I. INTRODUCTION II. WHAT ARE COMMUNITY BENEFITS AGREEMENTS III. ACCOUNTING FOR THE GROWING INTEREST IN COMMUNITY BENEFIT AGREEMENTS IV. EXAMPLES OF CBAS A. California 1. Hollywood and Highland Center (Los Angeles, 1998) 2. Staples Center (Los Angeles, 2001) 3. LAX Expansion (Los Angeles, 2004) 4. Ballpark Village (San Diego, 2005) 5. Other California CBAs B. New York City 1. Atlantic Yards 2. Columbia University Expansion C. Other Notable CBAs V. PRACTICAL PROBLEMS WITH CBAS A. Community Organizing B. Bargaining Power and Bargaining Tactics C. Money D. Enforcement and Monitoring VI. LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO CBAS A. Consideration B. Standing to Enforce C. Issues Related to the Planning Process VII. CHECKLIST OF ISSUES TO REVIEW IN CONSIDERING THE USE OF CBAS VIII. CONCLUSION I. INTRODUCTION The opportunity to develop a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) typically arises when a developer announces plans to construct a major project, such as a stadium or a theater complex. Local residents and business owners may often welcome these projects, but they may also have legitimate fears, such as: Will the project displace local residents and local businesses, either physically or through gentrification? Will it cause traffic problems and generate noise, pollution, or other nuisances? Will the economic development benefits espoused by the developer actually create jobs that pay a living wage and offer decent benefits for residents in the neighborhood or in a larger geographic community? Will the developer seek and/or welcome public participation in the project design and review of environmental and community impacts? In short, will the developer and the resulting built project be good neighbors? The CBA movement was born in the late 1990s as a mechanism for community groups to organize and work collaboratively to communicate and negotiate directly with developers. CBAs allow community groups to address a multitude of community impacts and opportunities that the host municipality may not have legal authority and/or the political will to discuss otherwise. Usually framed as private agreements (with or without municipal involvement), CBAs may require a developer to mitigate potential impacts of the development. But often they go even farther, asking the developer to work with the community to improve housing, employment options, and recreational and cultural facilities. As a result, CBAs can empower communities to become active participants in the planning process. Because of their potential to improve communities' quality of life, CBAs are becoming increasingly popular. While CBAs are ardently supported by many stakeholders as a tool for obtaining amenities that might otherwise be unavailable, it should not be assumed that they are always ideal vehicles to promote social justice issues. Practical problems--from organizing coalitions of community groups to negotiating with legally and politically sophisticated developers--sometimes combine to make the process of negotiating a successful CBA an unwieldy exercise. Moreover, CBAs have yet to stand the test of judicial review. When they do reach the courts, they will undoubtedly raise numerous issues of contract validity and interpretation. Additionally, where municipalities may be a party to the CBA and/or may give administrative or legislative validity to a privately negotiated agreement, delegation and enforcement issues are likely to arise. This article offers an analysis of legal and policy issues surrounding the development, implementation and enforcement of CBAs. Part II offers a general explanation of CBAs--what they are, what types of benefits they commonly include, and how they are negotiated and finalized. Part III briefly discusses the reasons behind the popularity of CBAs, and explains how they have been tied to smart growth and other social justice issues. …
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