Land Use Leadership Alliance “Creating communities, one conversation at a time”

A Leadership Program for Local Leaders Dealing with Land Use Strategies,

Consensus Building and Community Decision-Making

LAND USE LAW CENTER, PACE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAWwww.law.pace.edu/landuse

Contents

Program Description 3

Milestones 4

On-the-Ground Results 4

Training Methods 4

Co-sponsors of the Land Use Leadership Alliance Training Program 5

Municipalities 5

Associations 5

Theory and Practice 6

Measures of Success 8

Awards 8

Quotes 9

White Plains, New York www.law.pace.edu/landuse 914.422.4262 landuse@law.pace.edu

Program Description The Land Use Leadership Alliance Training Program (LULA) was

created in 1995 to build capacity for change among land use leaders at the local level of government and to promote land use innovations. The LULA is a 4 day, 32 hour program taught over the course of 8 weeks and covers land use strategies, consensus building and regional stewardship.

While the LULA initially addressed general land use matters in sub-urban and rural communities of New York State, it has been tailored to train housing advocates from urban centers, environmental advocates from watershed communities, and leaders in Connecticut and New Jersey.

This substantive and geographic flexibility is a product of the program’s ability to adjust to and learn from the issues and needs of the participants. This training format arms graduates with more than just relevant knowledge; most leave with a renewed sense of hope in their communities’ ability to deal with change. As evidence of this, the motto of the LULA – creating communities, one conversation at a time – comes from a mayor who was describing what he learned about his role as a local official at a graduation ceremony of the LULA program.

LULA Program 18, November 2004

Milestones

Twenty-nine LULA programs have been conducted for leaders in three states since 1995

Funding has been provided by fifteen different public and private organizations

Over nine-hundred graduates rep-resenting public and private seg-ments of the community in NY, NJ, & CT

Nine “reunion” conferences have been held for graduates to recon-nect and learn about other com-munities

The Gaining Ground Information Database, an internet library of over seven hundred sample land use ordinances, gives leaders ac-cess to techniques used in other communities

The Gaining Ground e-newsletter is sent to all graduates to highlight community successes, up-coming events, and on-line resources

On-the-Ground Results

Concept committees formed by local leaders to manage potentially controversial projects

Many leaders initiate a compre-hensive planning effort after graduation

Seven intermunicipal councils have been created by LULA graduates

Town of Milan Habitat Assessment Guidelines adopted by planning board

Network of leaders who “speak the same language” in the region

Program is financially sustainable

Over one-hundred mu-nicipal and institutional co-sponsors

Training Methods

Adult learning princi-ples are used to create a safe learning environ-ment

Each day is one-third lecture, one-third group work, one-third social interaction

Each class includes all land use stakeholders - not just local officials

No charge to participants

Techniques are taught through lo-cal & regional case studies

Trainers focus on what communi-ties can do, not on what they should do (trainers are content neutral)

Presentations are tailored to the issues that leaders are currently dealing with

Past graduates return to present, facilitate and practice skills

Participants are contacted in-between training sessions

A local steering committee helps recruit leaders and plan each program

Nomination process ensures the appro-priate leaders are recruited and in-vited

Participants reach an understanding of the regional nature of most land use problems

Yearly conference, e-newsletter, database are used to reinforce the lessons learned

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“A model program for the nation, one that is institutionalizing sustainable development at the local level.” For-

mer Chief of NRCS, USDA

Co-sponsors of the Land Use Leadership Alliance Training ProgramThese municipalities and institutions have passed official

resolutions supporting the LULA and its principles.Municipalities

Town of AmeniaTown of AusterlitzTown of BedfordTown of BeekmanTown of BethelTown of BethlehemTown of ClarkstownTown of ClintonTown of CortlandtTown of DoverTown of East FishkillTown of FishkillTown of GreenburghTown of GreenvilleTown of GoshenTown of HarrisonTown of Hyde ParkTown of KnoxTown of LaGrangeTown of LibertyTown of MamaroneckTown of MarbletownTown of MarlboroughTown of MontgomeryTown of New BaltimoreTown of New CastleTown of New PaltzTown of North SalemTown of OssiningTown of PawlingTown of PhilipstownTown of Pleasant ValleyTown of PoughkeepsieTown of Putnam ValleyTown of Red HookTown of RhinebeckTown of RochesterTown of RosendaleTown of SchodackTown of SomersTown of StanfordTown of Union ValeTownship of WantageTown of WappingerTown of WashingtonTown of WawarsingTown of YorktownCity of Beacon

City of MiddletownCity of New RochelleCity of NewburghCity of RyeCity of RensselaerCity of White PlainsVillage of Dobbs FerryVillage of EllenvilleVillage of FishkillVlg. of Greenwood LakeVillage of GoshenVlg. Hastings-on-HudsonVillage of IrvingtonVillage of LarchmontVillage of MamaroneckVillage of MillbrookVillage of New PaltzVillage of NyackVillage of PawlingVillage of PhilmontVillage of PiermontVillage of Red HookVillage of ScarsdaleVillage of South NyackVillage of TarrytownVillage of TivoliVillage of Upper NyackVlg. of Wappingers FallsVillage of WarwickDutchess CountyPutnam CountyRensselaer CountyRockland CountyWestchester County

Associations

Appropos Housing Opportu-nities and Management En-terprises, Inc.Columbia County Industrial Development AuthorityColumbia Economic Devel-opment CorporationColumbia Land ConservancyCroton Housing NetworkDutchess County Environ-mental Management CouncilHarlem Valley Partnership

Greater Centennial Commu-nity Development Corporation Interfaith Council for ActionHousing Action CouncilHudson River Valley Green-way Communities Council & Greenway Conservancy for the Hudson River ValleyLong Island Sound Watershed Intermunicipal CouncilMid-Hudson Pattern for Pro-gressNew York Planning FederationRockland Municipal Planning FederationRockland Riverfront Commu-nities CouncilRural Ulster Preservation Co.Save the Woods and WetlandsSaw Mill River Coalition/Groundwork YonkersWashingtonville Housing Alli-anceWestchester Community Op-portunity Program, Inc.Westchester Land TrustWestchester Municipal Officials AssociationsWestchester Municipal Planning FederationYorktown Community Housing Board

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Theory and PracticeThe primary purpose of the program is to use law and negotiation theory to help local leaders understand that solutions to complex and persistent problems are more likely to be reached through authentic collabora-tive initiatives than the typical adversarial process. To increase the effectiveness of each program, it is taught on a “train-the-trainer” model so that participants are empowered to share what they experienced with oth-ers. As a result, it encourages the creation of leadership networks, initiates and supports grassroots region-alism, creates opportunities for civic engagement and fosters intentionally sustainable communities.

The curriculum is designed to make the following “tipping points”

Land Use Law (Tools and Techniques)

Local boards have broad and flexible authority to craft strategies that address their land use issues.

Local governments can periodically revise their land use plans based on changing needs in the community.

Critical environmental areas can be protected by directing development to areas appropriate for growth.

Local governments are authorized to collaborate regionally on all land use matters.

Developers and land owners can be used to implement the goals of the comprehensive plan.

Decision-Making Process (Negotiation theory)

Local land use decision-making can be structured as an ongoing process of negotiation and collaboration.

Controversial land use decisions can be managed to build community rather than destroy it.

The required decision-making process can be supplemented to be more collaborative.

Citizens can be involved productively in controversial land use decisions.

Local boards have broad legal protection for the land use decisions that they make.

Program Components

This four-day program, taught over eight weeks, has two substantive components: land use law and negotia-tion theory applied to community decision making. Each day of training has three activities: lecture, discussion or role-play and social networking. Leaders are contacted in between each day of training to evaluate the pro-gram and provide comments for the upcoming sessions. The final day of the program ends with a graduation ceremony where leaders get a plaque commemorating their participation. After each program, the Land Use Law Center provides post-graduate assistance through community workshops, research reports, e-newsletter, or con-ferences.

Leader Identification and Recruitment

For each program, a steering committee is formed to identify appropriate leaders for the program. The com-mittee uses the following criteria to decide if someone is appropriate: experience and knowledge regarding land use and community issues; will be active in the community for a meaningful period; reasonable in approach to community problems, and; respected among interest groups in the community.

When leaders are identified as candidates, they are contacted by phone informing them of the opportunity and sent an application. All contacts with the candidates acknowledge their status as a leader in the community and seek input on the issues they face. The goal is to identify opinion leaders in the community and demonstrate to them that these four days will help them be more effective leaders.

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Theoretical Foundations – Diffusion of Innovation

New patterns of development, new building design, local environmental laws and new subdivision layouts that offer alternatives to sprawl are “innovations” that improve on the land use system. When innovations are adopted and a community improves on the pattern of land development, other communities only benefit if they learn about, and act, on the new approach. Helping communities learn about and implement local innovations is the foundation of the LULA training program.

The mechanism by which these innovations “diffuse” from one community to another was thoroughly ad-dressed by the sociologist Everret M. Rodgers. Rodgers instructs us that diffusion is the process by which an in-novation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. “Most in-dividuals evaluate an innovation, not on the basis of scientific research by experts, but through the subjective evaluations of near-peers who have adopted the innovation. These near-peers thus serve as social models, whose innovation behavior tends to be imitated by others in their system.”

Rodgers identifies three major components for the diffusion of innovation to take place:

Identify the innovations that can address the need. The need to create smarter patterns of land use has spawned a large volume of information on alternatives to sprawl. Much of this research is also state specific. These innovations come from “idea sources”.

Create a mechanism for change agents to explain the innovation to leaders. Experts and professionals (“change agents”) who understand how to achieve balanced land use patterns and the process of adopting local land use innovations can describe and explain relevant innovations to leaders working in the field and help them as they work within communities.

A process of diffusion within the community takes place, where a range of leaders hear, evaluate, test, adjust and implement an idea. Rodgers explains that there is a hierarchy of opinion leaders within communities, led by “early adopters” & “champions of change”, who are broadly respected, practical, and sufficiently innova-tive to try new ideas that withstand their evaluation.

These “early adopters” and “champions of change” are the types of leaders who should be targeted for participa-tion in a LULA.

Promoting Local Innovations

Starting in 2004, the Center created the Gaining Ground internet database and e-newsletter to improve leaders’ access to local innovations. Through training and research, the Center learns of local innovations and adds them to the internet database (www.landuse.law.pace.edu). When an innovation is unique and regionally relevant, it is featured in the e-newsletter and circulated to local leaders. Leaders can sign up for the newsletter by visiting the Center’s home page at www.law.pace.edu/landuse. The library and e-newsletter have created a positive feedback loop providing local leaders with several access points to information about other communities and the lessons of the LULA.

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Measures of Success What follows is a short list of successes to illustrate the range of impact this program has on leaders and their communities.

Over 84% of the participants ranked the program as excellent or very good.

73% of survey graduates said they used the skills learned in the program to adopt land use innovations

Over 1,000 graduates from 30 programs in three states

After graduating from the program, seven separate Intermunicipal councils and five Intermunicipal agreements have been formed by graduates.

One hundred municipalities, agencies and associations have passed official resolutions cosponsoring the pro-gram.

Within twelve months, a training team was identified in Connecticut, taught how to run the program, success-fully recruited and trained 70 leaders in Connecticut, and obtained funding to train another group in the spring of 2006.

After attending the program, five members of the Dutchess County Legislature appropriated funds to train over 300 planning and zoning board members in the County over four years.

A graduate of the program convened a group of community leaders and successfully convinced the local legis-lature to rescind a local resolution opposing affordable housing with an ordinance requiring a mandatory af-fordable housing set-aside.

Graduates of several programs in one community teamed up to save a critical environmental resource while committing the local government to provide much-needed affordable housing.

Several graduates joined forces to successfully lobby the state legislature to authorize the taxing mechanism for an open space and conservation district in their community.

AwardsPublic Program Award, Connecticut Chapter of the American Planning Association (2006)

Special Recognition Award, The Northern Dutchess Alliance (2005)

Quality of Life Award, Mid-Hudson Pattern for Progress (2005)

Achievement Award for Excellence, Westchester Interfaith Housing Coalition (2004)

Award of Distinction, League of Conservation Voters, Westchester Chapter (2004)

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QuotesHarriet Cornell, Chairwoman, Rockland County LegislatureThe Land Use Leadership Alliance training program has given Rockland's elected and appointed government and community leaders the information, tools and resources to make wise decisions.  The program brings clarity to the process and opens eyes to the widespread ramifications of local actions.  My hope is to make this training a "must" in Rockland.  I recommend it to all who care about the place they live and the world they bequeath to others.

Carol Ash, Executive Director, Palisades Interstate Park CommissionThe LULA is for all those who care about their community. It takes very busy local leaders, deals with the chal-lenges they are facing, and helps them to be more effective leaders when confronting issues related to growth.

Marc Molinaro, Mayor of Tivoli and Dutchess County Legislator The Land Use Leadership Alliance is all about refocusing the way we make land use decisions, reforming the way we govern and reinvigorating democracy from the grassroots. This program teaches local decision makers how to communicate, how to build consensus and how to inspire communities into action.

Dr. Michael Klemens, Director, Wildlife Conservation Society’s Metropolitan Conservation Alliance The skills and tools learned at LULA remain the touchstones of the conservation work I conduct in the tri-state region.

Howard Kaufman, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Leyland Alliance, LLC As a developer of New Urbanist communities, I greatly benefited from the Land Use Leadership Alliance train-ing program.  In addition to being exposed to innovative strategies related to our goals as responsible develop-ers, I had the opportunity and good fortune to meet a diverse group of stake holders, including public officials, environmental advocates and top notch consultants.  The relationships I formed have continued and grown in the years since I attended the program. I urge anyone involved with land use to attend the LULA if they have the chance.

Supervisor Fredrick J. Wadnola, Town of Ulster The Land Use Leadership Alliance training was great.  It was informative and utilitarian in its scope of  pre-senting  the need  for comprehensive planning and land use regulations.  Every new supervisor should be man-dated to take this training.

Walter Levy, President, Rondout-Esopus Land Conservancy, Town of RochesterThe LULA was just what I needed to help get me through a revision of the Town of Rochester’s Comprehensive Plan. So much of what we are doing right and wrong is infused in your teaching. Of course, the legal basis is valuable, but more so, I think, is the way that you helped me to rethink, reposition, and adapt to the necessities of leadership and negotiation. Thank you for four stimulating days. Much appreciated.

78 North Broadway, White Plains, NY www.law.pace.edu/landuse 914.422.4262 landuse@law.pace.edu

Alexandre-C. Manz, Town of New Castle Conservation BoardThis outstanding program combines in-depth issue analyses with novel land use techniques and hands-on training exercises in a dynamic, group-oriented environment - a 'must' for anyone involved in the local land use process"  Bob  LaColla,  Town of Fishkill, Planning Board MemberThe program brought together a broad spectrum of interests relevant to land use. The program then encouraged the participants to engage each other to address land use issues in a collaborative, proactive way.  I believe most participants left the program with a new sense of optimism about their role in the land use process.

Robert Elliot, Executive Director, New York Planning Federation The Land Use Leadership Alliance goes beyond the classic classroom land use training; the program develops and inspires community leaders enabling them to face the complex land use issues that affect growth and our economy and environment.

Paul Johnson, Former Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDAA model program for the nation, one that is institutionalizing sustainable development at the local level.

Land Use Law Center

Photo credits, clockwise:Cover: La Grange Town Center Illustrative Plan, Courtesy of Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development. Page 2: Bailey Caldwell. Page 3: Sean Nolon. Page 4: Andrea Nolon, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Sean Nolon. Page 5: Sean Nolon. Page 7: Torti Gallas and Partners - CHK, Inc. Page 8: See Cover, Sean Nolon. Page 10: Sean Nolon

78 North Broadway, White Plains, NY www.law.pace.edu/landuse 914.422.4262 landuse@law.pace.edu