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................ III Ways to Selectively Influence Growth G. Curtis Branscome The concept of"selective growth" sug- Another valid generalization is that growth gents that you can fine tune a local and development do not reduce the local tax economy. I disagree. My thesis is that burden. Obviously, putting a large General the local economy is like the national econ- Motors plant in a small city makes a differ- omy and is not susceptible to fine tuning. ence. In general, however, densely developed You can do some things to heat up the econ- communities have significant tax burdens. omy, but you cannot predetermine how "hot" More services may be generated, and they it is going to become. You can do some may be more sophisticated services than be- things to cool down the economy, but you fore local growth, but you usually do not find cannot predetermine how cold it is going to lower taxes. get. The city of Decatur tries to use an eco-Playing the growth/no-growth game is like nomic development program to selectively in- playing Russian roulette. You never know fluence growth in the city. The program's six when you are going to shoot yourself in the elements include available land, adequate in- head. Growth takes on a life of its own, and frastructure, attractive business and develop- • developers often do not recognize when the ment environment, skilled labor supply, re- cycle is over. Overbuilding results, and you duction of front-end costs and risks, and end up with the Denver experience of this de- provision of capital at reasonable cost. cade—millions of square feet of"see through" office buildings. Conversely, if a community has the reputation of being a no- Available Land growth area and then changes its mind, the It is fairly obvious that if you want growth courting of the development community is a and development to occur, you have to have long and hard process. land available for it. This may appear to be The growth/no-growth choice is a political an uncontrollable element. You either have one, and either choice requires political sup- land or you do not. It is difficult to create port if it is to be maintained. Political support new land and hard to make it disappear. for either position may change significantly There are ways to control the availability based on the economy. of land. The adoption and enforcement of flood plain ordinances reduce available land in the flood plains. The acquisition of land for ®A local government that cares to parks and open space reduces the land avail- able for development. A few years ago, there influence what happens in its community still has a powerful tool to use in its zoningwas discussion of residential development of a fairly steep hillside above a flood plain, devel- powers.® opment that the city determined was not de- sirable. Fortunately, the city was able to buy the property at a reasonable price and desig- Local governments may be able to influ- nate it as open space. Purchase of land is the ence growth, but they cannot control growth. ultimate in land use control, but it usually is It cannot be turned on and off like a spigot. too expensive an option for a local govern- Regional and national economies have tre- ment. III mendous influence on what happens in local The best way that local government has to development—probably more influence than influence the availability of land is through local government policies have. zoning. Decatur's selective growth strategy is based on a firm commitment to the preserva • - G.Curtis Branscome is city manager of Decatur,Georgia. tion of its residential neighborhoods and a 6 PM August 1988 4 r F r