The Government!

I'm not going to talk politics. And this post is not about our wonderful federal government. It is about local governments. In particular either the City or County government that as a business owner you have deal with probably a lot more than you would like. For all the talk and hype that local city and county governments put out about how business friendly they are, complaints about how difficult it is to deal with these entities are some of the most common that I hear. I am all for doing things by the book, but when doing things this way severly hampers someones ability to conduct business I have to question why?

Here are a few of the top complaints:

Business Licenses / Conditional Use Permits: We all want to do the right thing, and to legally operate your business that means getting a business license from the City in which you are (or want ) to be located. A visit to the cities Planning Department will tell you if your use is permitted at the property you desire. If it is, you are lucky! But it still means you will have to shell out some cash for the license. Many times uses may be allowed, but with conditions. These conditions may include drastic improvements to the property such as street improvements, landscaping and installing block walls. You may be required to submit a site plan prepared by an architect along with more fees. If you are required to obtain a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) be prepared to spend some serious money and wait many months. Recently I leased a building to a group that wanted to operate an indoor radio controlled vehicle track. My clients were asked to submit a site plan of the property, a business plan and a traffic study. (Which cost them thousands!) The approval process took five months, and that was quick! Imagine the dilemma this puts a potential buyer or tenant in when they think they have found the right property but won't know if they can legally operate there until they go through this process. What seller or lessor is going to take their property off the market for 5-8 months only to possibly find out that their prospects CUP was denied? If you are in an unincorporated part of the County of San Bernardino you technically need a Minor Use Permit (MUP) or CUP to operate ANY business. When you ask the Counties Planning Department how long it will take to get a MUP or CUP you will be blown away! Six months for an MUP and 12-18 months for a CUP! This problem is so bad that many businesses operate without the Counties approval.

Racking Permits: A client of mine recently told me that it took six months for the City they were in to approve their racking plan and grant them permits to install their pallet racks. Six months! It takes a day or two tops to have an engineer design a racking plan. But it takes the city six months to finally approve it? My clients specifically leased a 30' clear building so that they could use a narrow aisle, wire guided system. For months they could only stack two pallets high while they waited on the city. They now tell everyone they know not to locate there.

Code Enforcement: Again, I am for doing things by the book, but some of these inspectors get pretty nit picky, and some of their requests are downright outlandish. Clients have told me that they: have been cited for having a sidewalk where a they want plants. They have plants where they want a sidewalk. They need to put up a block wall to screen their yard. They need a permit to paint their building.

Other top complaints include dealing with the AQMD or local flood control.

If you have had a problem dealing with your local goverment I want to hear about it.