We talked about the "permit shakedown" last month. Let's take it a step further.
Most local building codes and policies are designed with such facilities as retail establishments or office parks in mind. These are much different from industrial facilities. Industrial facilities often need fewer parking places, different landscaping and sometimes even height variances not required by retail or office facilities.
If you want to make a good reference for your community and indicate that you want to bring high paying industrial jobs to your community, be proactive about these things.
Get ahead of the game and obtain variances up front, perhaps even before the candidate has made the final selection. This may get into issues of confidentiality. Going before a zoning board and asking for variances for a business you can't identify could certainly be a challenge. But one way or another, moving out ahead of these matters will pay off in the long run.
Just remember, your community is building its "resume" with every candidate that comes to your facility or does not. Companies talk to each other, and you will want to get a good reference when companies talk about your community.