Opposing/Blocking Rezoning

[Doc Holliday]

Has anyone here (successfully or unsuccessfully) opposed a rezoning for property in your neighborhood?

Would appreciate any advice, what worked/didn't work, etc. Did you hire any land use attorneys, etc.?

Long story short is my neighbor sold his land to a developer who intends to turn it into an industrial park with 4.5 million square ft of buildings. It sounds like the formal hearings at the county level with the planning commission are going to start next month, so I am trying to figure out what if anything I can do that will not be a waste of time. Adding to the challenge, I live 6 hours away from the property and work a regular 9-5, so it's not like I can just be there at the drop of a hat or on a weekly basis.

Thanks for any advice

 

[flyinsquirel]

What state? Zoning, general plan, sphere of influence etc. rules are different everywhere. In general I’d say that big developers already know they can get the zoning changed before they buy the property, and they most likely know your local gov officials - aka the ones voting on the zoning change - by first name and buy them meals regularly.

Good luck.

 

[Buckshotaz]

What is the current zoning of the property? Is your property zoned residential? Like flyingsquirel said look at the General Plan for the City/County you are in, it is the best way to fight rezoning.

 

[nodakian]

What state? Zoning, general plan, sphere of influence etc. rules are different everywhere. In general I’d say that big developers already know they can get the zoning changed before they buy the property, and they most likely know your local gov officials - aka the ones voting on the zoning change - by first name and buy them meals regularly.

Good luck.

This is absolutely true. Any developer with that big a project in mind has been working through the issues all along to minimize his risk.

However, a good land use attorney may be able to help. Weak spots in any such project can include traffic impacts, noise and air pollution, and other technical issues.

Also, reviewers don't pay much attention to general NIMBY complaints, but herds of concerned mothers with children at public hearings are formidable.

 

[OrangeArmy]

You're going to need a valid reason for them to hear you. What is the current zoning? I'm guessing the person that purchased it has a good feeling about what the outcome will be. Also in their eyes the fact that you live 6 hrs away really silences any of your concerns...but then again I don't know all the details.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I am in contact with someone on the County Planning Commission who will be voting on it....according to him, the best outcome we can hope for will be to unite with other neighbors and negotiate buffer zones and fencing......doesn't sound like we can do anything to actually stop it.

 

[cnelk]

Yep. Traffic impacts, noise and air pollution, and after hours lighting are your biggest issues to bring to the table.

 

[Atlas12]

A huge part of housing unaffordability is all the NIMBY's.
So while you shouldn't be able to stop development just because you say so, noise, light, dust, traffic etc, like cnelk said, are all very valid concerns that should be heard by the council.

If you frame it as those specific issues, instead of "I don't like it, make them stop" you'll be MUCH better received by your city council/equivalent.

 

[CorbLand]

I have talked with a couple developers and the biggest thing is, stick to facts not emotions and get people to show up. The person that owns the property next door complaining is common but if the whole neighborhood shows up, its hard to deny the impact it will have.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Only been successful once and endangered muscle was the reason...county was trying to put dump next to a protected habitat...Had to get USFG involved. You have to find better leverage than the developer has.

 

[sram9102]

Zero experience with this in CO but here I'm with the majority above. I'm the Planner for a community of about 25k and these types of developments don't just happen overnight. They have probably been talking with the community for a while and probably have the backing of the local officials. Jobs/property taxes tend to trump neighbors. I would reach out to as many neighbors as you can and try to get to the meetings. I'm assuming you have a county planning commission that will make a favorable or unfavorable recommendation to the county council who has the final say. Your area may differ but that is how it would go here. A crowd of angry neighbors can have some sway with boards/commissions. If you get the opportunity to speak have specific complaints don't just say that you are opposed. Was the access to the site designed for the amount of truck traffic that would come with this development? What would the setbacks be for the new development? We have some uses that require some substantial distances from a residential property. Stopping the rezone is probably far fetched. Getting some higher stipulations put on the development to reduce its impact on you and other neighbors is probably doable. Simple things like not having any gravel roads/parking on the site can make being a neighbor easier. I'm assuming that any meetings will have a public comment and should have to notice the neighbors so you should have some heads up of the meeting.

Traffic Increase/Truck Increase
Hours of Operations
Setbacks
Lot Coverage/Hard surfaces (water runoff probably isn't a big issue in CO?)
Noise Levels
Light Pollution
Required Visual/Noise Buffers

Those are the basics of what I would want good answers too if I had something of that scope going in next door.

Good Luck.

 

[nodakian]

Zero experience with this in CO but here I'm with the majority above. I'm the Planner for a community of about 25k and these types of developments don't just happen overnight. They have probably been talking with the community for a while and probably have the backing of the local officials. Jobs/property taxes tend to trump neighbors. I would reach out to as many neighbors as you can and try to get to the meetings. I'm assuming you have a county planning commission that will make a favorable or unfavorable recommendation to the county council who has the final say. Your area may differ but that is how it would go here. A crowd of angry neighbors can have some sway with boards/commissions. If you get the opportunity to speak have specific complaints don't just say that you are opposed. Was the access to the site designed for the amount of truck traffic that would come with this development? What would the setbacks be for the new development? We have some uses that require some substantial distances from a residential property. Stopping the rezone is probably far fetched. Getting some higher stipulations put on the development to reduce its impact on you and other neighbors is probably doable. Simple things like not having any gravel roads/parking on the site can make being a neighbor easier. I'm assuming that any meetings will have a public comment and should have to notice the neighbors so you should have some heads up of the meeting.

Traffic Increase/Truck Increase
Hours of Operations
Setbacks
Lot Coverage/Hard surfaces (water runoff probably isn't a big issue in CO?)
Noise Levels
Light Pollution
Required Visual/Noise Buffers

Those are the basics of what I would want good answers too if I had something of that scope going in next door.

Good Luck.

Excellent input. It matches my experience with land development in MT and ND, both while working for developers and opposing them.

All these items require technical expertise from engineers and others the developer has engaged. Depending on how hard you want to fight, it can sometimes be helpful to hire your own experts to refute them. My traffic engineer friends say traffic studies are often very flimsy so can be a weak spot to exploit. Pollution is also often open to widely different opinions even by experts.

If nothing else, hold out for landscape buffers. And I'll repeat: a meeting full of upset moms with kids is hard for boards to ignore.

Good luck.

 

[Longleaf]

I would suggest investing in their project.

 

[Gutshotem]

Find some species of animal that uses the land like the rich liberals do when they need to keep the poors out of their nighborhoods.

Bay Area town that’s home to billionaires comes up with a novel reason to block housing: mountain lions

A Woodside official said the city cannot comply with a new state law that expedites...

www.sfchronicle.com

 

[mtnrunner260]

As said your best bet is find an endangered species. Or an indian burial ground

 

[Dackdack]

I’ve been down this road. Built a home next to a farm. The owners were attempting to sell to a very big company with the intention to build a 500k sq ft grow show and a bunch of outdoor greenhouses 250’ from my house. It would have messed up my quality of life and dropped the value of my house a lot. I hated complaining but felt I had no choice. We basically rallied the neighborhood and ended up getting a lot of people on our side . As a huge group we were able to go to every meeting and spoke up when we could. The project was so big that public meetings were held and we had a huge amount of people speak up and the developer basically just gave up and pulled out. It’s a tough situation and I did not like being involved. You could end up in the Local newspaper and people that were in favour of the project will be trashing you all over town and on social media etc. it’s not fun but in the end sometimes you have no choice.