As part of efforts to make Alexandria more attractive to small businesses and entrepreneurs, the city manager is recommending changes to the town’s process for issuing permits. Business owners and the chamber of commerce have complained about cumbersome procedures tying up changes such as putting outdoor tables at a restaurant. They are particularly critical of the process for the special use permits required for many kinds of businesses.

These permits normally take 42 to 82 days to process, according to the city’s application instructions. The bureaucracy has led to a regional perception that Alexandria is not business friendly, Alexandria Chamber of Commerce Director Rick Dorman said.

“The (special use permit) process is in a quagmire,” Dorman said. “We’ve lost a lot of opportunities because it’s just impossible.”

Dorman described examples: a hotel owner that had to wait two years to remove a tennis court; a gym that had to threaten a lawsuit to open.

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“This means months in the approval process and these months correspond into dollars,” city business facilitator Tom Fairchild said.

A new report, crafted by a task force of small business and civic association representatives, suggests reducing the kinds of businesses requiring a special use permit. Some of these include light auto repair and catering businesses located in office or industrial parks, small private schools, and restaurants in shopping centers. The report also includes a list of smaller recommendations, which will be presented to City Council tonight. Among the list: Ensuring all city departments accept cash and checks as well as credit cards; training staff to provide better customer service; putting chairs in the Code Enforcement office; and putting more services online. These recommendations can all be implemented in three to six months, according to the report. Changing the special use policies, however, are described as “part of a continuous discussion.”

Permits require balancing the needs of business owners with those of citizens, said Bill Reagan, task force member and the director of the Alexandria Small Business Development Center. The permit laws are designed to protect residents’ quality of life, he said.

mhegstad@dcexaminer.com