Let Makers Manufacture in Empty Storefronts
07/25/2024
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By Ilana Preuss
New York and other cities are changing their zoning codes to allow clean, small-scale production in their commercial corridors. Opening up retail spaces to “artisanal manufacturing” has many benefits for communities.
New York City recently enacted the largest overhaul of its commercial and manufacturing zoning codes in sixty years. A key element of the overhaul offers a model for other cities: It gives blanket zoning approval for small, quiet, and clean production businesses in all of the city’s commercial corridors.
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With the emergence of the digital age in the 1980s, the capacity of small-scale manufacturing began to be transformed. Today, small-scale manufacturers are exceptionally good neighbors, with limited space needed. The New York City law contains a limit of three thousand square feet per business. Health and safety regulations remain in place, of course.
Today’s appeal and demand for small-scale manufacturing businesses are strengthened further by the fact that they often combine production facilities with a retail store and even entertainment space. That enables them to play a more enhanced role in the civic life of their communities. Small-scale manufacturers or groups of them can become destinations for local residents and visitors, bringing much-needed economic vitality to neighborhoods and business districts eager for it.
The challenge with outdated zoning laws is that small, clean production businesses typically must seek a conditional rule or zoning waiver, which can take many months, even years. That loss of time can cause the business to lose thousands of dollars in the wait or even trigger bankruptcy, and at the very least is a major impediment to the business’s success.
The conditional rule has been needed because zoning laws generally distinguish only between industrial and residential uses. Small-scale manufacturers are not designated in their own right and therefore are often considered light industry. That makes them ineligible for any kind of commercial space in a residential neighborhood or business district, where they are now desperately needed.
The resulting loss to the community is multidimensional, because the benefits of small-scale manufacturing businesses are profound. Not only do they bring needed energy and spending to communities, but they address other economic needs as well. They provide middle-income jobs that pay better than traditional retail and hospitality positions. They enhance wealth-building across a city’s demographic diversity, as increased business ownership helps address the pervasive racial wealth gap. Black business owners, for instance, have on average twelve times more wealth than Black community members who do not own businesses. Research shows that for every one percent increase in the entrepreneurship rate, the poverty rate decreases by two percent.
Small-scale manufacturers are also likely to be deeply rooted in the community. They typically start as home-based businesses, drawing upon local culture and heritage, and shift to brick-and-mortar settings as they grow. They are therefore likely to hire people and spend money locally.
New York City has adopted a model that could have a major impact on the nation if implemented more broadly. The blanket inclusion of small clean production businesses in commercial areas can fill the vacant storefronts that pockmark our nation, while generating greater economic vitality vital to our communities.
Ilana Preuss is the founder and CEO of Recast City and the author of the new book Recast Your City: How to Save Your Downtown with Small-Scale Manufacturing. Previously, she led the technical assistance program at the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Smart Growth Program and served as the vice president and chief of staff at Smart Growth America. She holds a bachelor’s degree in urban and regional studies from Cornell University and a master’s in city planning from the University of Maryland. She can be reached at ilana@recastcity.com.
Source:Governing
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