Paying The Piper

City officials in Farmers Branch are hungry. They are hungry for some new restaurants to eat at as well as the tax money new restaurants would bring to their city. So according to the Dallas Morning News, city are doing a survey of their citizens to find out what type of restaurants they'd like built in their town. The city's list includes 11 chain restaurant, or you can write in your own favorite easting place. The restaurants that made the list either don't have a restaurant in Farmers Branch or were suggested by City Council members. Once the city has the results of the survey, they plan to pitch the idea of building a restaurant in Farmers Branch to the top choices.

So why the dearth of good eating places in Farmers Branch? Well, part of it is the city's close proximity to Addison, the "restaurant capital of Texas," a problem Carollton has as well. But according to the News, there's another reason:

But years ago, restaurant developers chose to locate in surrounding cities, largely because of Carrollton ordinances that weren't considered to be developer friendly and the city's alcohol restrictions.

Farmers Branch officials have said similar reasons caused restaurant developers to choose sites in other cities.

What? I thought cities were free to impose any kind of restrictions and regulations on developers they wanted? That such costs would simply be passed on to the customers. You mean that if local governments impose overly burdensome regulations on business that business will simply go elsewhere? That's exactly what this means. Local government officials need to realize that their decisions are not made in a vacuum. For every rule, every regulation, there is a price to be paid.