Land use politics
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The late Speaker of the US House Tip O'Neill coined the phrase, “All Politics are local”. He was right then and he would be right today. What he didn’t know or at least say is that “All land use is political”. Those not involved in land use decision making don't know that either. Those who know about land use politics probably found out the hard way – like their project didn’t receive its rezoning because they didn’t know the Mayor’s grandmother lived next to the site or the local Alderman didn’t like the previous owner of the property who would benefit financially from the rezoning.
Land use politics consists of political activity surrounding the local decision-making processes on how land is used. In most cases in the U.S. land use decisions are made by City Councils, Village Trustees, Borough Presidents, or other local municipal governance structures. These people are locally elected officials and subject to the will of the voters on a regular basis. When charged with governing, these elected officials infuse politics into their decision-making process.
[edit] The Climate
Land use politics has its own ecosystem of grassroots activity where residents sign petitions, attend meetings, phone their elected officials and put signs up in their yards.
Among the major actors in land use politics, there are those who consider themselves pro-growth, and those who are anti-sprawl or support smart growth. They are in most cases opposed to each other and use political tactics often found in campaigns to achieve their end. Land use politics has its own glossary too, including terms like NIMBY or BANANA. These terms and others illustrate the nature of land use politics today and depict a contentious and polarized environment.
More than ever people are concerned about what is being built next to their home or three miles away. They know the impacts on property values of putting a high traffic generating shopping center near a residential development. They know that a new development could mean millions for their school district. They know that traffic will worsen when a Wal-Mart is built next door. In an age where information is at everyone’s fingertips and communication is made easy by the internet, “land use politics” is becoming more pervasive.
To ensure that projects succeed and are permitted quickly, developers are turning to professional consultants to help them design plans that will meet with community approval and to engineer victories before land use planning and decision making authorities. This new field is generally known as land use political consulting.