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| Keeping Connecticut Competitive - Despite the Downturn |
| August 12, 2003 |
| By: John O'Toole, Manager of Economic and Community Development, CL&P |
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Although the economy isn’t exactly cruising along, it’s not a time to abandon economic development initiatives and pass up development opportunities that can generate income for the state and its communities.
CL&P and The United Illuminating Company, through CERC, have launched an effort to build our QuickTracts program, while the Connecticut Economic Development Association (CEDAS) is working to encourage the implementation of “pre-approved” zoning across the state.
Across the United States, only a few hundred significant economic development projects emerge each year. Of those, only a handful have Connecticut on their radar screen.
John F. Sisson, Engagement Manager for Wadley-Donovan Group, says that “Although site location project volume is down 30 to 40 percent from the 2000 high, the projects that are in the works are increasingly asking for an existing building or a site that is ready for building. Having a site or building that is ‘ready to go,’ meeting the requirements of both the site selector and the community’s economic developer, is where the ‘deal’ gets done.”
Given the state’s economic condition, we cannot compete on incentives or develop speculative facilities to accommodate the possibility of a quick relocation, but there are steps we can take to make doing business with Connecticut easier and faster for companies and site selectors – and to make sure the residents of the city or town are happy as well.
CL&P and UI have taken the first step by creating QuickTracts, an online database of sites (accessible via www.QuickTracts.com) ready to break ground within 90-180 days that also have infrastructure within 400 feet. We’re working with towns and cities across the state to designate these properties, identify the types of development suited to the site and to the community, and promote them to the end-users.
We require a commitment from the town to expedite the approval process on the site, as well, before it is accepted into the program.
New York and North Carolina – two of Connecticut’s top competitors – take things a step further by offering “pre-approved” sites. By working in advance to layout acceptable uses (specific industries) – along with appropriate local (Planning & Zoning, Zoning Board of Appeals, Inland Wetlands, Sewer, Conservation, etc.) and state (departments of Transportation, Environmental Protection, etc.) approvals – communities and residents can plan for future development without the pressure of an application hanging over their heads.
Currently, Connecticut’s approval process is long and unpredictable. Consider these two case studies:
Case One
In the ‘90s, the state of Connecticut chose to invest $1 billion to revitalize its flagship public university, the University of Connecticut. As the rebuilding began to transform the campus, an international pharmaceutical company announced that it intended to invest in a state-of-the-art research facility near UConn in order to forge a symbiotic relationship with the university. After several months and much opposition from townspeople, the project was defeated by the local planning and zoning board.
Case Two
A national retailer decides that its business strategy requires a one-million-square-foot distribution facility in eastern Connecticut. The investor spends significant time and resources on the designs and on applications to the necessary state and local authorities. Local officials, after months of deliberations and considerable public outcry, reject the project.
The pre-approval process would have prevented these two reputation-threatening scenarios from occurring because the developers would have known in advance that their projects weren’t suited to these communities.
The QuickTracts program and pre-approved zoning are two initiatives that can help increase Connecticut’s competitiveness at a crucial time. By speeding up the approval process and eliminating land mines, the state and its communities can not only better meet the needs of developers – and therefore attract more development – but also meet the needs of its communities and residents – and attract the right kinds of development.
For more information on QuickTracts, please visit www.QuickTracts.com.
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