Mayor to form roundtable to talk about development
During Monday night’s Clinton City Council meeting Councilman Zach Farrar told council the city’s requirements for new developments are “in line” with other municipalities.
Farrar gave the report as part of his Clinton Utilities Board update. He told council that developers are required to pay for meters up front and sewer and water standards have to meet a certain criteria to be accepted by the city.
And, Farrar noted, that is what every entity requires.
So why, Mayor Scott Burton asked, do developers say the City of Clinton is hard to work with?
It’s a question the council asked Mayor Burton to explore by setting up a roundtable discussion with a number of stakeholders while the city explores ways to make itself more developer friendly.
The reason this concerns the city?
“We have the industry where people work,” Councilman Jim McBride said. “Then they go home and that’s where they buy their groceries.”
And if those workers don’t live in Clinton and Anderson County that’s sales tax revenue lost.
When the city sends out invitations for its roundtable discussion the list will be long.
Developers will be asked to attend because the city wants their input on why the perception exists that the city is hard to work with.
Natural partners with the city concerning development — Anderson County government officials and the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce, as well as Clinton City and Anderson County Schools systems — will be invited as well.
“We want their input,” McBride said.