How can government help economic development in the private sector? Is it by planning which type of businesses should be encouraged? Should subsidies be given to attract a developer or business owner to enter our community? These are questions that need to be discussed by governments and citizens.
I do believe there are some things that government does well. One of the things it can do is encourage a vision. Not a vision that picks which business goes where, but rather a vision for the type of community in which the residents want to live. The worst possible thing that government can do is to think that it can pick losers and winners when it comes to which businesses and buildings should be opened or built. Some officials in Stuart continue to tout the idea of a hotel locating in downtown. They think that all they need do is provide the right incentive and some developer will build and successfully operate a hotel. I have one simple question. If that is the case, why hasn’t a hotel been built?
Some will argue it’s because they would need to take the City Hall-Spoto site to do so. While another excuse is that our four story height limit discourages that development. Perhaps a developer-operator could be found if we allowed a taller building on the city hall site with its picturesque view. However, the real problem with that is Stuart would sell its soul and economic future to enable one developer possible success.
If Stuart is to thrive into the future, its government cannot think that one project of dubious worth that requires us to give up more of our waterfront and our specialness is the key. This would be our Digital Domain, and it is exactly the wrong way to encourage economic development.
Most people who decide to live here do so after being seduced by our life style as a result of spending time here as tourists. The very thing that brings them here is what some want to destroy in the name of economic progress. The only sustainable development is that which is organic in nature. Bureaucrats are not equipped to know what business should be encouraged.
What a government can do is have fast tracking of projects. There should be individuals in government dedicated to shepherding projects through the different departments to get them approved, built and opened. The only time government should stand in the way of a project is when it is clearly not in the city’s interest. The government places parameters such as the height limit or zoning which is how we maintain our quality of life. The marketplace will ultimately dictate what will succeed and what will not.