Over the past few months, Commerce has undertaken a few “baby steps” that should help the city be more attractive to potential new businesses.
The latest was last Tuesday’s vote authorizing the Sunday sales of alcohol — by the drink in restaurants and by the package in local grocery and convenience stores.
No one should expect a rush of new license requests, an influx of tax revenue or the arrival of new stores and restaurants. Allowing Sunday sales will not cause anyone to get into business, but it can be a factor in whether a business opens in Commerce or somewhere else. Failure to approve Sunday sales might have caused a prospective new business to locate in unincorporated Jackson County just outside of Commerce instead of in the city. Likewise, passage of Sunday sales gives the city a tiny bit of edge over Banks County, where the Sunday sales effort failed.
Meanwhile, the city has submitted its application for “opportunity zone” status to the Department of Community Affairs and could get approval this year. If that is approved, businesses locating (or existing businesses expanding) in the zone in Commerce can get income tax credits of $3,500 per year per full-time employee (starting with the third employee hired). The idea is to encourage redevelopment in established buildings, and the tax incentive — currently not available anywhere else in the area — could make a huge difference in terms not just of attracting new businesses but also in encouraging existing businesses to expand.
Then there is the overlay zoning district, a long-range plan designed to encourage development by improving the appearance of the city’s major thoroughfares. The city council indicated at its recent work session that, having passed the plan earlier, it’s ready to tweak it to reduce confusion and correct shortcomings.
The overlay district will be of little value unless it is uniformly applied and enforced, but it must also allow flexibility to compensate for variations in lot size and shape. The requirements for sidewalks, landscaping and lighting imposed on North Broad Street, for example, should probably not be the same as those required for a new development on Maysville Road; and there are sites on the railroad side of the Maysville Road that just can’t accommodate the sidewalks and parking lot connectivity the plan envisions. Successful implementation of that plan will require diligence on the city’s part, but over two or three decades it will greatly enhance the city’s appearance and make it a more attractive place to do business — and to live.
These changes are important. Once a manufacturing and retail center, Commerce lost jobs in both sectors as the textile and apparel industries collapsed, the population growth shifted to the west side of the county and Banks Crossing became a regional retail hub. Proximity to Interstate 85 suggests that Commerce will eventually regain jobs and tax base from industry, but the redevelopment and improvement of old, ugly and run-down commercial and industrial properties will not only provide jobs and tax base, but will also remove blight and return vitality to long-neglected commercial properties.
There is no quick fix, but there are incremental steps Commerce can take toward revitalization. It’s good to see some of those steps being taken.
