LAI KeyNotes: May2007

Land Economics Weekend in Ireland
May 30 - June 2, 2007
Last Chance to Register!

There Are Still Registrations Available for the Spring Land Economics Weekend!

LAI’s Land Economics Weekend in Ireland will give ample opportunity to see all the changes in that country and to meet a wide range of the most influential people on both sides of the border who are driving the changes. Dublin’s recent success is palpable, while the work in hand in Belfast, the subject of a day trip, should certainly impress. For those looking at investment opportunities in Ireland, there will be much over which to ponder.

Malahide Castle

All in all, the Irish Weekend will be an exciting occasion, full of interesting things to see and hear. For those who can spare a little more time, the Irish countryside, regardless of the border, is beautiful to behold, while travel around the whole island is easy. And for those tempted to include England, Scotland and Wales on their itinerary, these are but a short hop by air across the Irish Sea.

Dr. Karen Sieracki

LAI member Agenda for the Dublin Land Economics Weekend (pdf)
Registration form for the Dublin Land Economics Weekend (pdf)
Registration form for the Dublin Land Economics Weekend (doc

Letter from the President

Dr. James A. Fawcett

With all the publicity about the upcoming Land Economics Weekend in Ireland, it occurred to me that I have not explained too many of you why we are taking the show overseas. [This is kind of a long, slow curve so stay with me if you will.] A few years ago, our stalwart member, Mike Maremont from the Ely Chapter moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Mike looked around and realized that Lambda Alpha had no presence in the Land of Enchantment, so he decided to find out if there would be interest in forming a chapter. He presented the idea at some of the meetings he attended and discovered that there was, indeed, a group of distinguished professionals who would both qualify for membership and be interested in joining together in a new chapter. So, Mike put in a lot of hard work, enlisted the help of Lora Lucero, Tom Mills, Lamerle Boyd, Anita Miller and Roger Schluntz among others, and with the help of the International, a chapter was born and now thrives there.

At one point during that year (pre-chapter), Mike asked if I would come over to talk to his colleagues about the value of LAI. At the same time it turned out that our European Regional VP, Karen Sieracki and her husband and fellow LAI member, Bob Gibson, were attending a land economics meeting in Santa Fe. They had been talking about LAI to colleagues at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. Since two of the professors were also attending the meeting in Santa Fe, Karen and Bob asked if I'd join them in a discussion there. We had a very good chat at the Eldorado Hotel one afternoon, giving the three of us a chance to explain our role as a professional society. One of the qualities of LAI that the folks from the University of Ulster liked was that LAI offers neutral ground to discuss land use issues. That quality was especially attractive to our friends and colleagues in New Mexico, as well, and we repeated that there are often cases where LAI meetings offer the opportunity to discuss contentious land use and land economics issues in a forum where the Society takes no position other than to foster open discussion among all parties to an issue.

With that as background, back home, Dr. Sieracki, Mr. Gibson and our International Past President, Roger Kallman undertook a challenge to bring these ideas to a larger group of individuals both in the Irish Republic and in Northern Ireland. So, that is the genesis of our meeting in Ireland. Our visit is at once a chance to see the vibrant economy there but also an opportunity for potential members in Belfast and Dublin to take a look at us and decide if they want to form a chapter or chapters of our Society. In that respect, all who attend this meeting will be ambassadors for Lambda Alpha.

James A. Fawcett
International President
fawcett@usc.edu

Public / Private Partnerships: Cooperative Players or Vilified Adversaries?

How can the potentially positive balance between the goals of cities and developers be carried out in the spirit of cooperative partnerships? Communities need developers to do development in order to have vital neighborhoods and commercial districts. Many downtowns obviously need infill development, have deteriorated areas to be revitalized and vacant land that is an undeveloped eyesore. It is developers business to build great buildings, innovative commercial districts and attractive residential areas. These two goals seem a match made in heaven and should result in a complementary partnership, right?! Wrong!...well way too often at any rate.

Then where does this go wrong or never start off right? These are complex deals and no two completely alike. The City may be out to exact all they can from the developer while enforcing illogical or over restrictive zoning / building requirements. Or conversely the City may be willing give away everything just to get development done. This sets the developer up for the accusation of "ripping off the city". Sometimes the element of personal recognition and /or benefits for officials can enter into the equation. The city is on the "hot seat" to achieve the communities' goals, uphold planning/zoning requirements and obtain whatever objectives are associated with the deal.

The Developer brings its firm's expectations to the project, often based on an unrealistic view of a great opportunity to build something in which they can take pride, make lots of money and move on to their next project. Business being what it is, developers will try for all the advantages they can and since time is money, delays are not tolerable and they want to move as quickly as possible. Then there is the community element. Residents may or may not have been part of the decision to build/revitalize the area. There also seems to be an innate distrust of the so called "big bucks developers" who come to town to work their will, make a killing at the expense of the residents quality of life and leave town.

We have all seen projects done successfully where the three parts of the whole are brought together and results in the community having a beloved new neighborhood or commercial district, where the city feels it did a good deal, and the developer makes a fair return and all live happily ever after.

More often we see the clashing of all three participants, even to the extent where development is totally stymied or drags on for years. What goes wrong? What can LAI members do to see if analysis of the serendipity developments can be used for learning opportunities? We normally have all the players at our chapter meetings, developers both public and private, and all of us are residents of our communities in one context or another. Can we come up with the elements of what makes a positive approach to development and see if these tools can be applied across our membership? Even just thinking about how relationships and expectations can be agreed on in advance would be a major step forward. Wonder if you readers think this is worth more consideration?

A brief summary of the outstanding work it helps to fund: The Board of Trustees of LEF met in Ottawa and approved four of the seven funding requests submitted. The following are highlights of the Board's actions.