed a two-part approach focused on assisting the client and combating community resistance.

By Ben Kelahan
Senior Vice President, Energy, The Saint Consulting Group

Actions speak louder than words. We talk about how Saint Consulting employs land use politics to win difficult planning permits. We thought some examples of case studies from our 25 years of fighting planning battles could provide some action.

Today we start a series of Saint Model Outcomes — case studies that outline a business challenge, our approach and the outcome. Out of respect to our clients’ confidentiality, the circumstances of each case study are redacted without obscuring the lesson of each model outcome.

Our client, a wind farm developer, proposed to build a 100-megawatt project with nearly 70 wind turbines in a rural heartland community on property that was zoned for agricultural use. The local officials were concerned about impacts on agricultural use and construction damage to local roads. Opponents said the towers would decrease property values, create harmful noise levels and ruin the landscape. When we were hired, the only vocal supporters of the project were participating landowners.