CASE STUDY
Whitebird - Canyon Hills
Community Outreach and Support-Building for Residential Development
ISSUE|;SUCCESS
Consensus Inc. implemented a community outreach and support-building program for Canyon Hills, a hillside residential development in Sunland-Tujunga consisting of 220 single-family homes, clustered on approximately 186 acres of an 887-acre project site. The community is vocal and active on environmental issues and is focused on protecting its rural, equestrian-oriented character. Demonstrating sensitivity to the community, the developer designed the project to preserve over 700 acres of the Verdugo Mountains as open space and to include a new public equestrian park.
Consensus Inc. joined the project team following seven years of planning by the developer when the Draft EIR was ready to be published and the public hearing process was beginning. Although the developer had met with numerous leaders in the community over the previous seven years, no formal support was obtained by those individuals, and community opposition toward the project was growing. Opponents of the project were organized and misinformation about the project had spread throughout the community. Consensus Inc. worked with the developer to address opponents via dialogue sessions and one-on-one communications. At the same time, a grassroots community outreach effort was implemented to correct misinformation and build support for the project.
