ARTICLES

TURNING PRO-PROJECT ATTITUDES TO PRO-PROJECT ACTION
NIMBY Advisor www.nimbyadvisor.com - January 2006

by Debra Stein

With local press hostile to their proposed ski resort expansion, moneyed opponents circulating referendum petitions to stop the project, and the appearance of overwhelming public opposition to the project, San Francisco-based GCA Strategies successfully combined cutting-edge opinion research with grassroots political organizing to win approval for their client’s project. The United Park City Mines Company, which owns vast amounts of land from the area’s mining days, proposed to build a 1,800 acre ski resort next door to Park City, Utah. Citizen Allied for Reasonable Growth (CARG), a well-organized slow growth group with more than 100 members and a track record of stopping growth and winning elections in Park City, staked out a strong position against the resort plan. CARG posed a real threat to the ski resort because, in a town of just 5,000 voters, CARG needed just a few signatures to put a referendum on the ballot to stop the annexation of the resort property into Park City. The mining company retained nationally-recognized community outreach firm GCA Strategies to dig out of this hole. GCA conducted public opinion research, developed a campaign plan, and managed implementation the action plan to win community and political support for the resort.

The Community Outreach Campaign
CARG’s opposition to the ski resort was fueled by their belief that most Park City residents objected to proposed resort. GCA’s strategy: to reduce the clout of anti-project activists, to convert pro-project attitudes into pro-project action, and to overcome the misperception that “everyone” was opposed to the new resort. GCA began with a telephone survey of 401 Park City voters to determine the project’s most vulnerable areas and strongest selling points. The survey revealed substantial misperceptions about the project, including the misperception that most Park City residents opposed the project. It also highlighted several positive messages that worked, including messages about economic benefits, open space easements and local control over development. Armed with survey results and the results of elite interviews with community opinion leaders, GCA advised the United Park City Mountain Company to undertake a four-point strategic plan: get the right messenger; focus on persuasive messages; spread the word; and emphasize support.

Send the Right Messenger
GCA recommended forming a pro-project citizens’ group to demonstrate the extent of community support for the proposed development. Thanks to the mining company’s century-old history of community involvement, it was able to quickly mobilize friends and allies to organize a supporter coalition, Park City Citizens for Local Control. This group helped local citizens become familiar with the project and it’s leaders became the key spokespeople advocating for the resort. Ultimately, the pro-project coalition’s 200-plus members outnumbered CARG’s activist core by more than two-to-one.

Focus on Persuasive Messages
The survey revealed many opposition messages that were popular but not persuasive. In other words, while many people believed the project would create traffic problems, devoting campaign resources to rebutting that belief wouldn’t ultimately increase public acceptance for the project. On the other hand, there were several messages that were quite persuasive if they could be made credible. While conventional outreach campaigns often rely exclusively on popular messages, regardless of their efficacy, the GCA communications strategy focused on using persuasive message with a causal ability to shift attitudes about the project:

• Annexation would allow the local town of Park City to control the quality of the development, rather than leaving growth regulation up to the county;
• The resort would generate new jobs and tax revenues to help pay for police, fire and other needed public services;
• The mining company was willing to place 88 percent of the land in a conservation easement rather than the 60 percent required by the county.

Get the Word Out
With CARG on the street disseminating misinformation along with their referendum project petitions, it was crucial that voters be properly informed about the ski resort and its benefits. GCA helped the pro-project citizens’ group organize “truth squads,” coffees, merchant walks, and visibility events to provide clear, accurate information about the proposal before voters signed opponents’ petitions. The coalition’s in-person advocacy was also supported by direct mail flyers and newspaper articles that pointed out the benefits of the project to Park City voters. These activities visibly demonstrated the extent of community commitment to the project, reduced the enthusiasm of CARG volunteers, and slowed down the signature collection rate on the referendum petition.

To further provide the public information about the ski resort, GCA recommended opening a high-profile public outreach office in the middle of the merchant district closest to the ski resort. The mining company also hosted a series of open houses and ski tours to allow citizens to visit the site and learn more about the project without being exposed to opposition arguments. These events showcase the open space to be preserved, highlighted future project benefits and, as a special enticement, included highly-prized tours of the historic mine on the property.

Focus on Support
The survey showed that voters with pro-project attitudes were out there; it was GCA’s job to identify them and turn their pro-project attitudes into pro-project action. Pro-annexation advocates were given the support they needed to send letters to the editor, to telephone their elected officials, to testify at public hearings, and to recruit their friends and neighbors to attend those hearings. The supporter coalition also launched its own pro-project petition drive. They quickly collected the names of hundreds of new supporters who not only would be unlikely to sign the CARG petition, but who could then be mobilized for additional pro-resort action. On a roll, the pro-resort coalition went on to stage public rallies and to garner additional press attention about the popularity of the resort.

The Outcome: A Big ‘Yes’ for the Resort
In a few short weeks of grassroots organizing, GCA Strategies, the mining company, and Park City Citizens for Local Control were able to overcome the protests of slow growth opponents and demonstrate impressive citizen support for the ski resort annexation. This strong citizen support both strengthened the resolve of the City Council to move forward and weakened the morale of opponents. Faced with risk of losing at the ballot box – or the even more humiliating potential of failing to collect enough signatures to even place the ski resort question on the ballot – CARG was forced to the negotiating table. In a compromise that the statewide Desert News praised as an example of “how to manage growth,” the parties ultimately agreed on a modified resort design that addressed concerns about ski runs, housing and views. The combination of research-based communication themes and grassroots advocacy is a potent one in fighting anti-NIMBY battles. While minimizing opposition to land use proposals is a vital part of any outreach campaign, mobilizing pro-project support is often the lever needed to bring opponents to a reasonable compromise.


Debra Stein is the president of the San Francisco-based public affairs firm, GCA Strategies. She is the author of several books on NIMBYism and her firm specializes in controversial land use projects across the nation. For more information, e-mail Stein, call her at 415-391-4100 or visit the GCA Strategies Web site at www.gcastrategies.com.