Sustainable Communities - the Commercial Piece- by Cathy Burton

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Sustainable Communities - the Commercial Piece
by Cathy Burton

Anyone who knows me well knows I love to shop. It is almost a hobby for me - you know, finding the best deal, the perfect gift, the hard to find item that my mother can’t find anywhere else, checking out the new store. However.... (of course, there’s a however....) I often wonder how wise we are in the allocation of our finite land resources to embrace an endless march of new retail development which often leaves a wake of older, empty commercial buildings. Some may view this as an “anti-development” attitude, as neighborhoods are often accused of having, but it is not. I prefer to think of it as a “pro SUSTAINABLE” development attitude.

Commercial and industrial development plays a critical role in a healthy community. It provides necessary goods and services, a stable employment market, and a tax base which assists in funding community services and infrastructure. As the population of a community grows, it is reasonable to assume that supporting commercial and industrial development will grow as well. We want people to have jobs. We want to have the dollars for community and government services. We want the businesses in our community to succeed. But we need to be careful that our exuberance for bigger and brighter does not exceed our long-term needs, or we will end up with a useless commercial skeleton of abandoned retail sprawl.

Certainly, our country learned the valuable lesson during the Great Depression and World War II of “use it up, wear it out, make it do.” Perhaps it would be wise to apply that same adage when we are looking at new commercial and retail developments.

I do not think we should give commercial and industrial development carte blanche any more than we do residential development. First, we need to look at whether the use is an appropriate addition to the area for which it is proposed, particularly if it is in or next to a residential neighborhood. The fact is, commercial/industrial development does not sensibly fit into every location. Second, we need to analyze the true net benefit to the community, both immediate and on a larger scale - not just in terms of tax dollars generated, but in terms of the other service it provides. Third, we need to look at whether the location is one that will make the enterprise accessible to its target audience so that it will in fact have a chance to succeed. We must also consider whether there is in fact a need or market for the service. True, not many of us are economists or market analysts, but I do think we can apply some common sense. I think we need to pay some very careful attention to whether or not there is an EXISTING, EMPTY building that could be utilized or retrofitted rather than just assuming that the quick, easy route of building new is the wisest long-term use of our limited land and natural resources. Needless to say, facility and site design, and landscaping and buffering have to play into the formula. And ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS we must look at environmental and infrastructure issues.

Against all this we must balance the fundamental American principle of free enterprise, and the needs for tax dollars and employment. Indiana had the misfortune of leading the nation last year in the number of lost jobs. That is certainly one record we would be happy not to hold. Yes, every community has to find a place to locate heavy industries whose character may not always be what we would want as next-door neighbors. No, we should not and can not expect businesses to carry the whole burden of providing funding for all the services and infrastructure we need to be a healthy, thriving community. And of course, there are going to be differences of what is and is not appropriate, and sometimes, we will have to look for compromises. But we should be proud to drive through EVERY part of our City, whether it’s high end estate homes or heavy industrial, and know that we have held EVERY development to a high standard.

Our community deserves nothing less.

Cathy Burton