Development strategies outlined for super city.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: Sudbury, Ontario - Brief Article

The word is out at Tom Davies Square. City officials must be more receptive and responsive in championing the needs of business, says the general manager of development and planning services.

The amalgamation of the former regional municipalities into the Greater City of Sudbury has consumed much of the attention of local leaders in 2000. The transition into a super city has resulted in some departmental and roster changes, most notably in naming Doug Nadorozny as the city's general manager of development and planning services.

Though not a career bureaucrat, the former chamber of commerce president says he's excited about the opportunities of merging the two city departments into one cohesive unit of 70 employees and feels his private-sector experience is an asset.

"For the first time in this community we have a co-ordinated and centralized effort around economic development and planning," says Nadorozny, who previously served as the city's Internet expert with e-Sudbury.com and ran an award-winning technology firm. He was owner of the Sudbury-based AMS Group before selling it to computer giant GEAC Canada in 1998.

While the municipality isn't about to rewrite its planning principles for the sake of attracting new jobs, Nadorozny says the new approach is about changing public perception by streamlining the process, cutting red tape and delivering a more "publicly oriented interface" to the system.

"When someone comes to city hail with a pure business idea or a proposal for a business expansion, the attitude we have to leave them with is 'How are we going to get this done,' as opposed to 'This is all the issues we have with your plan,'" Nadorozny says.

To demonstrate this new approach, the city's transition board has approved a $1 million development fund to aid in upgrades to local infrastructure in supporting economic development. In cases where intersections must be widened or municipal services, like fibre optic cable installation to a new development, the city can offer matching dollars to assist developers if there are spinoffs to local business.

For small and medium-sized businesses, Nadorozny intends to eliminate so-called. "nuisance fees" associated with the site planning process that "tend to generate...