Rowan County’s plan to move government offices into West End Plaza took a logical step forward Tuesday when the Salisbury Planning Board unanimously approved a Conditional District Overlay.

The plan the county has outlined would put the Veterans Service Office in an appropriate spot behind Thelma’s Restaurant, where veterans hang out for free coffee, doughnuts and camaraderie every Tuesday morning. The Board of Elections would set up office near Badcock Furniture in a space that long ago housed a drug store. And maintenance would move into the former Big Lots at the end of the mall.

But what the planning board OK’d is much more general. The board set conditions — a visual block between outdoor storage and residences behind the mall, and no outdoor kennels, landfills or wastewater plants. City approval would be required for a major expansion, but otherwise the entire mall and the property on which it sits could be used for any other government  service.

This sounds a little like the “blank check” some feared several months ago  when it appeared the county might aggressively pull its offices out of downtown. Last fall’s county commissioners election relieved some of those fears, but there’s always another election around the bend.

Still, as a property owner the county should be able to use the mall property as it sees fit, within reasonable limits. The planning board has approved a set of conditions; now it’s up to City Council to decide if they are adequate. There’s one more condition we’d like to see — “as long as city and county officials work together to do what’s best for the entire community” — but that would be totally subjective and impossible to define.