How to Work With Your City Council Person
Entitlements! (City Approvals!)
This may be the longest and least sexy part of the real estate development process, but man, is it crucial. It requires planning. Finesse. Sometimes, deep and controlled breathing followed by a Xanax.
At this point in our project, we’ve got our site, we’ve done our third-party reports, and we have worked with our architects on a schematic design we want to build. We have a plan, and we need to get it approved. We’ve met with the city once or twice to get their feedback, and we know that city staff supports the vision for the project. Are they going to put that support in writing? Nope. That’s a pipe dream, but we know from those meetings that currently, there are no big hang-ups with our plan.
Candidly, more often than not, we're always willing to try to get a project approved that the neighborhood doesn't support. But it’s difficult, verging on impossible, if we don't have city staff support. And I’m not referring to the city council or the planning department or the planning commissions but rather the people on city staff who write the project reports.
And here’s a caveat: Every formal city process is different in terms of timelines.
Minneapolis has a relatively streamlined process where you move from step to step in a reasonable timeframe. Contrast this with New York City or San Francisco, where you could begin the entitlement process the day after your first child is born and be coaching her middle school track team before your approval comes through. When I worked in the Bay Area, there were projects where the entitlement process took 5, 7, and sometimes 10 years!
So, our first step is to set up a face-to-face meeting with the city council member who represents the neighborhood where we want to build. We want our architect there and anybody else who might be helpful in explaining the project. We’re going to sit down, discuss the plan with them, review the schematic design, and work hard to understand any issues/concerns they may have with the project. Typically, we’re going to end the meeting and ask for their support.
And typically, they won’t give it in that moment :-)
Remember, this is politics. It's just too risky for them. Sometimes, politicians feel one way but find out later that 90 percent of their constituents feel the other way. Their goal is to get re-elected, so they vote with their constituents. The goal in the city process is always to give cover to your city council person so that they can vote for your project.
How do you do this?
You anticipate THEIR audience.
Inevitably, your council person will receive calls criticizing your development, and so you want to both anticipate objections from their constituents AND provide them with effective language that addresses those concerns (all the while avoiding the appearance that you are simply giving your council person your talking points). Let’s be clear. Council members are busy. And, while they make like your vision, it’s not their job to find a way to organize your thinking and present it in such a way that his or her constituents find convincing. So when I’m done meeting with my council person, I head back to my office, take all of their concerns, recap, and address them in an email while providing, in easy-to-understand language, the exact assurances I hope they will convey to their voters. By doing this extra work, I can choose the language, which means I set the tone. And then, I cross my fingers and hope that my enthusiasm reaches the people who need to hear it.
So, for example, here are snippets of language I provided to two different council member as I addressed their concerns. I covered these concerns in the meeting, but by circling back and reiterating my position, I had one more opportunity to sell my thinking. And note that I always try to give them a quick concluding line that they’ll remember in conversations with their constituents.
Note: Council member was concerned about parking:
In looking at my notes here, I want to circle back and address the issue of parking. Neighbors are always concerned about parking, and candidly, I hear that concern. No one wants to see that the streets their children play on are suddenly twice as busy and potentially twice as dangerous. We have enough parking spots in the building to accommodate 85% of our residents and those remaining 12 units will park in the adjacent streets. What I keep telling homeowners in the neighborhood, though, is that the current business that occupies that lot generates a great deal of traffic from their drive-through. A lot of noise. A lot of idling cars and all of the nuisance complaints that come with fast-food chains. By developing that corner lot, we're creating new homes for people who come into the neighborhood, park, and stay as opposed to simply speeding through. ←This last line is what I want them to remember!
Note: Council member was concerned about increased traffic:
I hear your concern about the traffic issue. What I plan to emphasize in the neighborhood meetings is the value of the ground-floor commercial space. One of the things that contributes to traffic in these areas is the number of times that homeowners have to get in and out of their cars to reach necessities like food. There are no grocery stores in the area within walking distance. By placing the grocery store and cafe on the ground floor, we’re providing an amenity to our residents and our neighbors. ←This last line is what I want them to remember!
So there you have it. Remember, YOU are often responsible for giving your city council person cover to support your development. You want to ensure that if it ever comes to a controversial vote at the City Council level, you know where your council person stands.
Okay, folks. Next week, we’re going to talk about how to handle Neighborhood meetings. Stay tuned for part two.
