Rising Sun forwards employment‑center zoning package to planning commission to attract higher‑paying jobs

Rising Sun’s board voted to send Ordinance 2024‑02, an Employment Center (EC) zoning package, to the planning commission for further work and public hearings. The package lays out permissible uses, development controls and a suite of incentives intended to lure medical, technology, light industrial and other employers that can provide middle‑income jobs.

Town Administrator described the EC district as an economic ecosystem: primary uses would include offices, research, hospitals and manufacturing; secondary uses would be supportive office functions; and ancillary uses would include restaurants and retail that are proportional to primary employment uses. He said the planning commission and state planning staff contributed to drafting and that the measure is not ready for final adoption.

The proposal ties incentives to wage thresholds. The administrator proposed an initial threshold that any business offering salaries to at least 50% of its workforce at or above 80% of the five‑year median individual income (using U.S. Census data) would become eligible for tax and fee relief — examples cited included reductions in real‑estate tax, utility bills and benefit assessment fees. Using illustrative calculations, he showed a hypothetical $10 million property could still yield net fiscal benefit even after discounts and suggested the town could allocate a small percentage of commercial tax receipts to a revolving loan fund for local mom‑and‑pop businesses.

Commissioners approved a motion to forward the ordinance to the planning commission for review; the administrator said a separate ordinance will establish a Rising Sun workforce enterprise program with detailed eligibility and incentive mechanics.