NEW ORLEANS – The City Planning Commission Neighborhood Participation Plan (NPP) is trying to help businesses and neighborhoods work better together. The NPP requires virtually all applicants seeking an action by the Planning Commission, such as a conditional use permit or zoning variance, to meet with the nearby residents and neighborhood associations before they can begin the formal application process.
However, a recent survey conducted by the Committee for a Better New Orleans (CBNO) found that many applicants were struggling to complete the NPP process fully and successfully.
“Most applicants want to do the right thing, and get the benefits of the NPP,” observed CBNO President Keith Twitchell. “However, they are simply not experts in community outreach, public presentations and meeting facilitation. The NPP process is a good one, but making it work to maximum effect for both businesses and neighborhoods requires specialized expertise.”
In order to help the process be more effective, CBNO is now offering NPP facilitation services to City Planning applicants. “The NPP is based largely on CBNO’s work, and we have studied these processes throughout the country,” Twitchell explained. “We also have years of experience with community meetings. So we are eager to assist all sides in having clear communications and finding the greatest possible common ground.”
Doing the NPP process well usually leads to a smooth approval process, high levels of support from neighbors, and a welcome environment once the project is completed and the business is open. On the other hand, doing the minimum NPP may leave applicants vulnerable to ongoing neighborhood opposition, additional approval hurdles, and costly delays later in the decision making process.
NPP facilitation services offered by CBNO include helping applicants prepare for NPP meetings, helping applicants work with neighbors and neighborhood associations to set the time and location for meetings, outreach to nearby residents, preparing and maintaining the necessary NPP paperwork, and facilitating NPP meetings.
“We will also prepare the required NPP meeting report,” said Twitchell, who emphasized that CBNO would ensure objectivity by not allowing either side to edit the report. “We will tape the meetings and allow applicants to review our reports, but the integrity of the process depends on having unbiased reports. Our experience is that with open, guided dialogue and a little good faith, most NPP meetings produce mutually agreeable outcomes anyway.”