Even though every land development project is unique and all have a variety of hurdles to overcome, the land development process is no longer well-defined or relatively simple , as in the past. Today, projects have become increasingly complex due predominantly to increasing regulations and a more engaged public. That complexity results in more individuals being involved in almost every phase of a more specialized process, each of whom brings a wider range of personalities, technical knowledge, and opinions to the table.

Today, meeting zoning codes often represent just one hurdle to receiving permits. The typical development project must fulfill requirements for stormwater management, erosion and sediment control, and receive permission and/or permits from a municipal body that often requires the meeting of one or more environmental, smart growth, new urbanist, green building, and/or sustainability initiatives…not to mention public and community support. To accomplish all of these additional challenges in the process, in an efficient and cost-effective manner, the process had to change. For many, that change has been difficult.

Gaining Critical Buy-in
Most of the added complexity is a result of more people representing different stakeholders and bringing a variety of agendas to the table, whether or not the developer asks for them. Dealing with these agendas after projects are designed and proposed often delays entitlements and creates financing problems.

Since time delays get very expensive, one of the best proven strategies is bringing all of the stakeholders together for one or more meetings at the outset of the project. In fact, it is best to get everyone in a room before the project has even been designed. This has many benefits, particularly from a total cost standpoint to the developer. By developing and achieving broad stakeholder buy-in of a comprehensive project vision before moving forward with project design, it is amazing how many problems can be avoided before they arise.

Selecting the Right Project Team
One of the early changes that benefits development efforts is how developers select project team members. Selecting engineers, landscape architects, architects, etc. by the lowest bid is often a recipe for trouble. In many instances, you get what you pay for and project costs end up be higher in the end.

On numerous occasions I have had developers complain to me that they could not get their engineer to come to the site before the property was platted or during stakeout. They said that some errors were made during the process, but they were not caught because the engineer did not make a site visit. When the mistakes were eventually noticed, the costs to make corrections were substantial.

I confirmed with the developers that they had been responsible for hiring their engineer. When I suggested that all they needed to do was to require a site visit by the engineer as a part of the job, they claimed that none of the engineers they knew would do that. I eventually found out that the developer had low-balled each of the engineering firms before selecting one – so the firms had eliminated the site visits as a portion of the contract. Thus, the developer actually created the problem for himself and it cost him dearly as some cut and fill work, as well as road cuts, where made in the wrong place and had to be redone.

The benefits of selecting project team members that philosophically support your vision and that you will actually like to work with are tremendous. Checking references and conducting interviews is a critically important part of the process. You are likely about to spend millions of dollars on your project. Finding the right members for your project team are perhaps the most important decisions you will make.

The Starting Line-up
A good starting point of stakeholders for the initial gathering will likely include others beyond those you are paying to be there, such as: 

1. The Developer
2. Construction Manager(s)
3. Project Engineer(s)
4. Landscape Architect(s)
5. General Contractor
6. Primary sub-contractors
7. Municipal official representative (city planning, council, commission)
8. Permitting authority
9. Neighborhood/community group(s)
10. Financial Stakeholder(s)

I know what you are thinking. “This is going to be a mess.” It need not be a disaster. However, it clearly can be if the proper steps are not taken to ensure that the meeting accomplishes what it is intended to accomplish – that is to achieve a common understanding and vision of the project.

Identifying the Players
The personalities involved in this meeting are very different. The key, though, is to have someone that can communicate the complete vision of the project. While we recommend that the developer maintain control over the project, it may be more beneficial to have someone else on the team lead the meeting.

Understanding that there are a wide range of professionals within the industry, extroverts tend to have the greatest success, particularly at the important early stage.The challenges of this meeting are clear. Initially, everyone attending has their own agenda.

What are those agendas?
Disclaimer: Personality profiling is admittedly stereotyping. Obviously, not everyone within a profile fits the stereotypes. Using the typical personality profiles and experiences from many in the industry is often a good starting point for analysis.

Technical professionals, such as engineers and architects, have specific tasks. Architects are typically concerned with appearances and the structural design. Civil engineers ensure the functionality of the site and related infrastructure. As a side note, if a project’s objective includes sustainability – and we certainly hope that it does, we highly recommend that a landscape architect is on your team. While combining the art and science of site design, most landscape architects are educated in environmental and low impact development and can bring continuity between the “greening” of the building architect’s structures and the engineer’s site functionality.

Ironically, these professional designers, as well as the general public, often hold the developer in contempt because they do not understand the primary over-riding objective of the developer.

When I speak in front of these professionals I often ask them what they think a developer’s role or end product is. Unlike a set of drawings, or a building, they often have a hard time pinpointing what a developer “produces.” They often answer that a developer builds houses or commercial buildings. I remind them that this is often the objective of the builder, not the developer. So, what is the primary product for a developer?

Well, in many cases a private developer’s product is the entire project. However, success of a development project for a developer is profit. It is essential that the rest of the team understands this. Profit is not necessarily bad. In fact, it is only evil if a development project is ONLY conducted for profit without regard to the societal and environmental impacts.

It must be understood that unless the architect or engineer is a self-employed business owner, his job and/or task for a development project involves virtually no personal risk. The developer, on the other hand, assumes and often embraces risks. These may, and often do, include personal financial risks that put his personal, family, and business assets on the line – thus also risking personal, family, and business relationships.

The Purpose of the Meeting
Most developers hate meetings – especially if they are paying an hourly rate for the professionals to attend! Typically, the developer is already carrying the cost of the land and the entitlements and knows that additional up-front costs for site design and installation of infrastructure (roads, water, sewer) will also mount before any positive cash flow begins. He wants to get started with the process, not conduct a meeting. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending upon your point of view, municipal, regulatory, and community approval of the project still awaits.

Team meetings open all channels of communication. When a project’s vision and ideas are shared at the beginning, it allows for a collaborative approach to design and implementation. With the varying degrees of technical, experience, expertise and community participation, enhancements are often suggested that will improve the project.

Secondly, the team meeting is a gateway to significant project savings. With virtually every key stakeholder and/or member of the design and construction team hearing the same information, the opportunities for clearer instructions and understanding of the project results in less errors and re-design. All concerns that may arise from team members andcommunity opposition will likely be addressed.

The reality is that others at the meeting will be familiar with the typical points of opposition. The value of being able to address valid concerns at an early stage like this cannot be minimized. Nothing slows down a development like negative media exposure or comments made to local elected government officials.

Another one of the biggest advantages to having this diverse group of individuals together is that they will each provide proper balance to the project while there are sill opportunities to make adjustments without a large expense. One of the most effective ways to receive project approval is to have a balanced approach to the needs of the local community (people), environmental considerations (planet), and economic growth (prosperity and profit).

Not surprisingly, that balance of people, planet, and profit actually provides the vital framework of a sustainable project. SLDT