HomeMy WebLinkAbout0264.095I
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City of Palo Alto
City lVlanager's Report
TO: HONORABLE CflY COUNCIL
FROM: CITY MANAGER
May]8, ]995
DEPARTME11o'T: PlANNING
DATE: CMR:264:9S
SUBJEC.'T: Permit Streamlining Statns Report
ROOUE.<;T
This is an informational report. and 00 couocil action is required. In February,
1995. the City Manager establisheJ a permit streamlining project, This report
summa .... izes the status of the ploje.---t.
, RECQM1I-1ENJ>ATIQNS
No reoommendations are presented in this report
rolleY IMPUCAIIONS
there are no policy implications in this report.
EXEClJ1'I\TE SUMMARY
Reoently. pennit streamli.'lirig has rereived increased emphasis at the State and
local ~'el. Associations socb as the Santa Oara County Manufacturing Group.
Joint Venture Silicon Valley and the local Chambers c( Commerce have
requested jurisdictions to look ciosely at their ~rmitting processes. Palo Alto
pa,'oopates in these dis-."Ussions and has agreed to undertake such a project.
10e staff has formed a fourteen member Customer Working Panel (CWP) that
includes representatives of an disciplines involved in the pertr'Jttlng process.
Represented are facilities managers. designers. builders, building owners,
tenants, Stanford University and the Chamber of Commerce (list attached).
10e CWP meets e>,ery other Friday with City staff and originally fo .... used on
identif>eaOon of issues to be re,iewed in greater detaIL Consensus h~s been
rea<:hed on categorizing rhe identifJed issues into three groupings:
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t. Quality of Submittals
2. Process
3. Fees and Suffmg
Expediting the permit proces., is a two-way street In order to reduce
turnaround time. the applkant needs to prepare and submit a complete and
occurate application. !n order to facilitate these submittals, thorough, clear
and precise instructions should be prcr.ided by the City to assl.t in the
applicant's preparation. Flow charting all processes would also as.sist the
applicant in understanding the various steps in the project review and oow t.~y
relate to one another. Placing flow charts, forms, and submittal requirements
on the Internet is of great interest to the CWP.
By far. the internal City permit application review process bas rea;ived the
most discussion and raised the most questions. One full meeting of the CWP
was spent with each department and division involved in the review process
explaining the way a Iypkal tenant improvement project moved through the
system. The number of projects processed and the. turnaround time required
was .. lso presented. Currently, the CWP is working on criteria for concurrent
processing of Architectural Review Board (ARB) and building pennit reviews.
" ... hen implemented, this adjustment alone can s.ave up to three weeks in
cob(aining a permit.
W!ule there is limited concern that permits are too expensive. the majority of
the CWP are l1lO!e interested in time s.avings as a major component of the cost
of doing business. The actual plan review may only take City staff a few hours
but the waiting period can be as long as four to six weeks during the peak
COl!Struction periods. Consequer.tly, rontra<.'t plan review semces have been
identifi...->d as one way to mitigate this delay.
Me&tOds of fee collection have been raised as an area that could use
illlprQllement. Utilizing credit card and direct billing would not speed up the
review proces.s in most cases, but would provide improved customer service and
conveni<mce.
Early in these discussions, the CWP and staff concluded that improvements in
the review process should be implemented as they are identifled and deflned,
and not wait for cooclusion of the proje.,.... Although some reflnement may
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require future minor (;hanges to exiMing ordinances, most items (;3n be
implemented as changes to operational procedures.
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Issues and projects that are currently being reviewed include:
· Concurrent pr()(;eSSing of building permit and archite.cturl!l review.
• Development of a master flow chart Lllal describes the permit process.
• Creation of a development review manual.
• P'.acing pennit status on the Internet .
. Investigation of permit tracldng software.
• Defining when certain processes are lK-'tually neressary, such as review by
Utilities.
• Pote.noal of eliminating the fence and sign permits.
• Ways 10 reduce the waiting time before plan review.
• Review of the hazarOOus materials permitting process.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no f'JSCaI impact associated with this report.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSF,ssMtNT
An environmental assessment is no( requ ired "'ith this report.
AITACHMEN'TSjEXHIBITS
Customer Working Panel Member List
. PREPARED BY: Fred Herman. Q1ief Building Official
DEPARTMENT HEAD REVIEW: ~~~~,.,
Dirutor of Planning and
CITY MANAGER APPROV AI-:
~ ity' t
BEl}_ _ STROJNY
Assll>tant ity Manager
CC: Customer Working Panel
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customer W9rlc;iM PaDij)
Chris de Vas. FacIlities ~nager
Bewlett-Pack~rd Laboratories
Susan Frank, Executive Director
Chamber of Commerce
~a19 French
:Keenan Land Company
carolyn JQbnson, Assistant Director
Stanford Shopping Center
Mark JOhnson~ Fac. Proj. Manaqer
Varian AsSociates
Roger Xohler AlA
Richard Penn lngton
The Minimal Space
Connie Martinez, Executive Director
Joint V~ture Silicon Valley Netvork
Demetr10s Triantafyllou, SUpv. Plant Engineering
Space Sys_~ems/Loral
Jeff V&illant~ Mgr. Admin. Services
EPRI
Maurice Werdegar
BlQ& Chalk Cafe
Steve Cohen
Jack , COhen BQilders
Charles HolBan, Desiqner
Curtis Feeny, Exec. VP, Real Estate
Stanf~rd Management Company
city Staff
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Phil SObel. Environmental Compliance Manager, Public WorksfWQCp
Ariel calonne, City Attorney
Ruben Grijalva, Fire Chief
Lisa Crote, Zoning Administrator, Planninq
Ji. Harrington, Senior Engineer. Pub1ic Works/Engineering
Fred Herman, Chief Building Official, Inspection Services Division
Carol Jansen, Ecor~ic ReSOUrces Planning~ Hanagerls Office
Jack Fhl11ips~ Assistant Building Official, Inspection Services Division
olether Rotb. Senior Programmer/Analyst, rnfo~ation Resources
Larzy starr, Assistant Director l Utilities/Operation/KSC
Bernie strojny. Assistant City Manager
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