Agenda - Council Work Session - 09/08/1999

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Dealing With The NIMBY Factor By Elaine Cogan ot in my backyard--NIMBYs. ]They're either coming to your community or are already there--the self-anointed protectors of (check one or more) their neighborhoods, the community, the public good, or their own self-interest. Faced with a potentially controversial issue, what's a conscientious elected official to do? First, try not to panic. Second, consider these strategies. Move decisively to defuse fiction, gossip, and innuendo. Be aware of issues that may inflame your particular community and take the initiative to provide the facts frankly and clearly before the ugly rumors get around. Why is the city considering multi- family housing? Is there really a need? Just who are "those people" who will live there? What will the development look like? In most cases, when the ~cts are known, people will find that the likely inhabitants are not the terrible creatures they may have envisioned, but friends and neighbors more like themselves who cannot afford or do not want single residences. Fears about what the project will look like can be allayed by good renderings or sketches. This assumes, of course, that you have a supportable project. Know the opposition. Who are the leaders? What are their concerns? Are they the traditional naysayers or people opposed just to this project? By know- ing who they are and what they xvant, you can seek possible areas of mutual agreement and isolate the few issues on which there are truly opposite views. Be frank and open at all times. Many good projects go down in blazing defeat because the proponents are so frightened of the opposition that they fall into the trap of holding closed-door meetings or making "secret" deals. It is especially inappro- priate to engage in such behind-the- scenes maneuvering. Make sure all reports and notices are in easy-to-understand words and phrases. Citizens are rightly suspicious of technical reports heavily laden with jargon only a planner or engineer can understand. Like,vise, too many notices of public meetings or actions meet all the'legal qualifications but do not describe the issues simply and clearly. Put them to the citizen-on-the-street test. Would you have understood them before you became an elected official? Would your mother-in-law understand them no,v? And provide translations if you have non-English speaking populations. Offer various opportunities for public input and comment. Kelatively few people are comfortable making speeches or giving oral testimony. Moreover, meetings can easily deter- iorate into shouting matches if that is the only avenue by which people can express themselves. Design your public meetings creatively so that par- ticipants can look at exhibits; talk in small groups to each other, staff, and planning conmaissioners; and provide written comment. Avoid any opportu- nity for a few to grandstand. Keep a perspective. After a barrage of angry phone calls and letters, it may seem that the project is opposed by everyone in the community. This is seldom the case and more often, the xvork of a vocal and clever minority. In the case of multi-family housing, there should be many people who xvill support a well-conceived plan. Some may be influenced by the idea of fair- ness, others by the need for diversity. Singles...empty-nesters...business people. If you provide adequate infor- mation to a broad spectrum of the citizenry, leaders willing to look at all sides of the issue are likely to emerge. Be willing to compromise. Oppo- nents are seldom all wrong. Perhaps the scale of development really is not appropriate for the neighborhood, or it may cause an unwanted level of traffic congestion. Find ways to meet reasonable objections and you not only are likely to have a better final project, but you will isolate the few true NIMBYs who are never satisfied. Reach your final decision fairly and stick with it. If you have follo~ved a reasonable and open process, there may still be people who disagree with your final determination, but they will know how you got there and respect you for it. They can always appeal your decision, but neither planning nor City Hall will have been tarnished by the process. Elaine Cogan, partner in the Portland, Oregon, planning and communications finn of Cogan Owens Cogan, is a consult- ant to many communities undeaaking strategic planning or visioning processes. Her wlumn appears in each issue ~ Plan- ning Comn~ssione~ Joum~. ~is article is reprinted with permission from the Plan- ning Co~ssionem Joum~, the nation 5 leading publication for dtizen planners. For more information about the Joum~, either call (800 475-3328 (toll~reO; fix: (802.) 862-I882; e-mail: p~ogethennet; or visit their Web site at: w~.~lanners web.corn AUGUST 1999 MtNta£SOT^ CITIES 13