Policies

INTRODUCTION TO THE POLICIES

As officially adopted positions of the City of Salisbury regarding growth and development, the policy statements contained in the Strategic Growth Plan serve as the basis for future decisions on capital improvements, water and sewer extensions, ordinances, rezoning requests, subdivision approvals, and other similar matters.

Policy Format

Each of the fourteen Policy Categories contained in the Strategic Growth Plan is addressed according to the following format:

Discussion - A brief summary of the issues and relevant findings.

Policy Statement - A statement of local government principle designed to achieve legitimate public objectives related to the issue.

It is important to understand that the narrative contained in these sections is not policy, and does not carry the same degree of importance as the actual policy statements. The narrative is designed to provide background and rationale for the ensuing policy statement. In most instances, the discussion serves to identify a problem or issue, and may present a summary of findings from other sources, including the public involvement program. There is no intent to establish policy within any discussion section, but some clarification as to the intent of the policy statement may be found there. Information presented in the narrative may become outdated and subject to change over time.

The policy statements on the other hand, must be viewed in a wholly different light. As statements of local government principle, the policies should remain basically constant until the next strategic growth plan update is prepared. Frequent changes to the policies would undermine their effectiveness in achieving intended objectives. Indeed, the policies are designed to maintain a consistent and predictable direction for local government decisions affecting the local growth and development of the planning area through the year 2000.

1. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Diversity and quality are words which describe Salisbury's attitude toward economic development. Most area residents are not in favor of having growth simply for growth's sake, but would support new growth that would enhance economic opportunity and the quality of life in the area.

Economic diversity is beneficial in that a diverse and broad-based local economy is less subject to fluctuations in key industry segments which may occur at the national level. Tourism, in particular, was one industry identified by area residents as having good potential for future growth, as well as contributing to the diversity of the local area economic base.

Quality of life considerations in economic development may be viewed from at least two perspectives. First, area residents expressed a strong desire to see that any future economic development will be compatible with the area's existing natural and man-made resources. Second, economic development should seek to capitalize upon existing human resources in the Salisbury area. New businesses and industries which draw upon the existing labor force, or which require area workers to train and upgrade their skills, are especially desired.

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