Citizens’ role in planning and development

Citizen input is a vital part of any city planning process. Without it conflicts tend to erupt as development clashes with people’s visions of the community. 

In Sarasota, the organization called STOP is pushing for greater citizen input by requiring public hearings for all development projects. But this approach is only half right.

The process of creating a city’s comprehensive plan builds in a thorough opportunity for citizen input. Residents help establish criteria and guidelines for development so that developers can make good decisions based on the comprehensive plan. It also provides a clear legal basis for citizens to challenge projects approved by the city that violate the plan. So getting more  — and more effective — citizen involvement in the comprehensive planning process is important.

This certainty makes it clear to developers what is and is not allowed, so they can begin the expensive and complex process of design and construction. The purpose of planning should be to prevent development from harming or imposing costs on others, not allowing activists to impose their tastes or preferences on property owners.

When citizens must approve every aspect of a developer’s process, that is disastrous. A good deal of research shows that doing so significantly decreases the amount of development in a jurisdiction because of the costs and uncertainty it creates for developers. The delay and direct costs to developers of a series of public hearings for every project is substantial. In fact, a typical developer already spends far more time on zoning decisions and development permitting than on creating development plans.

And if you are thinking “Fine! I would like to see less development in Sarasota,” keep in mind that development does not go away in these situations — it simply moves out to the county or to the next city. In other words, it creates more sprawl. The very Sarasota home you live in may never have been built.

Considering that zoning and land-use controls add 20% to 30%to the cost of housing, and that those costs get passed on to consumers, STOP’s proposal will create more sprawl and more demand on our transportation system and increase the cost of housing — increasing homelessness and raising the cost of living and driving more young people to move elsewhere. 

So how can STOP’s goals of more and better citizen input into development in Sarasota be achieved more productively?

Citizen input should focus on creating the right criteria and vision for future development in the city comprehensive plan and on holding public officials accountable for complying with the plan.

Planning should let property owners develop their property as they want for the most part and require public hearings only if parties directly affected by the project identify tangible impacts on their interests. This approach does require that developers properly notify neighbors of proposed developments.

Developers should be expected to modify projects to minimize negative impacts, but these impacts should be tangible and measurable.

Zoning should allow for a broad range of land uses to allow for changes in the economy and people’s preferences, building in flexibility where possible.

Administrative review should be based on clear criteria for what is acceptable based on the plan, and have a threshold for major changes in approved developments to go back to the commission for approval.

Property owners and developers need to pay for the public services they consume and the infrastructure directly associated with their property. But they should also be able to decide what infrastructure they want. 

Development approval should be based on a set of clearly defined and stable rules, not political whims or popular sentiments. 

Applying these principles, Sarasota can improve citizen participation in planning, reduce sprawl and enjoy more affordable housing. Just as important, greater short-term predictability and long-term flexibility will help the city keep up with a growing and changing economy and changes in people’s lifestyle tastes. 

This beats our current politicized battle between developers and consumers on one side and anti-growth advocates on the other. 

Adrian Moore is vice president at the Reason Foundation and lives in Sarasota.