Planning for Brownfield Community Involvement

Source: Center for Hazardous Substance Research, T. Boguski
3/2007

Community involvement is a key component of successful brownfield redevelopment programs. A community outreach plan is an effective tool for managing community involvement activities. Th e purpose of this guide is to help those who wish to develop and implement a community outreach plan..

Your community outreach plan should be appropriate for the size of your program. Cities with larger, more extensive brownfield programs may expect to have a more extensive long-term community outreach plan. Smaller cities, towns, or non-profit organizations may need a less extensive, shorter term community outreach plan. At a minimum, your plan should demonstrate a commitment to open, two-way communication with the people living or working near the brownfield property being evaluated or targeted for redevelopment.

Goals, Activities, and Schedule

Make a plan and specify what outreach activities will be implemented. Use a timeline to indicate when community outreach activities will occur. Allow time to prepare for successful events. Program evaluation and specific techniques for evaluating each activity should be included in your planning. Activities could include public meetings, brownfield redevelopment workshops, and/or site visits (if the site is considered safe for visiting). Meetings should be scheduled well in advance and at times that are convenient for community participants. This may mean holding meetings during the evening or other times outside of typical business hours. It also includes seeking input from stakeholders, especially potential community participants as to when and where meetings will be held. Distribute information on meetings and other activities in a manner that encourages participation. Announcements and notifications should be targeted toward all potentially affected neighborhoods and stakeholders, and all income and age groups. Th e following are potential ways to announce meetings and activities:

• newspapers
• community newsletters
• notices displayed in stores, libraries, churches, community
• bulletin boards, and other public locations
• announcements on community television programs
• telephone calls or direct mailings to non-governmentalorganizations, and community groups in the area
• door-to-door personal invitations

You may wish to work on a mutually agreeable schedule for meetings and other activities in an initial meeting. If your program is large, it may be appropriate to set up subgroups to meet on specifi c topics, or to organize community activities which will increase community interest and participation in brownfi elds redevelopment decisions.

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The Role of Community-based Organizations in Brownfield Redevelopment

Over the past 30 years, federal and state level policies and regulations began responding to the needs of communities by providing volunteer developers with liability protections, funding for cleanup, and technical assistance. In response to these policies, communities across American started transforming these long abandoned or underutilized sites into community resources. CBOs play a key role in these efforts.

CBOs have diverse missions that address a variety of issues typically relating to health, equity, poverty, and education. Though the mission, size, and structure of CBOs differ depending on the community and purpose, a CBO is generally more effective at tackling local needs because its staff and volunteers, as residents or business owners, have a direct stake in the community.

The CBO’s Role in the Brownfield Redevelopment Process

Due to the volunteer nature of many CBOs, these groups are often limited in their capacity to garner funding, take on wide-scale projects, or implement comprehensive programs. While CBOs are not necessarily incorporated nonprofits, community development corporations (CDC) usually fall into a tax-exempt IRS designation. CDCs typically evolve out of a CBO’s desire to implement a program or economic development
project that requires procurement of funding from public and private entities. There are three roles that CBOs and/or CDCs may assume in brownfield revitalization projects:

1. Community Advocate: residents and CBOs
2. Collaborator: CBOs/ CDCs seeking development partners
3. Primary Developer: CDCs developing a specific site

A CBO, and even an individual, can determine what type of stakeholder it is by considering what it is able to bring to the brownfields table—whether it be community support, skills such as organizing, outreach, and education, financial support, or, perhaps most importantly, whether or not the group owns or is seeking to obtain ownership of a brownfields property.