Economic Development: With a budget stretched thin, how about PROCESS incentives?

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work." Thomas Edison

The Franklin Economic Development Commission spent a total of 30 minutes on Monday evening discussing possible incentives to commercial/business development the city. Unfortunately, no one present beside myself had attended the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Development Process Review Committee (the EDC representative to the ad hoc committee, Jim Kerr, was absent), so redundant specific process issues -- already addressed in a detailed plan staff proposal distributed at the Development Process Review Committee meeting -- dominated the early discussion. 

Given a city budget with no room for offering financial subsidies (and the fact that these subsidies tend to bite you back), I proposed taking advantage of the soon-to-be unveiled streamlined development process by offering PROCESS incentives to developers willing to meet certain yet-to-be-defined "Development Targets."

The snarled knot of fishing line that represents our current development process makes it nearly impossible to offer any sort of process relief. In other words -- using yet another metaphor --  if you're facing a giant tangle of logs, removing any one of them arbitrarily can bring the whole mess down. However, once we have an orderly structure, choosing which fees, waiting periods, approvals, etc. to waive or minimize can be done effectively and to the advantage of the developer.

As I noted when Franklin Automotive came to the EDC inquiring about possible incentives (see link for detailed explanation and graphics), there are opportunities early in the development process to improve poor site designs, unimaginative building plans, and to add other proven, market-friendly elements that spur further positive growth in the community. It's becoming clear, after all, that communities which can offer a diverse selection of neighborhoods, stores, businesses and public spaces are best weathering these tough economic times.

I noted in this space how the city's leading developer, Mark Carstensen, remarked that as far as he was concerned, building a Traditional Neighborhood Development-type (TND) subdivision -- the kind that has seen big success in communities across the country -- is impossible in Franklin. In Mequon, however, his company encountered actual incentives to build a TND development, and he reports that everyone was pleased with the end product.

So, I passed out the material below, explaining: We don't talk about process items; there's a committee doing that already (they meet again Thursday night at 5pm; in my chart I "greeked" sample process steps rather than try to attempt to illustrate the actual process). Instead, we leverage the impending improved system by finding a way to assess proposals early so the EDC can act as advocate for certain projects in its advisory capacity to the Common Council.

No one agreed with me. Or disagreed with me - - - My materials (posted below) were not discussed. We adjourned after a total of 59 minutes.

Somewhere, Thomas Edison shook his head in disbelief.

  

 

Download "EDC Development Incentive"

Comments

[Steve O.]

John:
You'll recall that I was (am) supportive of your presentation that we should encourage smarter development that you've outlined above.

You'll also recall that I don't believe in a two tiered approach to our development process. ALL applicants need to be treated well, in a timely manner with a documented, predictable path and timeline.

I also pointed out that the method to accomplish you (our) goals is to properly zone areas of the city based on market based indicators and apply legitimate and delineated design standards.

[John Michlig]

I appreciate your support, but I recall you only having time to say that the city should put ALL projects on a "Fast Track," the practicality of which I would have enjoyed debating further. That discussion did not occur, however.

The linchpin of my suggested approach is that the "Fast Track" is a legitimate carrot that is in fact used successfully in other communities. Mark Carstensen mentioned it at the first Ad Hoc Dev. Review meeting. But we didn't discuss that.

One of the Targets I specify is locational: We should roll up our sleeves and map development priorities. There are, frankly, a range of growth options from smartest to dumbest. This hierarchy should appear as prioritized development sectors on a regional plan map (which we already do to some extent) that is regularly reviewed (which we do not do). But we didn't discuss that. We didn't touch on ANY of the nine points I made on page two of my proposal.

The MAGIC happens when you make it known that you are indeed able to offer incentives at multiple levels (in this case, PROCESS incentives). Just having a map in a dusty closet somewhere doesn't do much more than satisfy the state's Comprehensive Plan mandate. We didn't discuss that, either.

As I noted: Franklin Automotive came before the Commission with a poor site plan and single-purpose buildings (I believe you were absent). We had an opportunity to incentivize a better, market-enhancing project, but could/did not -- for lack of TOOLS and, frankly, AMBITION to do so.