Developers behind the Old English Square project in Holbrook will appear before the town for a second time this month, this time with a scaled-back proposal.

When the Town of Holbrook quashed a mixed-use proposal called Old English Square earlier this year, the development team refused to drop the $40 million project. It instead will return in a series of community meetings this month, recharged and determined to win over dissenters.

The scenario is not uncommon, but developers are becoming more sophisticated in their approach when encountering resistance from communities to their plans.

In April the developers, The Joseph R. Mullins Co., proposed a retail and residential village including condos, retail space, townhouses, restaurants, green space and luxury residential units. They touted benefits such as an additional $830,000 in tax revenues for the town, $3.3 million in additional retail sales for area businesses from new residents and increased consumer traffic and increased property values along Union Street.

But for some residents, the projections weren’t enough and the project failed to garner enough support at the Spring Town Meeting. The core issue then and now is a rezoning change from business to a rail transit district, which would allow development of a parcel of mixed-use land near the community’s commuter rail station. The zoning designation, which would be new to the town, initially concerned administrators because of its potential impact on traffic and community services.

This time around the development team will present a new plan, a scaled-down version that will – for now, at least – include only the retail village.

“The biggest question with the last vote was that people couldn’t get their arms around the size of it,” said Michael Mullins, director of development for the Braintree-based Mullins Co. “Our perception is that the retail village is by far the most broadly liked.”

Mullins said that the team would continue working on the proposal and deliver it to the town in a way that makes residents feel more comfortable. Mullins Co. will host at least three informational sessions this month to discuss the changes and address concerns.

The compromises and setbacks are part of the classic struggle between residents and developers in smaller communities like Holbrook, but how the developers present their project, and court the residents, often mean the difference between approval and dismissal of a development.

Rob Hurst, owner of West Newton’s Proposal Graphics, has helped several developers present their projects to residents in a favorable way. He said there are many tools architects, engineers and developers can use to secure the popular vote on a project.

Community meetings, open houses, improved green spaces or neighborhood enhancements all typically warm up a cool constituency. While some developers focus on the permitting process, Hurst said that it’s the extra efforts that make the difference. On larger projects, architects, engineers and developers sometimes hire a pollster to get a sense of the town or city at large and then present those findings at town meetings.

“It’s making sure that their story is told to the community at large and making sure the curtains are up on a project so that the benefits and costs are debated by an audience, not just 10 people who show up at the town meeting,” Hurst said.

The goal, Hurst said, is making sure plans are in a “digestible and understandable fashion.” Sometimes that means using graphics, designs or other marketing materials to foster understanding. It’s when residents feel they have been blindsided that gets most developers in trouble, Hurst said.

“Victory is defined as getting to the bargaining table,” he said. “Sooner or later you’ll arrive at a compromise that everyone can live with.”

‘No Guarantees’

The development team behind Old English Square began their campaign for resident support early on in the process. Meetings with residents, designed to determine how the team could make Old English Square more attractive, led to the company’s abandonment of rental units in the residential portion of the project. Abutting property owners favored owner-occupied condominiums nearby.

Neighbors also expressed interest in the addition of a recreational field and bike path – both aspects made it into the final design, along with the preservation of 14 acres near Holbrook Lake.

Mullins Co. went even further in their quest to win resident support. They developed an interactive Web site about the project, www.oldenglishsquare.com, and planned three informational meetings this month to discuss changes and address concerns.

Robert C. Buckley, a senior partner in real estate at the Boston law firm of Riemer & Braunstein and a member of the Mullins development team, said that the developers participated in at least 60 meetings about the project.

But despite all the meetings, e-mails and compromises, the developers still aren’t sure what the project’s fate will be at the Planning Board’s meeting later this month. Mullins said he’s cautiously optimistic.

“It’s a very expensive process with no guarantees,” Buckley said.

Buckley said Old English Square has been a tough sell in Holbrook, and opinion has been divided. Long-term residents are resistant to change but newer residents seem willing to embrace the tax benefits of the project during a time of budget constraints.

The dynamics of development are changing, Buckley said, and developers must make more concessions to win over popular support more than they have in past decades.

“People are more educated, more savvy,” he said. “Residents have experienced the traffic jams and the rising cost of sewer and water from developments. They are very in tune to, ‘what will it cost me? What can you do for us?'”

And that makes for a longer, more expensive process, Buckley said.

This month, Holbrook’s Planning Board will take a second look at Old English Square. Developers will ask the town to approve the development in sections, with the retail portion scheduled for review this month. The Mullins Co. hopes that once the first segment is approved and completed, residents will be more likely to approve the remaining phases of the project.

Jeff Lowe, a member of the Holbrook Board of Selectman, said that the development would be an asset to the town.

“The land has been vacant for five years or more,” he said. “It’s an eyesore, it’s just sitting there empty.”

Mullins Co. won about 60 percent of the Town Meeting vote in May but failed to garner the two-thirds majority required for approval. Lowe said there’s a group of strong dissenters that was extremely vocal in opposition at Town Meeting. The Planning Board must sign off on the latest proposal before it again is considered by voters.

“I’m all for it; it’s something the town desperately needs,” he said. “It’s time for Holbrook to light a fire under itself and get going.”

Rick Mcgaughey, a resident who has led opposition to the project, did not immediately return phone calls.

The portion of the project before the Planning Board this month includes 36,000 square feet of new retail and professional space along with 28 residential units, four to six new retail outlets and four to six small businesses. The retail village, designed in traditional New England Colonial architecture, will be located within walking distance of the MBTA stop on the commuter line, making it eligible for the new rail transit district designation for mixed-use development.