Laserfiche WebLink
Transparent Development ervices <br />By George Arimes <br />"I submitted a building permit to expand a business thinking it was going to be <br />easy and quick. Now the city says that I have to go through a nine -month process <br />to get a conditional use permit and go through environmental reviews," Joe Builder <br />complained. "I sure wish someone would've told me this when I first came in to get <br />my project started." <br />All diagrams by George Admes <br />Joe's story is not an uncommon one. <br />Many businesses, builders, contractors, <br />consultants, developers, and home own- Planning <br />ers have horror stories about trying to <br />navigate development review and permit- <br />ting processes. In my experience, a tack of <br />communication and coordination up front, <br />poor handoffs or disjointed steps, complex <br />regulations, and fragmented organization <br />and permitting requirements are com- <br />mon in communities across the country. <br />Fortunately, a growing number of agencies <br />are striving to become more transparent <br />(i.e., easier for customers to understand). <br />This article delves into some concepts of <br />transparency and also examines how plan- <br />ning and zoning practitioners can take ad- <br />vantage of expanded skills to become more <br />professionally versatile. <br />DEVELOPMENT SERVICES AS A <br />BUSINESS AREA <br />Providing development -related services <br />is challenging for local government agen- <br />cies due to the numbers of different staff <br />disciplines and types of regulations that are <br />involved. Simply, "development services" <br />includes any city or county department or <br />division that has to ensure development <br />proposals are consistent with adopted <br />regulations, including planning and land <br />use and environmental, infrastructure, and <br />building safety -related requirements. From <br />a customer -oriented perspective, develop- <br />ment services is a business area that in- <br />cludes any staff that may handle or review a <br />development proposal. <br />• Land Use Planning <br />• Zoning • Streets <br />„Buy • Inge 1 ety <br />• Conditional Uses - • Drainage <br />• Subdivisions • Water Quality <br />• Environmental Protection • Utilities (water, wastewater <br />& electric) <br />"Development Services" <br />Key Business Areas <br />Public Facility <br />Design <br />Building Safety <br />• Commercial Buildings <br />• Residential Buildings <br />• Contractor Trade Permits <br />• Temporary Uses <br />• Green Building <br />® Development services includes a range of business areas tasked with administering <br />different sections of the local development code. <br />Traditionally, local governments have <br />separate planning and zoning, building, <br />environmental, public works, and utility <br />departments. However, in recent decades <br />a number of cities and counties have re- <br />organized to create a single development <br />services agency that includes most or all <br />staff under a single manager (i.e., a plan- <br />ning, building, and development depart- <br />ment; a development services department; <br />or a community development department). <br />Communities may use organizational re- <br />structuring to address customer service, <br />budgetary shortfalls, better management <br />and coordination, or to clarify how the local <br />government's overall development services <br />business area works. However, the bottom <br />line for customers is they have to work with <br />the same staff, no matter how the city or <br />county chooses to organize its departments. <br />CUSTOMER CHALLENGE <br />Who are your customers? In most cases, the <br />customer is the owner (applicant) that sub- <br />ZONINGPRACTICE 10.12 <br />AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION (page 2 <br />