Developers detail Rome’s challenges
The Business Development Committee is told the process of getting projects started needs some changes.
The common joke among some real estate developers and construction managers in the Rome area is that it can often times take longer to get a project started than it does to actually build it out.
“It’s a bottleneck,” said Devon Michels, construction manager for Ledbetter Properties.
Rome’s new Business Development Committee listened to comments from several local development and construction leaders Wednesday about how to make Rome more business-friendly.
The group — Ira Levy, brothers Charles and Gardener Williams of Charles Williams REIC, Robert Ledbetter Jr. and Michels from Ledbetter Properties and Will Pinson of Pinson’s Inc. — was unanimous in their praise of the staff in Rome’s building inspection and zoning offices, but all said the process itself can be burdensome.
Pinson said the time it takes to go from the initial application for a building permit to final approval can be a stumbling block. He estimated that a $2-3 million project typically takes two to three months to move through the permitting process.
“And time is money,” said Charles Williams. “I would say it is challenging, but we get through it.”
It might be time for Rome and Floyd County to revisit the almost two-decade-old Unified Land Development Code, Charles Williams suggested.
“My experience is much better than it was 25 years ago,” Levy said. “Sometimes it’s not the most pleasant, and it starts with the Historic Preservation Commission.”
City Commissioner Craig McDaniel said an elected body ought to have the final decision in HPC cases. He wondered if ordinances couldn’t be changed to give people a route of appeal if their project is denied by the HPC.
Levy also said he couldn’t understand the requirement for what he called “people cages,” the fenced sidewalk cafes. He also brought up that Rome has one of the highest liquor license fees in the state.
Ledbetter said the first thing his company does when it starts a project is to try to determine exactly
how long it’s going to take.
“We’re all in the customer service business,” he said. “We’ve got to figure out a way to impart that mentality so that the community will benefit from it.”
Levy suggested the city hire someone in the building inspection and fire marshal’s offices whose sole responsibility is to review construction plans.
Ledbetter said designating someone to walk developers through the entire process might be a good way to minimize confusion, particularly for the smaller developers who aren’t as familiar with the steps they need to take.
Ledbetter and Charles Williams both stressed that incentives for developers have also become critical to many projects. Williams said that without the Tax Allocation District financial package, his RiverPoint apartment development now underway next to State Mutual Stadium would not have been economically viable.
Ledbetter Properties is expected to seek TAD assistance for their CityCenter project at Riverside Parkway and Turner McCall Boulevard, when that project gets closer to construction.