INC NEWS - Editorial: DOT bottlenecks; community must maintain careful scrutiny over development (Herald-Sun)

[John Schelp]

Editorial: DOT bottlenecks slow development
Herald-Sun, 07 Sept 2008

In the development business, time is equivalent to money. Delaying approval of a project by weeks or months can mean that rising construction costs cut into profits or threaten to kill the project altogether. 

Or the economy could take a turn for the worse, turning hot interest in a development tepid. Delays can also hurt the community by threatening the jobs the project would have created and the tax revenue it would have generated. 

One place delays occur is when rezoning requests go to the N.C. Department of Transportation for review. The DOT reviews whether the development meets regulations and analyzes its traffic impact. These are key pieces of information for local officials, since a development's adverse impact on traffic obviously needs to be addressed before the bulldozers roll. 

But because of staffing issues and the normal pace of bureaucracy, DOT's review often moves with sloth-like speed. It can take months to get DOT's approval, which can add one to six months to the process, officials say. 

To accelerate the process, developers and some officials are pushing for changes that would permit local boards to vote on projects before DOT approves. Durham Mayor Bill Bell has been one of those raising the idea. 

The impetus behind the change is understandable, but we hope officials proceed cautiously before making sweeping changes. We imagine everyone is opposed to unreasonable bureaucratic delays, but the community must also maintain careful scrutiny over development. 

Since the bottleneck is at DOT, we wish state officials would take action to speed things up. Thoughtful but expedited reports on traffic impact would boost local economies while helping localities make better decisions about managing growth. 

>From our observation, Durham has seen quite a lot of growth and development in recent years, so it doesn't appear that the delays have had a huge impact. Still, in a tight economy, even minor delays could make a big difference. 

It would be unfortunate if Durham lost a well-planned, tax-contributing development only because the builders didn't want to wait six months to get a blessing from Raleigh.