Developers and Cities

Developers and cities often have a love - hate relationship that in some cases leaves developer and the city in an adversarial condition. It's unfortunate that well-intentioned people cannot strive for greater understanding and respect. The relationship between people who share common goals (although perhaps for different ends) should be constructive, meaningful, and positive. Instead, we run into problems when decisions made by city officials seem to be restrictive of growth and development. The situation becomes exacerbated by example after example across the country where some developers have the feeling that the communities in which they are legally required to work are against development of any kind.

The truth is somewhere in between. Most communities are pro-development. Every community wants to grow to be able to provide better services to its citizens. Communities need a variety of housing types, shopping opportunities, employment and education opportunities, and places to gather for community events, in addition to providing all the emergency and policing services that people require. They only differ in how they best provide opportunities for growth and regulations which promote various values.

Developers, on the other hand, are often only responsible to their shareholders who want to know how a particular action will affect their bottom line. Thus, there is a careful balance that must be found between the need to create economically efficient houses and buildings, meeting the market demands, and the requirements of the city.

Despite these different ends, cities and developers want the same thing: an attractive, well-functioning community.

Cities are responsible to the citizens of the city for the way they fulfill their duties. They have to make and enforce laws which will promote the values of the city. Often this promotion will have a negative effect on the income of the developers. For example, properly draining a plot of land is of vital importance to a community (who wants water in their house when it rains?). It falls to the city council and city staff to figure out what is proper drainage. Now, any drainage costs the developer money, and developers will often grouse at the amount that is being demanded of them. On the other hand, properly drained lots are more attractive and will sell for more. Those costs, however, are found later on and trickle in, while mass-grading a site costs developers now.
The role of an effective planner is to reach across this divide to create bridges of understanding. An effective planner has a vision for the community, informed by the values of the community, which the planner is able to effectively communicate to every member of the process - from the city council to the developer to the individual citizen. This ability to communicate the community's vision is perhaps the most important thing a planner can do because this enables the planner to generate the buy-in from the players to create laws and abide by them.

The old phrase about fighting city hall is unfortunate. We shouldn't be fighting each other. We should be fighting the true evils in our society - ignorance, apathy, and despair. Developers, city officials, and community members have the right to expect mutual understanding in growth.