"Do we want to repeat Tamien again and again and again and have our neighborhoods go through it? No," said Willow Glen Neighborhood Association Vice President Ed Rast.

But there is a silver lining. The outcome of Tamien was a revamping of the city's old policy; the policy now provides early notification to residents on upcoming projects. As a result of working with the community on the policy, the San Jose Planning Department also offers Planning 101 workshops and will be releasing a comprehensive planning guide by the end of the year. Rast and other community members are in the early stages of setting neighborhood quality-of-life standards, similar to efforts initiated in San Diego, Seattle and Houston.

The Public Outreach Policy Focus Group—an outcome of the Tamien project—helped recommend the new policy, which the city council unanimously approved last month. Rast, who served on the focus group along with other neighborhood leaders, developers and the city planners, helped formulate the policy.

Kevin Christman, Greater Gardner Coalition chairman, favors the new policy because it will help fellow residents catch developments in the early stages and push for a place at the bargaining table.

However, unlike the average citizen, Christman has a background in architecture and the planning process is clear to him.

"You can't effectively change any of these projects if you don't understand the process," Christman said.

To fill the gap, the planning department began hosting Planning 101 workshops early this year. San Jose Planning Director Stephen Haase and a dozen of his staff have taught these workshops at the request of several neighborhood associations and the United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara County.

The workshops not only offer citizens a glimpse into the complex planning process, but also how to recognize proposed developments and how to respond as a community.

"We've been very willing to take this show on the road to serve the community so they understand the planning process," Haase said.

The workshop is a natural outgrowth of a planning guide Haase has been working on with San José State University. The guide is the "meatier" version of the workshop and will be published by December 2004.

"Planning 101 is terrific," said Burbank/Del Monte Neighborhood Association President Randi Kinman.

Kinman said that at her request, the planning department was able to teach three workshops to 40 residents on a Saturday in July. In addition to Planning 101, the residents attended workshops on high-density housing and in-law apartments.

Kinman also knows first-hand how the Tamien lessons are being utilized in current developments. When KB Home proposed developing the Del Monte Cannery into condominiums, Kinman said she and residents were better equipped to deal with the project.

More importantly, she had partners. Through years of civic work, she had come to know other neighborhood leaders like Rast and North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association Vice President Harvey Darnell. And like other citizens, she had developed key contacts with the city. And since KB Home participated in the policy focus group, she said developers now know they must reach out to the community.

"The difference in attitude and cooperation is certainly different than what we experienced in the Tamien debacle," said Christman.

Ken Eklund, North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association co-secretary/treasurer, said that everyone—developers and residents alike—are more positive. "We do all have to get along if we want things to go smoothly," he said.

Working together, Kinman, Darnell, Willow Glen Neighborhood Association board member Larry Ames, and a host of others organized a meeting and educated neighborhood leaders within a week of learning of the KB Home proposed development, said Rast. Having learned the hard way about the system through Tamien, Rast believes he and other neighborhood leaders can mentor fellow neighborhoods approaching development for the first time.

And Kinman concurred, saying, "We're really excited to work together this time."

Now that the community has organized and demands community standards from its developers, Darnell said he hopes that developers will seek out the community first.

"My hope is that if they're thinking of developing something in our neighborhood that they would come to our neighborhood association board and say, 'We'd like to do this and would like your input,'" Darnell said.