CAMBRIDGE, MA — Anthony Galluccio, land use and permitting attorney and law partner at Galluccio & Watson LLP, is issuing a public alert about a common and avoidable risk he sees across communities and careers: moving forward without understanding the process. After decades in public service, law, youth coaching, and charity leadership, Galluccio says the same mistake repeats itself. People rush and decide internally that their project is "good for the community."
"How would you like it if a team of suits came and told you how you should feel about a project in your neighborhood?" Galluccio said. "The first public meeting should be after months of listening and getting to know your neighbors. Start ahead, stay ahead. Start with mistrust and you may never recover."
Public process is Galluccio's trademark. Some clients resist it but they either listen or learn the hard way. "Treat people as you would want to be treated if the project was in your neighborhood," he said. "Some developers focus on the real anti-everything activists and then lose the forest through the trees. Loud critical voices are just part of the process and do not write them off as people you can never satisfy. Opposition can be cooled and opponents can become supporters. Good intentions aren't enough."
Galluccio emphasizes that developers are changing the community and must take time to build trust and earn people's support, even if that means compromise. Why is this risk so common? He points to a "bunker mentality" where highly paid teams sit around for months telling each other what a great project it is. Studies show nearly 60% of project delays stem from poor planning or unclear processes, and more than half of people report avoidable stress linked to last-minute decisions. Research suggests 40% of daily actions are habit-driven, meaning unplanned habits often guide outcomes. Communities that lack public engagement in planning processes experience higher conflict and longer approval timelines. Teams that skip preparation meetings are significantly more likely to miss deadlines.
"Speed feels productive," Galluccio said. "But getting real buy-in is what actually moves things forward."
The common trap to avoid is "drinking your own Kool-Aid." Galluccio warns against sitting around the architect's office allowing the project to evolve without public interaction or laying groundwork. While it's important to have a real and feasible project, passing around your own Kool-Aid is not helpful. Real feedback must be obtained before the project is introduced. It will take months and years to recover good faith in the community.
"Permitting isn't fast work. It's trust-based work," Galluccio said. "Community process saves people time later. You either invest it upfront or pay for it later."
To help people assess their risk, Galluccio offers a quick self-check. Questions include: Did you skip community process before introducing the project? Do you allow created deadlines rather than actual benchmarks control the process? Do you rely on urgency instead of preparation? Do you resent challenging questions? Do you assume approval is appropriate without confirmation? Do you see compromise as failure? If you answered "yes" to three or more, the risk likely applies.
Galluccio provides a simple decision tree: If you feel rushed, refine success as getting feasible entitlements approved on a reasonable timeline. If you feel unclear about outcomes, be fluid in allowing the project to change with community input. If you feel resistance from others, encourage process that creates specific requests so the project becomes "theirs" not "yours." If you feel overwhelmed, remind yourself that no one is entitled to permits; they must be earned.
"Every day is like a game. You win, you reflect and get better; you lose, you get to practice and get better," Galluccio said. "Accept this is a journey and if it were easy everyone could do it."
He calls on developers to comfort the community before they are unnerved, telling them there will be another meeting before the first one starts. "Community anxiety is the enemy. Trust is built when you show up consistently and respond to concerns," he said. "You have to get beat up, endure, and prove to the community you are worthy of partnership."
