Planning, Zoning, and Land Use Law
Our professional city planner and attorney offers full planning and zoning services to municipalities, counties, states, and developers. Our staff includes Daniel Lauber, President of the American Institute of Certified Planners (2002–2005, 1992–1994) and President of the American Planning Association (1985–1986). Click “Contact Us” to request additional information. Click here for Daniel’s planning and law resume.
Prevent Neighborhood Opposition & Win Zoning Approval for Your Development, Even if it is a LULU
Imagine applying the legal and planning skills that have won zoning approval for NIMBYs or LULUs (Locally Unwanted Land Uses) to your development project, large or small. Imagine winning neighborhood support and preventing neighborhood opposition from even getting started.
That’s what Planning/Communications has been doing for nearly 30 years. We have successfully represented development proposals that typically generate vociferous neighborhood opposition, including a drive-in bank in a high–class suburb’s residential neighborhood; multiple–family housing in a hostile single–family community; and countless group homes, recovery communities, and halfway houses for people with disabilities — the sort of proposals that tend to stir up prospective neighbors.
We know how to make a worthy development proposal desirable to the prospective neighbors. We have successfully approached the surrounding community at an early stage and not only prevented substantial neighborhood opposition from forming, but garnered substantial neighborhood support for developments that ordinarily face significant opposition. We can help you fine–tune your development proposal to win neighborhood support —reducing the length of time needed to win zoning approval and avoid any need to go to court.
Whether you seek to build a large development, affordable housing for households with modest incomes, or a community residence for people with disabilities, we have the unique skills and extensive experience to provide the legal representation or expert witnessing you need to get a fair hearing from the city and from the neighbors — and a decision based on the facts presented, not myths and misconceptions.
Imagine having these skills working on the side of your proposal, be it for a single lot or a major development. Think of the time and money you’ll save, not to mention the headaches and ulcers you’ll avoid. For more, click here. Click “Contact Us” to request additional information. Click here for Daniel’s planning and law resume.
The Affordable Housing Authority
Click here for affordable housing services, resources, and clients.
Community Residences and Fair HousingGroup Homes, Halfway Houses, and Recovery Communities
We are nationally known for our pioneering work beginning in 1974 to bring rationality to the zoning for “community residences” for people with disabilities: group homes, halfway houses, and recovery communities.
Click here for information on and resources for legal zoning for community residences.
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Click here to contact Planning/Communications.
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Daniel Lauber’s resume.
Analyses of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice
Time to prepare your community’s Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice? Realize that conducting the analysis yourself is an inherent conflict of interest and puts staff in an impossible position?
Click here to see how we can conduct a genuinely fair and balanced AI that meets the standards of the “Westchester County Doctrine” and HUD’s likely new standards. See the latest innovative and thorough award–winning “AI” we have conducted which one leading fair housing expert calls “the gold standard” of AIs. Click for testimonials.
Surveys: Housing Needs, Community Views, and More
Want to conduct a really accurate random-sample survey to determine your community’s needs, such as housing, employment, commuting, or economic development? Tired of surveys that produce a self–selecting 15% response rate that does not represent the entire community?
Using a variety of tools to encourage responses, the most recent random-sample survey of residents we conducted for a Chicago suburb produced a 66% response rate — assuring that the sample actually does represent the entire community. For more information, please call Daniel Lauber at 708/366-5200 or email him.
Achieving Stable, Racially-Integrated Communities
With apologies to rock stars Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe, “What’s so funny about stable, racially–integrated communities?” See how the extreme levels of racially–segregated housing keep America from being all it can be — for all its citizens. Discover the techniques cities use to achieve and maintain stable, racially–integrated communities. To download the PDF file of the study, click here and then select “Save” from the drop-down menu in Adobe Acrobat. You can also view the study online. This is a work in progress.
What would the Chicago area look like if the housing market were free of racial discrimination?
Click here to download a copy of Black, White and Shades of Brown: Fair Housing and Economic Opportunity in the Chicago Region. This report identifies what the racial composition of each of 117 Chicago suburbs would be if racial discrimination did not distort the housing market and income, not race, was the principle determinant of where people live. Fascinating reading from the late, great Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities. It’s an 11.9 megabyte file.
Also available is the April 2005 study Long Island Fair Housing: A State of Inequity — Institutional and Structural Racism in Housing: The Status of Current Enforcement Systems and Recommendations For Improvement by the organization ERASE Racism. Left click to view the study; right click to download it.
Click here for our computer division.
Our convenient Job Quest Online Bookstore includes everything in our printed Job Quest Catalog plus 100 more career books, videos, and software applications. Includes easy search for titles and Item ID codes, additional and thorough information on many career books, videos, and software programs, and Express Order. Save 20% on the Job Finder books we publish (insert the code JFONLINE during checkout at our Job Quest Online Bookstore).
You can view or download our latest Job Quest Catalog
by clicking here. It's a 3.3 MB download.
Requires Acrobat Reader, version 7 or higher.
Excerpts and free updates to our highly–regarded Job Finder books
Work Songs (to lighten your job–search load)
“Powerful roadmap for success.”
“Not a touchy–feely book…
“breathe new life into your buried dreams” Click here for more.
New books due in 2011
Presidential Election 2008:
Study Finds Obama Has More Experience Than Most Rivals
Which of the Presidential candidates in the primaries had the most experience as an elected official? According to a study by the researchers at Planning/Communications, it’s not who the campaign rhetoric suggests.
Topping the principal Democratic contenders was Senator Barack Obama with … Click here for more