Expert Tips: Political due diligence is key to winning land use battles

Question: What is the best way to ensure that you lose your land use battle? Answer: Gather inaccurate political intelligence.

Clients often approach us after their land use project is already in peril. At that point in the process, clients are often in a state of disbelief because they were told that their land use project would sail through the approval process. They usually hear this information from the mouth of a local decision maker, their local lobbyist, the attorney representing them or a friend, relative or colleague of a decision maker. After gaining this very limited amount of political information, developers often assume that they know and understand the local political situation. Unfortunately, the information they have gathered is inadequate and often inaccurate.

Once a client hires us, we almost universally uncover that the local decision makers are not as solidly behind the project as the local consultants told them. The local consultant is usually too close to the decision maker. Too close?!?! That probably sounds ridiculous to you. In reality, the local consultant doesn’t want to push the decision makers too hard because they know it will be necessary to work with them on countless projects in the future – no matter what you are paying your local consultant; they won’t put their relationship on the line for your land use project. The local decision maker wants to make the local consultant happy by telling them what they want to hear because they are opinion leaders that can influence their next re-election campaign.

Even when that isn’t the case and all of the information from the local decision makers is accurate, we find that the developer and their team have stopped there. They have forgotten to gather intelligence from the abutters to the project, interested community groups and the community at large. The opinion of these parties and their likely actions is far more important than the quality of your project and the opinion of the decision makers. The decision makers will quickly change their mind when 250 angry constituents show up to the first public hearing in opposition to your proposal. Gathering accurate and actionable political intelligence must include opinions of those who can influence decision makers.

Unelected members of the local planning commission often desire to get elected to a higher office. Elected members of the final decision making body want to get re-elected or elected to higher office. In either case, each regular citizen that voices opposition (and all of the people who they speak for, but didn’t attend a public hearing or write a letter) represents a vote they have lost in an upcoming election. Political pressure plays a far greater role in the outcome of a land use project than the promised or actual benefits of the project. Promising more jobs and new tax revenue is not an effective means of overcoming the objections of even a small group of vocal opponents to a land use project.

It is essential that developers gather accurate and actionable political intelligence from the people who have the greatest influence over decision makers – constituents. Ground zero for opposition to a development project is the residents that abut the site. Talk to them! Figure out what they think of your development and how they will react once it becomes public. Will they support you or will they hire an attorney and organize the neighborhood to fight you? What will it take to gain their support or at least limit the volume of their opposition? It is best if you can do this covertly – decision makers, abutters and the community at large will provide more accurate information to someone who is not a part of the development team (that is why you hire Land Use Experts).

After you speak with the abutters, talk to every local interest group that may care about your project and can exert influence on decision makers. Then talk to the community at large – this will allow you to gauge if there will be opposition from the larger community and how to communicate with them in a way that will make them support your project. Only after you have spoken to all the people that can exert pressure on the decision makers can you speak with decision makers and know the correct questions to ask.

Securing public approval of a land use project is all about managing the politics of land use – if you are not gathering accurate and actionable political intelligence and then using that intelligence to manage the politics of land use, you can bet that your opponents are and you are going to lose.

Comments or questions regarding an Expert Tip? Contact Leigh Mayo, President & CEO of Land Use Experts.

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