NORTH KINGSTOWN — In a bid to be near the water, green pastures or quaint villages, people have been building homes here for decades.

But for commercial and industrial developers, it’s another story. So said Richard A. Welch, a member of the Economic Development Advisory Board, last night.

Just take a drive down Post Road, he said.

Across from a Honey Dew Donuts shop leans an old house where “the roof rafters are showing and the roof is gone,” Welch told Town Council members during a meeting.

Elsewhere –– among the vacant storefronts –– weeds grow as tall as a man, he added.

“Does this seem enticing” to a major chain or company looking to spend millions on a new store?” Welch asked. Why does Post Road in East Greenwich and Warwick look so different?

The reason, said Welch, is that the town in past years has fostered an anti-business attitude, and that, he says, needs to change. Zoning on Post Road –– some areas allow gas stations but not barber shops –– also needs tweaking, he said.

To encourage companies to build in North Kingstown, the town needs to take four actions, Welch and other advisory board members said.

First, officials must tax new commercial development in stages. Tax breaks are already given to new projects in the Quonset Business Park. Under that plan, companies that build are taxed only on the land the first year, Welch said. The land and buildings are then taxed on a gradual scale in later years.

The same approach should be adopted outside the Quonset area, he said. Business owners who spend money on major renovations should get a break, too, he said. “It’s an incentive for businesses to expand and improve property.”

The town also needs to streamline the permit process for developers, he said. Builders complain that the Zoning Board of Review sometimes fails to attract enough members for a quorum, or that the meetings end promptly at 10 p.m., even though developers have paid lawyers and experts to testify, Welch said.

In addition, the time needed to break ground often takes too long, he said. A few years ago Shaw’s Supermarket considered building a store near the intersection of Routes 4 and 102. But the process took more than a year and Shaw’s pulled out, Welch said. Meanwhile, the town lost nearly $400,000 in tax revenue because the land sat idle, he said.

Finally, the Town Council should meet annually with the zoning board and the Planning Commission, Welch said.

“We think it’s important . . . to have everybody shooting in the same direction, or playing off the same sheet of music.”

Help could come soon. Town planners have submitted a makeover for the 4¼-mile stretch of Post Road. The goal, they say, is to rezone the road, streamline building permits, establish design guidelines and provide developers with incentives to build affordable housing along the commercial strip.

pdavis@projo.com