Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The path toward a new, prosperous Columbia is possible with a plan and a commitment.
There is a formula for success, thanks to the identification of challenges laid out in the independent, third-party analysis of the property-tax issue in the city.
We now know precisely how high property taxes have stifled growth here over the past 10 years in contrast to the success of cities of comparable size across the state.
The first step is to admit there is a problem and find the resolve to commit to a solution.
For that, we must look to our mayor.
No one else has the leverage to bridge the interests of sometimes-competing economic entities (think the University of South Carolina, numerous city and county councils, local chambers of commerce, multi-county economic development organizations and even various neighborhood associations); no one else has the bully pulpit to present a positive, unified message to recruit investment across economic sectors; and no one else has the authority to unify and streamline the energy and efforts of the city’s business and economic development offices to invite and promote growth.
Only the mayor can do that. When led by a powerful voice with a vision, people will not just follow, they will give you their best.
To recap this series, the path forward should look like this:
Streamline and empower the zoning and permitting departments at the city. We need to make the Planning Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, and City Council the only entities someone needs to gain approval from to build a project. We can fast-track good projects developers want to put here but don’t because of red tape and unnecessary costs.
The second step is removing barriers such as on-site parking requirements and allowing developers downtown to add new buildings and increase density to bring additional property taxes and remove deal-killing water and sewer expansion fees. A change in the parking requirement would mean fewer empty parking lots and more actual businesses.
Third, we must make the appearance of our city a priority. Sidewalks, medians, street corners and intersections must be conscientiously landscaped and maintained, an effort that may best be served by privatizing it as has worked elsewhere. Burying power lines and targeting Columbia’s most valuable, highly trafficked corners for development will erase some of our city’s most glaring eyesores. We must take care of the assets we already have that are in disrepair before expanding or adding new projects. If the city makes appearance a priority, perhaps more residents will as well.
Further challenges lie in finding a positive solution to the situation of competing school districts whose desire to attract students has resulted in skyrocketing costs and some of the highest school property tax rates in South Carolina and lowering Columbia’s excessively high commercial property tax rate by at least 25 percent to be able to better compete economically.
With a mayor who can unify economic development efforts across the city and provide a vision and a plan everyone can believe in, all this is possible. Other cities have proven this.
Columbia can be special and should be. Our advantages — several distinguished institutions of higher learning, the state Capitol and all of state government, the Army’s largest basic training base — provide security and stability. They are not going away, and that is attractive to retail and commercial businesses that depend upon those demographics.
But we must make sure those businesses — the tech firms, the hotels, the restaurants, the retail stores and the more traditional banking and insurance sectors — want to be here because they see a beautiful, well-kept city that makes it easy for them to invest.
It is time that the remarkable economic growth the state of South Carolina and cities of comparable size have enjoyed over the past decade be enjoyed here, too.
Because while it is true a rising tide lifts all boats, it cannot lift a boat with anchors down. Once we lift those anchors, it will be remarkable how fast we rise.
Joe E. Taylor, Jr. is CEO of Park and Washington LLC and a lifelong resident of Columbia. He also served as S.C. Secretary of Commerce from February 2005 through January 2011 and led the state’s efforts to land the national economic deal of the year in 2009 and again in 2010.
WOW...thanks for posting Columbia JAK... I think I have heard most of what was written by the author echoed in this forum or by people in the community... Taxes are way to high and need to be lower.. Tax exempt properties, duplicative public services, and schools are core parts of the problem. The sad part is.. I doubt there is any political will to do anything about it.. Consolidating School Districts seems to make sense.. but the popularly elected school boards and their subsequent administrations will not stand for it... neither will the Columbia City Council or Richland County Council .. which is unfortunate...
I have said before.. look at North Main/Wilson Blvd, Monticello, and Fairfield Roads.. Mostly in Richland One.. as you ride down Wilson BLVD you can tell when you enter Richland Two because you see the subdivision signs magically appear.. you have crossed into District 2.. Random farms and trailer parks.. Richland One.
The commercial development seems fairly robust in Lexington County.. now I can see why when compared to Richland County.. Yes there is still commerical development occurring but it is sluggish and inconsistent at best not to mention there are plenty of vacancies that have only been exacerbated by COVID..
Lots of food for thought in this article. I hope others will read it and prompt action
The idea of increasing density by allowing more townhomes and cottage style developments of a higher density makes a lot of sense but may be opposed by some neighborhoods.. The City's zoning code rewrite is a step in the right direction.. It calls for more density and mixed use development along many of the City's major corridors.. I think North Main from Elmwood to Hyatt Park represents a true opportunity to put this into practice.. The new brewery and office complex at the Stone Manufacturing site near Main and Sunset is a prime example.. but more needs to happen up and down that corridor.. Permitting and Taxes/Fees now explain why things may be happening so slowly. If the City should pilot an effort in the North Main Corridor to streamline permitting and maybe create a special tax district to test some of these ideas for several years and then share some form of after action report. The City did it with its "multi family incentive" program that yielded a slew of new apartment buildings.. They should expand that to include streamline permitting and other types of Form Based Code that allows for expedited project review and permitting along with the tax breaks but focus on a corridor as there may not be an appetite to do it citywide without some data on the impact which this test corridor could provide.
North Main (Elmwood to Monticello), River Drive- (Sunset to the River) , Harden St (Allen Benedict Court), Academy -Marshall St corridor near Prisma Richland, may be good corridors to start off with testing
I think Richland County simply needs to look next door to Sumter County. Sumter had two school districts that resembled a donut.. District #17 would be "hole" and District #2 would be the surrounding dough... District #17 was the favored District and served mostly the City of Sumter while District #2 served the rural outlying area.. The City pushed the State to encourage the merger. The reason, besides taxes and efficiencies was that developable land inside District #17 was scarce thus new subdivision construction was being impacted...Unfortunately most new development preferred District #17. Once the merger occurred the boundaries were redrawn with some of the favored zones being expanded.. mainly Sumter High.. That allowed development to continue into the former District #2 and the westward expansion continued.
Ideally, the Districts would simply improve all the schools in their District.. but that often takes time and most homeowners are not going to buy a home in a questionable zone and gamble and "HOPE" things get better by the time their children move through the various schools. Richland County could certainly benefit.. but I also recognize the school district would be fairly large if merged and could make it even more difficult to manage which is probably some of the considerations in addition to the politics
The idea of increasing density by allowing more townhomes and cottage style developments of a higher density makes a lot of sense but may be opposed by some neighborhoods.. The City's zoning code rewrite is a step in the right direction.. It calls for more density and mixed use development along many of the City's major corridors.. I think North Main from Elmwood to Hyatt Park represents a true opportunity to put this into practice.. The new brewery and office complex at the Stone Manufacturing site near Main and Sunset is a prime example.. but more needs to happen up and down that corridor.. Permitting and Taxes/Fees now explain why things may be happening so slowly. If the City should pilot an effort in the North Main Corridor to streamline permitting and maybe create a special tax district to test some of these ideas for several years and then share some form of after action report. The City did it with its "multi family incentive" program that yielded a slew of new apartment buildings.. They should expand that to include streamline permitting and other types of Form Based Code that allows for expedited project review and permitting along with the tax breaks but focus on a corridor as there may not be an appetite to do it citywide without some data on the impact which this test corridor could provide.
North Main (Elmwood to Monticello), River Drive- (Sunset to the River) , Harden St (Allen Benedict Court), Academy -Marshall St corridor near Prisma Richland, may be good corridors to start off with testing
Love the idea of a pilot and honestly there are plenty of areas we can use as inspiration, places like Germantown in Nashville and Grant Park in Atlanta. There's always pressure to make wholesale change, but being targeted is probably safer in Columbia's case.
I have always said you need to tie the Vista and downtown together which means addressing Assembly St from the University to Elmwood Ave. Then address Elmwood Ave from I256 to Bull St.
Address them how you ask? Make them narrower. More pedestrian friendly.
I do not want to hear well we need them for traffic to USC football games. That says we are screwing Columbia for maybe 5-6 Saturdays a year. Not a good trade.
While an opinion series about how to catch up with peers is worthwhile, it’s good to see a 35% uptick in building permits in Columbia despite, and perhaps partly because of, the pandemic.
I have always said you need to tie the Vista and downtown together which means addressing Assembly St from the University to Elmwood Ave. Then address Elmwood Ave from I256 to Bull St.
Address them how you ask? Make them narrower. More pedestrian friendly.
I do not want to hear well we need them for traffic to USC football games. That says we are screwing Columbia for maybe 5-6 Saturdays a year. Not a good trade.
I suggested before for the best of both worlds and giving people a fun option. Pedestrian bridges or tunnels crisscrossing over and under Assembly Street will bring the best of both worlds for seamless walking without waiting for the lights and keeping the traffic capacity up.
I would also suggest the city getting rid of the Center parking and moving the street lands closer to each other and eliminating a lot of the On street parking too. Widening sidewalks and adding bike lanes.
But that's just my opinion. It would be a huge transformation into downtown but seems like Columbia doesn't want to change
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
