Cutting red tape: Citrus Heights aims to boost business-friendly policies

By Sara Beth Williams–
A newly unveiled Economic Development Work Plan approved by the Citrus Heights City Council has refined the road map for business recruitment and retention, informed by demographic data, local real estate assessments, and community feedback.

The five areas of focus include business attraction and development, business retention and expansion, small business support and innovation, marketing and placemaking, and organizational culture.

When it comes to attracting new businesses, the city lists several implementation steps, beginning with improving regulatory processes for businesses. According to the Economic Development plan, “burdensome processes” can delay any manner of projects, drive up costs and discourage both new businesses from coming to Citrus Heights, and local businesses from expanding.

Improving regulatory processes would start with streamlining city zoning and permitting and allowing Minor Use Permits for uses currently requiring Use Permits which would forgo the need for approval from the Planning Commission. Additionally, the city recommends updating the Land Use Table in the Zoning Code to include non-retail uses suitable for retail areas, and to allow the Community Development Director to approve uses that currently exceed use permit thresholds. The use must still be compatible with the surrounding area and not negatively impact the community, the plan states.

Secondly, in order to improve regulatory processes, the city intends to collaborate with partnering agencies and conduct an inventory of third-party agency regulations and processes. In doing so, the city hopes to review and reform regulations directly impacting business development and eliminate duplicative requirements.

“By reducing red tape, clarifying requirements, and streamlining approvals, Citrus Heights can create an even more business-friendly environment that supports growth and development,” the plan states.

The city also aims to “refresh its business recruitment strategy” by identifying and assessing high-target sites for development, creating strong partnerships with current property owners, and increasing outreach efforts through participating in trade shows and direct outreach campaigns.

Additionally, the city intends to reestablish its Business Attraction Incentive Program, which expired June 30 of last year. The incentive program has already proven successful in bringing in targeted businesses that the community desires, the city said, using DarkHeart Brewing as an example. In June of last year, the City Council approved a request for DarkHeart Brewing to receive $86,869 in grant funds through the Business Attraction Incentive Program. The funds were used to help the business relocate to Citrus Heights from a location in unincorporated Sacramento County.

Reestablishing the incentive program involves actively recruiting businesses in “high priority sectors” such as restaurants and entertainment, through offering grants and other financial incentives, the plan states. The Business Attraction Incentive Program also involves identifying vacant and underutilized commercial properties and promoting them through focused marketing campaigns.

In continuing its efforts to increase support for small businesses, the city is proposing the launch of a Small Business Design Program, which would serve to help new and current businesses during the design phase of construction. The program would provide small businesses with subsidized consultations with professional designers.

The Economic Development plan also calls for the creation of a Development Processes Liaison Services role. The liaison would serve as a dedicated representative to guide businesses through development, permitting, and regulatory steps. According to the city, an existing full-time employee in the Economic Development and Community Engagement Department will shift into the liaison role.

Lastly, the city proposes conducting a review of existing business support materials to identify gaps and areas that could be improved. To help provide resources for businesses, the city hopes to create user-friendly checklists for common application processes, enhance the city’s website with tools and updated content on development services, and collaborate with businesses and brokers to ensure materials are “practical and comprehensive.”

The Economic Development Work Plan also lists goals and metrics to measure the success of the three-year plan. Goals listed in relation to business attraction and development include:

• Increasing business occupancy by reducing retail vacancy from 12 percent to 9 percent and office vacancy from 14 percent to 10 percent by 2027.
• Enhancing recruitment efforts by securing five new business commitments in priority industry sectors each year.
• Improving coordination with third-party agencies to simplify development processes and reduce barriers to investment.

The full Economic Development Plan can be viewed in the City Council’s Feb. 12 meeting agenda packet here.

This is part of a series of articles on the city’s Economic Development Work Plan. Subscribe to The Sentinel to stay up-to-date on stories like this and other local news.