Editorial: Rock Hill's business tips

Salisbury’s next city manager should study Rock Hill’s example when it comes to making City Hall more business-friendly.

After taking office as Rock Hill’s city manager about two years ago, David Vehaun called together members of the development community and asked them to give it to him straight — what was the city doing well and what was it doing poorly? He came away with a considerable list of ways the city could make navigating city regulations and fees more conducive. Before long, the city adopted 18 initiatives and a new motto: “Open for Business.”

Those steps included such things as cutting business license fees 15 percent and exempting commercial remodelers from stricter rules on parking and signs if a job doesn’t increase the property’s value more than 75 percent.

Rock Hill officials considered the city business-friendly before making the adjustments, Vehaun said at a Salisbury City Council lunch here last week. But it was important to listen to developers and act on their complaints. “A lot of this is perception,” he said.

Perception counts. And it doesn’t take much to create a negative perception in the world of economic development.

Vehaun’s visit fit into City Council’s focus last week on business. While Fibrant and dangerous dogs surfaced as top concerns during the City Council retreat, there also seemed to be renewed vigor in discussions about business development. Council members were vocal about recruiting more retail establishments and expanding the Downtown Salisbury Inc. business model to a wider area, a sign that DSI Director Randy Hemann’s job may be changing. And a business incubator study done several years ago may get a second look.

If the city had as much money as it does vision and ambition, all this would be a done deal. Business recruiters and incubators have pricetags, which is why the city does not already have them. But ramping down city regulations and fees to be more conducive to business development is another thing entirely. Vehaun said the 15 percent reduction in license fees was mostly symbolic — another factor in creating the city’s new business-friendly image.

While some Rock Hill developers would like to see the city’s business license fees go down more, the “Open for Business” initiatives have gotten good reviews from the business people they impact, judging by a Charlotte Business Journal story published last September. “The city is genuinely interested in seeing more development and increasing its tax base,” said Skip Tuttle, a commercial developer. It’s hard to imagine that any city would not want more development and a greater tax base, but sometimes city codes, fees and regulations send a message no one intended.