This past Monday, June 9th, Word Marketing in conjunction with The Columbia Business Times presented the second in a series of Power Lunches designed to open dialogue on local issues. Here's the story from the business times and the link to the article.
by David Reed
June 13,2008
From left, City Council member Jerry Wade, city
Planning and Development Director Tim Teddy, former council member and
neighborhood association president Bob Hutton, and developer Rob
Wolverton.
Representatives of the development community, a neighborhood
association and city officials found common ground during a forum on
how to build consensus among neighbors and developers.
Everyone sitting around a table at the top of The Tiger
Hotel on June 9 agreed that the city's planning and development system
is broken and that the ambiguities compound the current atmosphere of
mistrust.
"What this issue really comes down to is a matter of trust," said Rob Wolverton, president of R. Anthony Development.
"From the developers' standpoint, I believe a formalized system that
allows that level of trust – not necessarily with individuals but a
level of trust in the system – would be a giant step in the right
direction."
Bob Hutton, a former city council member and president of the
Country Club Estates Neighborhood Association, criticized the system
during a recent City Council meeting in which members approved
construction of an acute care hospital in his neighborhood. At the
forum, he said, "As Rob said, trust is a huge part of this."
City Planning and Development Director Tim Teddy told the
participants that his staff is preparing proposed rule changes that
would clarify the role of neighborhood organizations in the zoning
decision-making process and the communication process.
Craig Van Matre, a local attorney who served on a diverse committee
that studied land-use processes and procedures in 2006, said the forum
Monday "was about changing the system so that those who want to
participate in the process are heard in a constructive forum instead of
a needlessly adversarial one."
Van Matre said after the forum that "everything is always on the
table for discussion, and every discussion takes place in numerous
venues and multiple times as different pressure groups present the
appearance of having influence over the City Council. In short, the
present system rewards large scale and wealthy developers who have the
resources to fight the process through, but discourages any small
developer who wants to do something other than a single family
subdivision."
Council member Laura Nauser talks with Jay Linder of Forum Development Group
Wade said the effort to include more neighborhood participation in
the planning and zoning process began a decade ago when he and other
Planning and Zoning commissioners "created a new expectation that
developers and neighbors talk."
But Wade added, "We didn't define what that meant. We didn't define
any guidelines. We didn't define any expectations. We didn't provide
any resources or capability to ensure it could be done right. The
outcome was that it didn't work very well."
The mistrust led to confrontational public hearings on development
projects that often lasted past midnight and hit a fever pitch earlier
this year during a Council debate on the Crosscreek Center project at
U.S. 63 and Stadium Boulevard.
Columbia Chamber of Commerce
Vice President Kristi Ray said the Council must find a way to ensure
that meetings end by 10 p.m. to get more people involved in the
process. Other forum participants agreed that there are many residents
who are too busy to participate in the current system of deciding
land-use issues.
But Wolverton said there always seems to be a faction of project
opponents who perceive conversations with developers in advance of
public hearings before Council as a waste of time because they believe
developers will ignore them and just "cut a back-room deal with City
Council."
"We are enmeshed in stereotypes," Wade said. "Developers are viewed
as people who only care about themselves, only want to get their way
and don't listen. Neighborhood activists are viewed as people who only
care about themselves, only want to get their way and don't listen."
In 2006, the Stakeholders Work Group, which included representatives
of all sides of the issue, including adversaries, came out with a
report recommending reforms similar to those Teddy's staff is now
working on.
The group advised the City Council during a public hearing that "the
system is broken and the problem starts with the City Council," Wade
said. "It was a profound conversation." But the effort stalled, and
Wade said that was one of the reasons he decided to run for a seat on
the council.
Chamber of Commerce Vice President Kristi Ray, right, and Word Marketing Vice President Michelle Mountjoy.
"The really good news is that major moves are taking place," Wade
said. "Those who want to work in the old model will be marginalized."
The Council has given itself an informal deadline of Aug, 1 to
implement expanded notification requirements and gave Teddy a July 1
deadline to issue a report on neighborhood participation guidelines
along with a Sept. 1 deadline for a report on ways other communities
are eliminating duplicate hearings. The Council intends to come up with
proposals for eliminating duplicate hearings and finish a study of
mediation as an option by Oct. 1.
"I think we can foster a climate of greater trust," Teddy said
during the forum. "On the majority of projects, developers and
neighbors are closer than they think they are."
However, Jay Gephardt, owner of The Civil Group, said for reforms
such as the elimination of duplicate hearings to work, the City Council
itself is going to have to trust the members of the city staff and the
Planning and Zoning Commission and not trump their decisions.
Power Lunch Participants
Presenters:
- Jerry Wade, 4th Ward City Council Representative
- Rob Wolverton, President, R. Anthony Development
- Bob Hutton, Former 3rd Ward City Council Representative and.President, Country Club Estates Neighborhood Association
- Tim Teddy, City Planning & Development Director
- Sarah Reed, President, The Communications Center
Guests:
- Jeff Barrow, Chairman, City Planning & Zoning Commission
- Tim Crockett, Partner, Crocket Engineering Consultants
- Jay Gephardt, Owner, The Civil Group
- Jay Lindner, Executive Vice President, Forum Development Group
- Laura Nauser, 5th Ward City Council Representative
- Kristi Ray, Vice President, Columbia Chamber of Commerce
- Craig Van Matre, Van Matre, Harrison,Volkert & Hollis PC
