Jan. 14--Leaders of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce didn't elaborate recently when they accused the local government of hampering business development, but some local business owners say they can guess what issues sparked the debate.

"I've always been concerned with what I consider the negative business atmosphere in Clarke County," said Ron Schwartz, owner of Trumps Catering in downtown Athens.

Business owners have to "raise a stink," Schwartz said, for county leaders to recognize how certain regulations and fees hurt downtown businesses owners.

Chamber of Commerce President Larry McKinney didn't point to any specific issues when he announced last Sunday that the chamber will develop a scorecard to rate local leaders' dedication to business development. Chamber directors also are considering a political action committee to support pro-business candidates, according to McKinney.

But Schwartz and others who own downtown, hospitality-oriented businesses complain about recent decisions -- including a 3 percent excise tax on liquor, increased fees for sidewalk cafes and debate about whether to ban smoking in restaurants and bars.

"They don't understand the good relationship this government should have with the business community. They just don't embrace the relationship that the hospitality industry and government should share," Schwartz said.

But store owner Andy Gibson doesn't have anything to complain about -- yet.

As the owner of 40-year-old George Gibson's Menswear and son of the original owner, Gibson plans to move from his Colonial Promenade at Beechwood location to a newly renovated building on Baxter Street sometime this year.

He's a little apprehensive of the permitting process and worried about tales he's heard of other people's difficulty getting permission from county offices.

"You hear stories," Gibson said.

But from his own experience, the government has helped businesses like his in a way that isn't usually classified as a "pro-business" initiative.

"The county plans to put a police substation across the street from our new store and that was integral in our decision," Gibson said.

The segment of the business community that's grumbled the most throughout the past few months about the government's dedication -- or lack of dedication -- to business are the people who make a living from building or developing property. Most of them were affected by one of three moratoriums the government placed on conservation subdivisions, mobile homes and apartments through much of 2003.

"I've seen some things that happened (in 2003) that I thought were anti-business," said local land planner Rex Gonnsen. "We had three moratoriums, one right after the other. My opinions, and I expressed this at the public hearings, is that moratoriums are for emergencies." The decision to stop development shouldn't be taken lightly, Gonnsen said.

"Economically, for the county, building is huge. I don't think that the moratoriums were necessary," said Jon Williams, a land planner and officer in the Athens Area Homebuilders Association.

Stopping development -- even for a short time -- has a trickle-down effect on the economy that commissioners didn't consider enough, Williams said.

"If you take a single project -- it may be a $5 million project -- all that money gets distributed to the plumbers and the electricians, to the land planners and the landscapers," he explained.

"A lot of the residential developers have gone to Oconee County, but it's for various reasons," Gonnsen said. "There are reasons that have nothing to do with the government." Not all developers agree with the opinion that Athens-Clarke County leaders squelch development.

"I think the government over the past three or four years has changed dramatically and become more pro-business by mixing business and quality-of-life concerns," said Smith Wilson, a local developer and historic preservationist.

Decisions that make certain development more difficult now will pay off in the long term, Wilson said.

On the other hand, Wilson was annoyed by chamber leaders' vague criticism of government officials' efforts to foster a healthy economy.

As a member of the Classic Center Authority, the quasi-governmental group that operates the community's civic center, Wilson was angry when the chamber opposed a Classic Center plan to build a downtown hotel.

The group was "absolutely" hypocritical, Wilson said, when it took a stance against the hotel, which supporters of the project argued is necessary to bring large conventions to town.

Chamber officials will study commission voting records from official meeting minutes and issue a report in a few weeks, according to McKinney, who has refused to identify which votes most concern business owners.

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(c) 2004, Athens Banner-Herald, Ga. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.