County panel: More staff needed to cut red tape at Civic Center

Cutting red tape at the Civic Center won't be easy, speedy or inexpensive.

After 18 months of study, a citizens committee has concluded that hiring more Community Development Agency staffers, launching a sophisticated communication program, training, lowering fees and a variety of other moves are needed to engage the public, boost customer service and speed permit approval.

The panel provided no cost estimate for the ambitious effort, but the tab for new staff, as well as advice officials are likely to seek from communications and related consultants, easily tops several hundred thousand dollars, and could mount to well more than that.

The county's Regulatory Improvements Advisory Committee, which convened and deliberated with help from a facilitator, concluded that easing the permit process will take more hand-holding at the planning counter by generalists skilled in planning and public works disciplines, along with lots of backshop work simplifying, explaining and speeding review procedures.

The 11-member panel, appointed by officials after Lucasfilm abandoned plans for a film studio at Grady Ranch, "identified opportunities to reduce bureaucracy, achieve a more timely process for reviewing development proposals and allow for greater customer choice and flexibility for permit-related services," according to its final report.

Varying improvements are needed regarding time management, permit tracking, staffing, community planning, permit and fee structures, information distribution, agency review and training of design review board members, the panel said.

It called for a sophisticated communication program, using all media as well as public forums, to alert residents about permit procedures, project proposals and planning affairs. It urged officials to simplify regulations, launch an ombudsman system to mediate disputes, create online and "one-stop concierge" permit processing programs, tie permit fees to actual costs, and add a full-time "plan checker" post.

"A concerned public can contribute to project deliberations much more productively and substantively when it is informed and knowledgeable about the purpose of review, its procedural steps, the relevant policies and standards affecting the county's decision, and the milestones involved," the committee noted. "The committee urges the county to organize information in a complete and understandable manner, to make all information accessible in variety of formats, and to actively inform all members of the community about how to successfully participate in the review process."

Service improvements proposals include an ombudsman program "allowing an impartial intermediary to intercede on the behalf of an applicant, or other concerned party, to communicate the nature of the problem and negotiate its resolution with the agency staff." Also needed is a "permit concierge" planning role coordinating information for all parties involved or interested in review of a project, as well as a "multi-disciplinary reviewer" in a sort of front counter traffic cop role.

In short, the committee wants government to smooth the way for projects that meet county regulations, advising applicants, neighbors and others about the rules, requirements and consequences, potential outcomes and roadblocks.

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County panel: More staff needed to cut red tape at Civic Center