HomeMy WebLinkAbout32- Community Development RIGINAL
CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION
From: Valerie C. Ross, Interim Director Subject: Community Development Department
Process Improvements—Status Report.
Dept: Community Development
Date: August 30, 2010
MCC Date: September 20, 2010
Synopsis of Previous Council Action:
Recommended Motion:
Receive and file.
Valerie C. Ross
Contact Person: Valerie C. Ross Phone: 3330
Supporting data attached: Staff Report Ward(s): Citywide
FUNDING REQUIREMENTS: Amount: N/A
Source:
Acct.Description:
Finance:
Council Notes:
Agenda Item No. 3�
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CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION
STAFF REPORT
Subject:
Community Development Department Process Improvements—Status Report.
Background:
Over the last ten years,the Development Services Department(Planning, Building and Safety,
Engineering Land Development, and Capital Improvements Projects) has been involved in
several different programs aimed at improving the plan check and entitlement processes. Many
of the recommendations dealt with changing the way we do business,while others included
additional staffing and purchasing equipment and technology. As recently as 2007, John Goss
presented his Final Report—Organizational and Business Practice Analysis of the Development
Services Department, with an Emphasis on the Public Works Division.
Mr. Goss reviewed these previous studies, including the Management Partners City of San
Bernardino Organizational Review. Mr. Goss' recommendations included additional professional
and support staffing(on both the CIP team and in Engineering Land Development)and
reassignment of staff. The Mayor and Common Council approved additional staffing, but the
positions were never filled due to budget constraints.
Shortly after his arrival,the City Manager met with members of the development community,
business and neighborhood associations, and others in the community to learn of their concerns
and suggestions for improving the delivery of City services. In particular, in the fall of 2009 the
City Manager met with Mr. John Magness of Hillwood; Mr. Dave Mlynarski of Transtech; and
Mr. Gary Miller of Gary Miller Architecture, Interiors, and Planning. These three members of
the development community have been working in, and with,the City for several years and are
very familiar with the development process, City staff included in the discussion were Interim
Director, Building Official, a representative of the Information Technology(IT)Department ,
and Councilmember Shorett.
In February 2010,the members of this group went to the City of Reno for a first-hand look at
their Community Development customer service operations. In early March 2010, the group had
a Reno"follow-up"meeting to start developing the next steps. This was followed by the Mayor
and Common Council retreat on March 25,26,and 27,2010. As part of the retreat, the City
Manager provided a series of Building a Better Community initiatives which included the
Economic Development and Process Improvements initiatives. The City Manager also presented
his re-organization recommendations.
As part of the preparation of the FY 2010/11 budget, staff established the Permits and Customer
Service program with the goal of integrating the public counter operations of the department to
create a one stop development process. The customer service representatives,permit technicians,
and Building and Engineering Land Development plans examiners are part of this program and
report directly to the Building Official instead of four separate supervisors.
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CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION
STAFF REPORT continued
Status:
Re-organization Efforts
In June 2010, the staff reassignments were completed and cross-training was started. The goal is
to establish a true, one-stop permit center where the permit technicians, customer service
representatives,and plans examiners can handle the majority of counter and telephone inquiries.
The staff members act as a team to assist customers, as opposed to moving the customer from
one department or division to another.
With the re-organization,the Engineering Land Development staff remained with Community
Development and merged with the plan review staff in Building and Safety. However,the
Community Development will be responsible for all on-site improvements, while off-site
improvements (improvements in the public right-of-way) will remain with the Public Works
Department. Cross-training amongst the plans examiners and inspectors continues.
Staff is working with IT to modify PERMITS+,the City's tracking system,to reflect this
programmatic approach. The goal of this effort is to simplify the plans intake and permit
issuance processes. For example,where multiple applications and separate permits are now
required for Engineering Land Development activities(on-site, grading, landscaping,etc.), a
single combination permit is being developed. This will improve efficiency and save time and
thereby, enhance the processes.
Electronic Plan Submittal
Staff has explored various options for electronic or digital plan submittal. In addition to moving
toward a paperless plan review process, a-plan submittals will assist in streamlining the review
process. Staff has identified a consultant that will provide the software and host data storage free
to the City. The applicant will pay a per page user fee. This cost to the applicant will be
considerably less than the charges associated with the current paper submittals. The cost to the
City to implement this approach will be for the purchase of 30"high definition computer
monitors. At this time, it is estimated that eight monitors would be required (two for Building
and Safety,two for Land Development, and one each for Permits& Customer Service, Planning,
Fire,and Public Works) at a total cost of approximately$14,000. Staff is exploring options for
purchasing these monitors.
Along with the elimination of numerous paper plan sets,there are a number of advantages to e-
plan submittals, including the ability to submit both the plans and the plan check fees
electronically, to receive real time updates on the plan check progress, to providing concurrent
review, and to monitor the workloads. Full integration of a-plan submittal should also reduce
duplicative and unnecessary steps in the plan review process.
Interactive Voice Recognition
Currently, a large number of the calls to Community Development are related to inspection
requests and status inquiries. The customer service representatives spend a fair amount of time
taking the information and entering into PERMITS+, With an Interactive Voice Recognition
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CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION
STAFF REPORT continued
(IVR)system, applicants will call directly into the system and their requests will automatically
be entered. The system is currently being tested in the"live"environment and should be
available to the public in mid-September. After a transition period of approximately 90 days, the
system will be fully implemented and the customer service representatives will be able to devote
their time to counter customers and other related duties.
Next .S'teRs
The Community Development Department is establishing a Development Process Partnership
Committee that will include Mr. John Magness, Mr. Dave Mlynarski,Mr. Gary Miller, and
another six or seven representatives from the development community and key department staff.
As needed, representatives from Fire,the Water Department, and Economic Development
Agency will also be a part of this process. The committee will meet quarterly to discuss
development-related issues and continual improvements to the process. Also, it is anticipated that
the development community can provide City staff with training opportunities.
Further, the Community Development Department will continue its cross-training efforts in the
Permits and Customer Service program. In addition, Planning, Building and Safety,and Code
enforcement are developing a schedule for cross-training and coordination meetings to improve
the efficiency of the efforts in the field. Once the one stop permit center is refined,the
department will explore options for incorporating functions (i.e. Business Registration)that are
currently led by other City departments.
Also,with the re-organization, all of the registered engineers were transitioned to the Public
Works Department, leaving no one in Community Development with experience in grading and
drainage issues. Staff is working with the Human Resources Department and City Manager's
Office on a proposal to reallocate existing positions in order to reinstate a Senior Civil Engineer
to address this need.
Finally, Planning and the Building and Safety Divisions are working together to develop
processes for prioritizing major development projects through the entitlement,plan check, and
construction phases of development.
Financial Impact:
N/A.
Recommended Motion:
Receive and file.
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