Summary of Outreach Performed by OMC for PDT 13-1 and WG 13-1 application <br />Prepared by Sandy Thorns, October 7, 2013 <br />Marketing is NOT Outreach! <br />2 years of marketing, but NO OUTREACH - outreach without any actions is not outreach. <br />Oakleigh Meadow Cohousing (OMC) has submitted a long list of what they are calling outreach. OMC is <br />listing every one of their marketing events and calling 'it outreach. Movie viewings, Easter egg hunts, ice <br />cream socials, Christmas tree cuttings, home shows, etc. are NOT opportunities for neighbors to speak <br />up and address concerns. In fact, they hid behind family gatherings to make it so uncomfortable to ask <br />any difficult questions that almost all neighbors stopped coming to their events anymore. <br />CIVIC held one required meeting, which was actually an open house, at the River Road annex in <br />February. They sent fliers to the neighborhood saying they would like input from the neighbors to <br />address concerns and use this information to shape the development. OMC managed to turn this, too, <br />into a marketing event. I was greeted upon entering with being asked if I would like to see the drawings <br />of what the units would look like, invited to have a cookie. I expected to be walking into a meeting with <br />rows of chairs for the neighbors, a flip chart for writing down questions, and an opportunity to ask the <br />tough questions. Nothing like this happened. More pretty pictures of the buildings and the creation of <br />an awkward atmosphere for asking difficult question. <br />I had gone to this meeting determined to ask these questions, as was my neighbor who had come with <br />me and was angry at the non-meeting atmosphere. Despite the uncomfortable atmosphere, we started <br />asking questions about our concerns regarding the traffic, the size of the development, the huge impact <br />on the neighbors/environment, the ability to financially complete this once you get this land use change <br />through, and got instantly defensive and non-factual answers. The following are a few of the answers I <br />was given. <br />• "We are going have 29 bicycles on the street, not 29 cars" <br />• "We don't know the financial answers, we are trusting our professionals for that" <br />• "We don't know if the city will approve this much traffic. We'll just have to wait for the <br />hearing." <br />• "You just have to understand, we will ,be different!" - In a forceful tone, I would like to <br />add! <br />• "You will have to wait for the hearing for answers to that question." This was the answer <br />to most of my questions. <br />