In The Developer's Pocket And The Big Open Field

Myths of City Planning

1.) Planners are in the developer’s pockets 

People have this idea that we’re all chummy with them and that they lavish all sorts of things on us. For one thing, that’s illegal in Minnesota. Even in Missouri, where it wasn’t, the most I ever got was to share Krispy Kreme donuts that the developer of the new donut establishment brought in for a meeting (and the City Administrator scarfed most of those down)

To a developer, planners barely exist. We’re the folks that their engineers and architects argue with.  Developers focus on those with real power—elected officials.

Going back again to my years in Missouri, the home builders association gave so much money to the campaign coffers of the elected officials that the association had near veto power over any ordinance changes we tried to put forward.

Why then do most developments get approved? It’s simple. 

The developer hires architects and engineers who are knowledgeable about the development regulations of a community (or become knowledgeable). They figure out precisely what can be allowed by right without any need for variances or conditional uses and design precisely to those guidelines.   

As an example, in one of my past positions, there were 25 different development items on the Planning Commission agenda…only two different engineering firms represented 24 of the 25 items.  

Those two firms did most of the development business in a very large county and had specialists on the development codes for each of the cities over 50,000 residents.

2.) A planner’s recommendation is the same as their personal opinion

I used to paraphrase Cold War diplomat Dean Acheson by saying, “I’m enough of a professional that I can present a case that I don’t believe in.”  

Conversely, I’ve had to recommend denying  things that I believed would have been good…if those pesky rules and regulations weren’t in the way.  

Granted, when I’ve had to put forth a denial recommendation, I’ve made sure that the applicant is aware of any appeal processes. If it is a case of the regulations not being up to date, I’ve used that case as a springboard to recommend a review and change of the regulation.

I have a vivid memory of one of my colleagues presenting a case in front of the county commission for, of all things, an adult book store.  She was morally opposed to it, but it was a permitted use in that zoning district, so she acted as a true professional and recommended approval...with 57 conditions for approval. 

I can’t speak for the local planners, but that became our “code” to the Planning Commission or elected officials that either we were opposed to a project or thought that, while it may have fit the regulations, it could certainly be improved. 

It didn’t take long before a long list of conditions would lead to an observant engineer or architect requesting that a project be tabled to make revisions.

3.) That big open field will be there forever!

Having worked in fast growing communities (3 to 4 times more housing permits annually than Woodbury), I can only say that if I had a dollar for every “big open field” call, I’d have a nice winter place on an island in the Caribbean.

The typical scenario was that a developer would propose a commercial or residential development for a large “greenfield” near homes. Residents would be notified, by mail or with a big sign on the property, that something was going to happen at this site. This would, undoubtedly, cause heartburn amongst the neighborhood.

The call would undoubtedly start with accusations of “Myth of City Planning” point 1 and then point 2. This, typically, would be in the first thirty seconds of the call. 

At this point, your friendly neighborhood city planner often has no idea what project that the caller is even referencing, only that they are being yelled at by someone who has managed to be irate for thirty seconds without any sign of breathing. 

While this is quite impressive, it doesn’t help find a resolution.

There’s usually a deep breath at that point, which is a good interjecting spot to attempt to figure out which of the 10 to 30 projects a planner may have on their desk causing the consternation. 

Once that has been figured out, that’s when the money phrase emerges: “My neighbor/real estate agent/ developer told me that that was going to be an open field forever.” 

It doesn’t really matter who told the caller this, because that information could either be wishful thinking, a misunderstanding, or changed due to market changes. 

Note: I’m assuming that neither the caller nor the caller’s source is misrepresenting the truth.

If you take nothing else from this collection of pixels on your screen, take this to heart: In the case of a vacant lot or open space, unless you own it or it is under some sort of permanent conservation easement, expect that it can be developed at any time. 

If you’re looking for a new house and you see an open field next door or beyond the back yard, contact the local planning department during business hours. With all the functions on cell phones today, we’re never far away.   

Get the scoop from the people who can pull that property up on their computer and tell you the zoning and what can be built there.

Quite often, they can tell you if there’s going to be road expansions or other issues that can impact the value of your potential investment.  

We can’t do the market analysis that your realtor can do or things like that, but we can give you zoning and development information which may prevent frustration down the road.  

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