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February 7, 2005

COMMENTARY: Defusing the NIMBYs | Developers' best bet to smooth the planning process is community participation

By Alan Holt And Michael Hicks
Alan Holt is a principal of Portland-based Holt & Lachman Architects. Michael Hicks is a principal of Domenech, Hicks & Krockmalnic Architects in Boston.

Many Maine communities face a housing crisis. At a time when more people are moving to the area, Maine has less affordable housing than ever. According to the Maine State Housing Authority, housing prices have even outdistanced the salaries of people earning 150% of the state's median income. That means that the vast majority of Maine residents who are looking for housing can't afford what's available. And every month the supply of affordable housing is dwindling.

There are a number of reasons for this trend. For one, many cities and towns are experiencing extremely low vacancy rates at a time when there's insufficient space for new housing development. Also, recent years have seen a focus on the development of subsidized housing for the poor and high-end residences for the most affluent, at the expense of affordable housing for middle-income and working-class residents. Finally, the maze of regulatory and zoning restrictions can be time-consuming and costly to navigate, making it more expensive to build any type of housing. In many Maine communities, outdated zoning bylaws require unnecessarily large lot sizes. These large lots and the resulting infrastructure requirements undermine efforts to develop affordable housing.

All of these factors combine to drive up the cost of housing. According to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, the price of the average home in Maine has increased nearly 15% over the past year, one of the largest increases in the nation.

And there is one more challenge that is constant and particularly vexing: not in my back yard, or NIMBY, syndrome. Neighborhood opposition to new housing projects is so common that developers often take it for granted when planning new projects. This can lead to ugly, protracted fights for developers, and the cost in time and money can be staggering. NIMBY can be particularly problematic for developers of affordable housing because there is a general aversion to the density you find with apartments, condominiums and other types of affordable housing.

Of course, bias is also a factor. People often have an emotional reaction to the prospect of affordable housing being developed in their neighborhood, mistakenly assuming that it will lead to an influx of poor people who don't share their values. In reality, these new homes are typically built for the teachers who teach their children and the police officers and firefighters who protect their neighborhoods ˆ— lower and middle income families who have been priced out of the marketplace.
NIMBY has three primary causes:

Fear of the unknown
People often worry about change coming to the neighborhoods in which they live and raise their children.

The stereotype of greedy developers
People often don't trust developers' motives and question whether developers will keep the neighborhood's best interests in mind.

Distaste for congestion
Urban planners know that the more densely populated a neighborhood is, the safer it is. However, the average person doesn't. All she knows is that there will be more cars and people in her neighborhood.

It doesn't matter whether these concerns are warranted ˆ— and they often aren't. NIMBY opposition can undermine a new development from the very beginning of the process. However, developers can overcome NIMBY opposition. Often, all it takes is a willingness to educate neighbors and listen to their concerns.

Developers and their designers should have a strategic community outreach plan from the beginning, and should make themselves available to speak with neighbors and community leaders to demonstrate their commitment to the neighborhood even before the initial design is completed. Public meetings, tours of the neighborhood during which the design team can demonstrate how the development will enhance the community and one-on-one meetings with opinion leaders can be effective.

The Unity Village Housing development in the Bayside neighborhood of Portland offers an example of how community outreach can not only expedite the approval process, but also positively influence the resulting design. Developer Richard Berman worked closely with the neighborhood and city officials from the beginning, organizing a series of community suppers to discuss the development and its design. This cooperative process, along with the city's leadership, resulted in an open and friendly atmosphere and, ultimately, a common vision that everyone believed in.

Finally, it is important for developers to remember that communication is a two-way process. The development team should invite neighbors' comments and concerns, and even their ideas. Neighbors often come up with good ideas that can improve the development. For instance, in Unity Village, the neighborhood association asked for and received a community meeting room. And the development's name was a suggestion from the community.

While there is no magic bullet to make NIMBY disappear, it is possible to minimize its impact. Ultimately, this a key to the success of any new housing project, and an important step towards overcoming Maine's affordable housing crisis.

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