Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Neighborhood Outreach

[Glen Orcutt (gorcutt]

Dan Ardoin writes:
>What are some successful and unsuccessful attempts at diffusing negative
>neighborhood reactions prior to building?
>

In Chico, we successfully diffused very intense neighborhood opposition.
Before our first City Council meeting, we rented a local school room and
sent out invitations to  about 100 neighbors.  About 60 angry neighbors
showed up.  We carefully presented our concept and our architect showed
preliminary drawings.  Concerns ranged from "commune" to "low-income tenaments."

 We contacted the council members individually beforehand and met with as
many as we could and presented our designs and concept.  The City Council
meeting was very emotional by the 80 neighbors present, while we were cool
and logical.  The council sided with us.

The neighbors organized against us and many wrote letters to the editor in
local newspapers.  We countered with rebuttals and scheduled another meeting
- this time at a residents home.  Three of us spent two hours first listing
their concerns on a white board and then countering each concern.  I believe
this was the most important meeting.  While grueling for me, we really
listened to their concerns and it dissipated some of their panic.  They
began to see we were not out to ruin their neighborhood.

We held two more meetings each before crucial planning commission meetings.
At our last two meetings with neighbors, only two couples came, and they
were supportive of us.  Several of the neighbors even considered joining us.
The negative letters to the editor continued for a couple months, which we
carefully countered with letters of our own.  The planning commission sided
with us.

The things that were useful were:

1.  Scheduling meetings early and meeting the neighbors as real people, not
as adversaries.
2.  Listening to concerns carefully.  Acknowledging the concern as real for
them and tactfully countering the concern.
3.  Meeting with the city council and planning commission members
individually and presenting your concept and finding out where they stand.
4.  Know that Cities want these kinds of projects!  They want a sense of
community, safe places for kids to grow up, families who care,
owner-developers, on-site drainage, etc.   

Good Luck,

Glen Orcutt
Valley Oaks Village
Chico, CA