What's the Deal with Certified Sites?

<p>Local officials and economic developers increasingly seek to have certain industrial sites designated as “certified”. But what does that mean exactly? What does the process of getting an industrial site certified entail? Who does the certification? What difference, if any, does certification make?</p> <p>A certified industrial site is one that has undergone a thorough pre-qualification process to determine how ready the site is for development. While the specific site readiness criteria may vary from program to program, they typically address the following:</p> <p>• Land survey with clearly defined property boundaries<br /> • Evidence of clear title and deed<br /> • Water and sewer capacity<br /> • Transportation access<br /> • Sales price for property<br /> • Buildable acres information<br /> • Development constraints related to easements, right-of-ways, judgments, liens, restrictive covenants, etc.<br /> • Environmental assessment (Phase 1)<br /> • Wetlands determination and mitigation<br /> • Soil assessment<br /> • Development plan<br /> • Flood plain map<br /> • Zoning information<br /> • Electric and gas utilities<br /> • Telecommunications infrastructure</p> <p>This lengthy checklist represents an extensive review process that will take some time and resources to complete. The idea is that putting a site through this certification process will demonstrate that it is more “shovel ready” than other possible sites that are not formally certified. Site certification can benefit economic development professionals by providing them with an inventory of pre-qualified industrial sites for which accurate and detailed information is readily available to share with prospective businesses. This makes it easier to pitch certain industrial sites and match [...]</p>