Community Relations and Support Building Program for 150 homes in Port Hueneme, CA

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John Laing Homes, the 2nd largest private home builder in the United States, saw a unique opportunity to build 150 homes on a 17-acre industrial property in the small town of Port Hueneme, a city 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The project fit the city’s changing demographics. No longer considered a naval town, Port Hueneme is the premier West Coast port of call for imported BMWs, Volvos, Mini Coopers and Mitsubishis. The new homes would also help the city ease the largest jobs/housing imbalance in Ventura County by and help meet the state housing mandate.

John Laing Homes faced several obstacles to gain approval for the project. (1) The Port Hueneme City Council needed to approve the project but wanted to make sure there was community support. (2) The Oxnard Harbor District – the local port authority – wanted the John Laing Homes property for a vehicle storage facility to serve its growing inventory of imported cars and threatened to use eminent domain proceedings to take possession. (3) The California Coastal Commission needed to approve an application to rezone the property from light-industrial to residential. The commission’s staff backed the Oxnard Harbor District’s effort, citing a state law that ranks industrial, port-related uses of coastal property as a more appropriate use than residential property in its recommendation to deny the zoning change.

In November 2004, John Laing Homes hired Consensus Planning Group (CPG) to create and implement a strategic public affairs plan to influence public opinion and generate positive outcomes at the Port Hueneme City Council, Oxnard Harbor District and California Coastal Commission. The program, which included community outreach and media relations activities, was aimed at residents, politicians, state agencies, business owners and civic groups.

CPG proactively engaged the local media, resulting in numerous articles in the Ventura County Star, Ventura County Reporter, Vida and the Los Angeles Times that focused on the community’s efforts to plan the future of their community. Television and radio reporters from NBC4 (Los Angeles), KTLA (Los Angeles), KEYT (Santa Barbara/Oxnard) and KNX1070 (Los Angeles) also covered the story at key points in the process.

By conducting community walks, meeting with homeowners, business groups and local Native American representatives, CPG educated residents about the projects and issues and built a network of more than 400 supporters for John Laing Homes. The community pressure and media coverage for the housing development prompted the City Council to support the plan, the port authority to withdraw its interest in the site and helped CPG secure endorsement letters from the local state legislators after they initially stated they would remain neutral.

More than five dozen Port Hueneme residents traveled two hours to San Pedro, California, on buses to attend and testify at the August 9, 2006, Coastal Commission hearing. Commission staff remained unbowed by the support and the port authority’s recent vote to withdraw its plans for the site, and argued that the panel should deny the zoning change. In its presentation, John Laing Homes highlighted the Ventura County Star editorials and testimonials from residents and city officials to illustrate the broad support for its project. After a three-hour hearing, the Coastal Commission overrode the staff recommendation and approved the zoning change on a 7-2 vote.

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