results in the community
Supporting Communities
Extensive experience is what sets Sharp Resolutions apart from other conflict resolution providers. While each situation is unique, we have worked with community organizations large and small to help manage, resolve or avoid disputes. Below is a sampling of community organizations who found solutions working with professionals from Sharp Resolutions.
These case study summaries are provided as informational only. Actual results depend on many factors. Contact us for more information. To protect confidentiality, names in some summaries have been changed or removed.
- Residents in West Hollywood Object to House of Blues Opening: Facilitated Dialogues Help
When the House of Blues decided to replace a quiet restaurant with a new blues club, the neighborhood reacted strongly. After a series of facilitated dialogues between House of Blues representatives and concerned residents, several steps were agreed upon and undertaken by the night club to address the neighborhood’s concerns, including: construction of a retaining wall to block the sound; private valet parking to keep cars from parking in the neighborhood; trash pickup times altered so as not to disturb residents at odd hours; and, hours of operation were shortened without substantially affecting club revenues. Additionally, to address any future concerns, monthly dinner meetings were established to discuss and work through them – resulting in no additional facilitated meetings needed. - Residents, Environmental Groups and Businesses Use Facilitation to Resolve Objections to New Quarry Following several years of unsuccessful legal and regulatory challenges, one of the country’s largest highway builders, Granite Construction Company, commenced construction of a quarry at Rosemary’s Mountain in Fallbrook, California to mine aggregate for road and bridge construction. At this initial construction stage, Sharp Resolutions was engaged to facilitate a series of dialogues between Fallbrook community residents, environmental organizations, local businesses and others with Granite Construction Company representatives. The focus of these dialogues was to address a wide variety of issues raised by these groups and the community regarding: air quality health concerns from dust created by the blasting and crushing of rock; traffic congestion issues related to the required widening of highway SR-76; water pollution questions; concerns about noise levels during blasting; and, others. In monthly meetings, Sharp Resolutions expert facilitators guided these concerned residents, community groups, environmentalists, business representatives and Granite Construction through a series of public forum dialogues to assist them in identifying and organizing the primary issues and then mediating consensus solutions to the address them – particularly those relating to pressing concerns about air quality health and highway widening construction. This consensus building process began in 2008 and is still underway; minutes of all dialogues and meetings, air quality monitoring reports and other information relating the quarry’s activities can be viewed in more detail at www.rosemarysquarry.com.
- Urban Mayor Uses Facilitator to Help Get Large Stores to Come In to Low Income Neighborhood A common dilemma in very low income neighborhoods is the very difficult challenge of luring large supermarkets, superstores, restaurant franchises and other businesses to open there. Low income communities not only need the lower prices offered by larger chains, they also urgently need the jobs that would develop locally because of their openings. A large urban city Mayor engaged facilitators to organize and conduct monthly meetings to gather the community’s viewpoints and assist the Mayor’s office in creating a plan that resulted in major commercial chains opening in the neighborhood.
- Community Development Organization Resolves Internal Conflict at Director Level A San Diego community development organization brought in Sharp Resolutions conflict resolution specialists to assist them with a very challenging and common problem in group settings: internal decision-making difficulties involving department directors and the executive director due to some personal friction and disparate viewpoints on how best to accomplish the corporation’s goals. To assist them in dealing with this problem, Sharp Resolutions created and implemented a process specifically designed to fit their unique needs that included three phases: first, by working out personal issues in a series of mediations between the conflicting individuals; second, by facilitating a consensus building process that helped the directors reconfirm their organization’s mission, identify their primary objectives and brainstorm specific solutions acceptable to all; and, third, by training the directors in conflict resolution and consensus building skills to help them to prevent and resolve future issues.
- Facilitated Dialogues Between Neighbors and Homeless Shelter Ease Tension Neighbors in a Southern California community were up in arms over the opening of a St. Joseph Homeless Shelter. They were very concerned that the existence of the shelter would diminish their home values and that homeless people would be sleeping, throwing trash and urinating in their yards. Employees of the shelter were very worried about violence against the homeless. After several facilitated dialogues, tension was eased through airing of everyone’s concerns and agreements were reached regarding timing of food distribution, the entrance and exit points of the shelter and a newsletter to update the neighborhood on the programs provided to the homeless.
- Neighbors’ Anxieties Over Nearby AIDS Hospice Allayed with Facilitated Meetings Residents were alarmed and very worried about the conversion of a home in their neighborhood to serve as a hospice for AIDS patients. They were very concerned about the risk to their children of exposure to the HIV virus and gay men, parking congestion and the very look of the house as a reflection of their neighborhood. Through a series of facilitated meetings, the health and exposure anxieties were allayed, the parking concerns were resolved and the upkeep of the hospice assured. These meetings also created a much greater sense of understanding and empathy between the neighbors, hospice staff and AIDS patients.
- Dangerous Thoroughfare In Neighborhood Is Improved After Facilitated Dialogues with City Council After the killing of numerous neighborhood pets and the threatening the lives and safety of their children, a Southern California neighborhood had had enough. Following a series of complaints, City Council officials set up facilitated dialogues with the neighborhood to discuss the situation resulting in the installation of speed bumps to dramatically decrease the speed of the cars travelling through this route.
- Homeowner and Community Associations Use Mediation to Resolve Disputes When CCR violations and other disputes with individual homeowners cannot be resolved through directs means, Homeowner and Community Associations turn to Sharp Resolution mediators. Usually in a half day or less, the Association and homeowner can work through the issues to create a solution that works for the both sides while maintaining the necessary oversight required for boards, property managers or management staff.
- Community Association Boards of Directors Engage Facilitators for Strategic Planning and Consensus Building Despite their best efforts, occasionally Homeowner/Community Associations and other community groups simply cannot reach consensus. Whether the Association's Board of Directors is grappling with a current controversy or trying to strategically plan for the future, the process can bog down. Sharp Resolutions facilitators are experts at helping boards and other groups work through a variety of sticking points – disparate viewpoints, strong personalities, unending dialogues – to reach consensus efficiently and effectively.
