Perceptions of the Development Industry

One of the issues that causes constant consternation among members of the development industry is why they are always perceived as the bad guy. Take any mildly controversial development proposal and the narrative always portrays the industry as self-interested and greedy, as opposed to the reality; which is an entity reacting to market demands through standardized provincial and municipal regulations, policies and procedures. Yet this narrative persists. Some believe that it is rooted in a general naivety about how the industry operates and the inability of the industry to respond cohesively to put a human face on its activities. Others believe that residents are instinctively afraid of change and choose to oppose projects whenever possible to preserve the status quo. Still others believe that consistently negative media stories are responsible for perpetuating stereotypes that are long since obsolete. This might make for good newsprint but it is far from reality. Urban and rural planning is guided by provincial and municipal regulations and policies and in Ottawa the federal government is often involved as well. A city’s Official Plan is a regulatory document, implemented through its zoning bylaws. Anybody who wishes to develop land in Ontario must abide by these documents. That said, the Planning Act gives any land owner the right to appeal to the local municipally to amend the zoning by-law for their property. This is not a nefarious act. The right is enshrined in the Planning Act, which legislates a public process that must be followed for the request to be allowed, or declined, as the case may be. Most residents in Ottawa are not aware of the fact that much of the land is ‘under-zoned’ and inconsistent with the policies outlined in the City’s Official Plan. Developers on the other hand, who can only succeed by understanding such planning opportunities, know that by following legislated policies in the Official Plan, they can request a rezoning to bring a property into line with municipal policies. That is the logic and rationale behind many of the rezoning requests that the public sees. Regrettably the planning process in Ontario is inherently adversarial. Starting with the sign that is placed on the property advertising the rezoning request, the sense that someone is wanting to do something they are not supposed to is established. And this only grows as the process unfolds. And the narrative becomes developer versus the community, with the municipality required to make a final decision. There is no easy solution to this ongoing conflict, although one thing the development industry has recently attempted is to be more open in its rationale for the development and to try and put a human face on it. In general, a development proposal is a reaction to market forces. If it won’t sell, there is no point in building it. In practice, if the proposal is not viable, it will never receive the necessary financing anyway. No developer ever enters into the process wanting to fight with either the local community or the municipality. Developers are human and, like everybody else, come from all walks of life and backgrounds. There is no such thing as graduating from the School of Development. Some may have worked in government or come from completely unrelated disciplines such as the armed forces or accounting. Others may be Registered Professional Planners (RPP) who must follow a further Professional Code of Practice requiring them to always respect the public interest. The point being, these are not individuals with a desire to undercut the public process by following poor planning principles. They are individuals who act according to sound planning principles using approved government procedures and consequently have an interest in changing the narrative that they are always the bad guys. How can this be done? One approach is to make the planning process as open and transparent as possible. Developers already participate in a City of Ottawa-run pilot project that allows the public to attend the traditionally confidential pre-consultation meetings. These are meetings that are held with the City before an application is formally made. By opening them up to the public, the industry is allowing public insight into the thought process behind a specific development proposal. Hopefully, by participating in this pilot project, the industry is able to demonstrate that it is not in cahoots with the City and that its proposals are in reaction to market forces and consumer demands. Another approach, as some developers already do, would be to meet with the local community at the concept stage of a development proposal so the logic and rationale behind the idea can be fully explained and explored. In some U.S. jurisdictions, this is already a pre-requisite to make a development application. Clearly the industry has the desire to change the narrative. But it will take goodwill from all parties involved for this change to be affected.