Question 13

EPA National Community Recognition Program

QUESTION 13

Our community is reaching out to local/county/state officials and departments, land developers, and community organizations to expand smart growth activities.

Background

Participation by a wide range of stakeholders is an essential component to ensuring expansion of smart growth within your community. Different communities will place different priorities on smart growth principles, and the input of local officials and departments, land developers, and community organizations will help determine the most relevant principles to utilize within your community. Additionally, community organizations and residents need to feel invested in the growth occurring in their community; land developers should understand the context within which they are building and the expectations of the community they are building within; and local officials are important allies to ensuring the regulatory environment supports implementation of the community’s plans. By reaching out to these stakeholders and ensuring their participation in the smart growth planning process, you are more likely to garner continued support for the expansion of smart growth within your community.

Getting Started

Initiate the process by identifying the stakeholder groups to be involved and inviting their participation. Educate stakeholders on smart growth principles to facilitate conversations of how they may be applied to your community. Charrettes can often be a useful tool in involving stakeholders, particularly to ensure meaningful public involvement. Provide local officials with examples of how smart growth principles are turned into policy through institutionalization in codes and regulation. Consider how community organizations can contribute to the smart growth expansion process, and provide them with tool sets for their active participation. More information on these strategies to facilitate stakeholder involvement in smart growth planning can be found in the links below.

Internet Resources on Outreach for Smart Growth

Smart Growth Online
Encourage Community and Stakeholder Collaboration
http://www.smartgrowth.org/about/principles/principles.asp?prin=10

National Association of Realtors
Meaningful Public Involvement
http://www.realtor.org/SG3.nsf/files/NCI-NAR-notes-slides.pdf/$FILE/NCI-NAR-notes-slides.pdf (25 pp, 2.53MB, About PDF)

Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University
Community Development Corporations and Smart Growth
http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/publications/communitydevelopment/karlinsky_w00-9.pdf (48 pp, 39.2K, About PDF)

Urban Land Institute
Case Studies for Action
http://www.uli.org/Content/NavigationMenu/MyCommunity/CommunityOutreachCaseStudies/SmartGrowthAlliance.pdf (5 pp, 142K, About PDF)

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
Smart Growth Begins at the Local Level
http://www.mwcog.org/planning/planning/smartgrowth/

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