103-B: Matrix Consulting Group's report titled, "Management Study of the Permit Process," dated November 17, 2009.pdfATTACHMENT B
Management Study of the Permit Process
CITY OF CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA
matrlix'",
721 Colorado Avenue, Suite 101
Palo Alto, California 94303
v.650.858.0507 f.650.858.0509
November 17, 2009
Table of Contents
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2. ANALYSIS OF PERMIT STAFFING
3. ANALYSIS OF THE PERMIT PROCESS
1
8
17
4. ANALYSIS OF THE AUTOMATED PERMIT INFORMATION SYSTEM 71
5. ANALYSIS OF THE PERMIT CENTER
6. ANALYSIS OF PERMIT ADMINISTRATION
011
81
7. ANALYSIS OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND DESIGN REVIEW COMMITTEE 100
APPENDIX 1- PROFILE 107
APPENDIX 2 - FOCUS GROUPS 133
APPENDIX 3 - COMPARATIVE SURVEY 143
APPENDIX 4 - SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS 156
CITY OF CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA
Management Study of the Permit Process
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The report, which follows, presents the results of the organization and
management analysis of the permit process conducted by the Matrix Consulting Group.
This first chapter introduces the analysis — outlining principal objectives and how
the analysis was conducted, and the executive summary.
1. AUDIT SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES.
The project team conducted a comprehensive organization and management
analysis of the permit process in Cupertino including the existing operations, process,
service levels, and staffing levels. The analysis was to be fact based and include all
aspects of service provision by the City. The analysis focused on:
• Organizational structure, including the division of labor and manager/supervisor
spans of control;
• Effectiveness of staffing and service levels including, but not be limited to, staff
assignments, workload, training, and cost-effectiveness of service levels and
service delivery;
• Opportunities to streamline the permit process; and
• Benchmarks and other objective indicators of program effectiveness.
The approach of the project team in meeting this scope is portrayed below.
• Develop an in-depth understanding of the key issues impacting the permit
process. The Matrix Consulting Group conducted interviews with City staff
involved in the permit process at all levels. Interviews focused on goals and
objectives, management systems, the use of technology, the levels of service
provided by the City, the resources available to provide those services, etc.
• Develop a profile of the divisions involved in the permit process. The Matrix
Consulting Group conducted interviews with City staff and other key staff in the
City to document the current organization of services, the structure and functions
of the Department, budgets, workload data, management systems, inventory of
the infrastructure, etc.
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• Conduct a comparison of the permit processes, program, and practices to `best
management practices.'
• Conduct focus groups to elicit feedback from customers of the City's permit
processes regarding the adequacy of the levels of service provided by the City.
• Evaluate the staffing, organization structure, and service levels in the divisions
involved in the permit process. This included interviews with key staff to develop
an understanding of the current service delivery model, evaluation of the
adequacy of current service levels, work practices, work planning and scheduling
systems, productivity and staffing levels, the plan of organization, and asset
management.
The objective of this assessment was to identify opportunities for improvement in the
operational and economic efficiency of the City in the delivery of permit services and
practicable opportunities for enhancing the quality of its product and services.
2. FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANTS VIEWED CUPERTINO'S PERMIT PROCESS
AS ONE OF THE BEST IN SILICON VALLEY.
As part of the management study of the permitting process, the Matrix Consulting
Group conducted three focus group meetings with a representative sample of
customers of the process. The purpose of the focus group meetings was to obtain
development industry perceptions of Cupertino's permitting process and to assess
overall customer satisfaction.
Overall, the response of the participants in the focus groups regarding the
Cupertino permitting process was quite positive. Most of the participants were involved
in development in many Silicon Valley cities, and they gave Cupertino high grades
relative to their experiences in nearby communities. With respect to staff attitude,
helpfulness, accessibility and reasonableness, the focus group participants ranked
Cupertino among the top three cities, along with Sunnyvale and Santa Clara. They
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generally felt that Cupertino was substantially better than San Jose, Menlo Park and
Palo Alto, and slightly better than Mountain View, Milpitas and Fremont.
The "small town atmosphere" was cited as a Cupertino advantage. Staff
members were generally available when needed, and they exhibited a friendly and
positive attitude. Most participants knew staff members of all departments by name,
and they appreciated the fact that, for any given project, they generally dealt with the
same planner, plan checker, inspector and engineer throughout the entire process. The
word "excellent" was used several times in describing the attitude and professionalism
of staff.
The groups were nearly unanimous, however, in identifying two major problems
with the Cupertino permitting process: (1) lack of an effective automated on-line
permitting information system, and (2) the City's politically -charged atmosphere relative
to development and growth.
Participants felt that Cupertino lagged far behind adjacent jurisdictions in
providing an efficient, reliable and user-friendly automated/on-line system. They cited
hand-written applications, difficulties in checking the status of an application, and delays
in receiving staff comments and corrections as problems that could be solved by such a
system.
While the politically charged atmosphere was not part and parcel of the
permitting system, it is a major determinant of the overall perception of Cupertino's
attitude toward development and the development industry. Participants recognized the
sharp division of opinion within the community -at -large with regard to development and
growth, which division was reflected within the City Council and between the Council
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and the Planning Commission. The result of this atmosphere for developers was less
predictability, greater risk, greater frustration and unanticipated time delays.
3. THE CITY EMPLOYS A NUMBER OF BEST PRACTICES.
An organizational and management analysis by its nature focuses on
opportunities for improvement. However, there are a number of strengths in the City.
Examples of these strengths are portrayed below.
• The City Council conducts an annual goal setting session to establish the annual
work program for the City — including items related to the land use planning of the
City.
• The Planning Commission members are provided the opportunity to attend the
annual League of California's Cities Planner Institute. Newly appointed
Commission members are provided an orientation by City staff.
• Staff reports provide a discussion of the staff recommendation to the Planning
Commission and identified, where appropriate, alternatives to be considered.
• Planning Commission meetings are televised and prior meetings are archived
and available for viewing of the City's web site.
• The Planning Division is the sole point of contact for the applicant. All planning
permit applications are submitted to the Planning Division counter in the permit
center and routed to other divisions by the Division.
• Building permit plan checks for zoning compliance are typically completed by the
Planning Division on the same day (or within one business day) of receipt from
the Building Division.
• All major planning ordinances and regulations, including the general plan, the
zoning ordinance, and design guidelines are available on-line through the City's
web site. Additionally, Planning Commission agendas (current and prior) and
minutes are available to the public on the website.
• The Building Official conducts weekly training with inspections personnel to
update on new codes, convey code interpretations, etc.
• Over-the-counter building permit plan check service is generally available for
very small residential projects (250 sq. ft. or less) that can be reviewed by
Building Division staff in less than thirty (30) minutes, and for very small
commercial projects which can be reviewed by Building Division and Fire District
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staff in less than thirty (30) minutes. Commercial over-the-counter plan checks
are made only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, between the hours of
1.30 and 2.30 p.m. Fire District staff is available only at these times.
• Over 40% of building permits are issued over the counter.
• The Building Division has published "target dates" for plan review submittals,
including for express (5 business days), new construction (10 business days),
and tenant improvement (10 business days).
• A one -stop shop exists for submittal of permit applications.
• Building inspection requests are responded to by a Building Inspector within one
workday of request.
• Inspections can be requested online, via fax, e-mail, and telephone.
• Combination inspectors are assigned to general geographical locations and
conduct all types of inspections within their respective area.
• Inspectors utilize hand-held devices to record and upload inspection results.
• The Building Division allows the phased permits such as foundation -only permits.
• The Engineering Division publishes commercial and residential guides on-line
that identify how the development process works (including cycle times), and the
types of information that need to be submitted, and to whom.
These strengths provide a sound basis for further enhancements.
4. AGENDA FOR IMPROVEMENT OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
DEPARTMENT.
In developing recommendations for the improvement of the permit process, the
project team was guided by a philosophy that Cupertino should be the "best of the best."
That philosophy, and its impact on the permitting process, is reflected in a publication of
the American Planning Association entitled The Development Review Process. A
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Means To A Nobler and Greater End.' The publication indicated that to be the "best of
the best", a City's permitting process needs to deliver:
• Predictability including clear expectations, no surprises, and a clear decision
process with decision points;
• Fair treatment with rules that are the same for everyone with the offering of trust
to applicants by the City and the demonstration of trustworthy behavior by the
City;
• Accurate and accessible information that is easy to find and understand, with
clear applicant requirements and standards;
• Timely processing that establishes early tentative dates for hearings,
guaranteed review turnaround times. And published commission and council
meeting dates;
• Reasonable and fair costs for application fees, impact fees, and development
commitments;
• Competent staff with a team that possesses a balance of "hard" technical skills
and "soft" people skills;
• Elegant regulations that fit the circumstances of Cupertino, are easy to
navigate, are rational, and that contain desired outcomes not requiring
"herculean" efforts top attain.
The report itself contains over 100 recommendations. It is important for the City,
as it begins to implement these recommendations, not to get lost in the volume and
number of recommendations. One of the first steps should be that the Community
Development Director develop a plan of implementation for the recommendations
contained within this report for the review and approval of the City Manager.
The recommendations contained within the report are summarized in the
appendix.
American Planning Association, Zoning Practice, The Development Review Process: A Means To A
Nobler and Greater End, January 2005.
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The principal opportunities for improvement that apply to all aspects of the permit
process address the City's need for better technology management accountability, a
streamlined process, enhanced training for employees. To that end, the top five
recommendations regarding the permit process are presented below.
(1) A fully functional automated permit information system. Use of technology to
enhancer the management of the building, planning, and engineering permit
processes including:
• Acquire and fully deploy an automated permit information system; and
• Fund technology expenditures with a technology fee to be assessed on
building, planning, and engineering permits.
(2) Clarity of regulations - Strive for clear and understandable regulations that
provide developers real guidance and direction at the very conception of their
project (e.g., Heart of the City Specific Plan).
(3) Simplification of the permit process - streamline the planning and building
permit plan check processes by simplifying a complicated process for minor
permits, and empowering staff and the Planning Commission with additional
decision making authority. Overall, the City's permit process is one of the more
convoluted processes observed by the Matrix Consulting Group.
(4) Accountability — Develop and deploy management controls and reporting
systems that enable the City Manager to hold the Community Development
Director, Public Works Director, and Planning, Building, and Engineering division -
heads accountable for meeting cycle time objectives for plan checking.
(5) Training - Staff development in the Building Division, Engineering Division, and
Planning Division so that the staff has the necessary set of skills to effectively
serve the applicant and the community.
The chapters that follow present these recommendations in more detail.
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2. ANALYSIS OF PERMIT STAFFING
This chapter presents an analysis of the staffing requirements for the Community
Development Department and the Engineering Division of the Public Works Department
as it pertains to the processing of planning, building, and engineering permits.
1. STAFFING IN THE PLANNING DIVISION IS SUFFICIENT TO HANDLE
EXISTING CURRENT PLANNING WORKLOAD.
The project team reviewed the recent workload of the current planning function to
determine the appropriateness of existing staffing levels. The first table below outlines
the estimated hours available by a current planner for review activities — assumptions
are made regarding time spent on non -planning functions such as leave time (vacation,
sick, holidays), training, and staff meetings.
Element
Hours
Total Annual Hours
2,080
Holidays
88
Vacation
80
Sick Leave
80
Training
80
Staff Meetings 8 hours per month
96
Administrative Duties/Projects 8 hours per month
96
Total Annual Available Hours Per FTE to Conduct Reviews
1,560
These assumptions show that each full-time employee has, on average, 1,560
hours per year to devote to planning activities. Since the City has made a decision to
have employees involved in both current planning and advanced planning, a portion of
these hours would be allocated to the advanced planning and current planning.
The following tables outlines the current workload experienced by the City of
Cupertino over the last three years. Workload has clearly been declining, a pattern
found in California as a whole. The first table outlines the number of applications, by
type, for the City Planning Division. The second table summarizes applications by
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approval level (to show the workload associated with applications considered at the
staff, Planning Commission, Design Review and City Council approval levels.
Application Workload
By Type of Application / Permit
Application Type
2006
2007
2008
3 Year
Average
Architectural Site Approval
25
19
9
17.7
City Project Applications
3
4
2
3.0
Development Agreements
0
0
0
0.0
Director's Minor Modifications /
Temporary Use Permits
36
38
37
37.0
Environmental Assessments
20
10
10
13.3
Exceptions
14
11
17
14.0
General Plan Amendments
0
0
1
0.3
Interpretations
0
1
0
0.3
Minor Residential Permit
38
34
37
36.3
Modified/Amended
7
3
5
5.0
Municipal Code Amendment
3
1
4
2.7
R-1 Design Review
62
44
32
46.0
Specific Plan Amendments
1
0
1
0.7
Tentative Map
12
12
2
8.7
Tree Removal Permit
17
14
16
15.7
Use Permit
14
11
4
9.7
Variance
2
3
1
2.0
Zoning
6
0
1
2.3
Application Workload
Sorted by Approval Level
2008 / 09
(estimated
based on 6
3 year
Applications by Approval Level
2006 / 07
2007 / 08
month data)
Average
Planning Commission Application
(INT, M, TM, V)
26
8
12
15.3
City Council Applications (CP, GP,
MCA, SPA, TR, U, Z)
34
32
32
32.7
Design Review Committee
Applications (ASA, EXC
45
29
14
29.3
Staff Level (DIR, R, RM)
160
100
90
116.7
Environmental Assessments
12
8
8
9.3
TOTAL
277
177
156
203.3
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The project team evaluated staffing levels based upon the 2008 workload. The
following table summarizes the annual workload for current planning functions based
upon 2008 and applying an estimated number of hours per review for each category of
application based upon user fee studies conducted by the project team with significant
increases in the staff hours per type of permit made for Cupertino based upon the staff -
intensive permit processes used by the City for these types of permits.
Application Type
2008 Workload
Hours to Review
Hours Required
Minor Architectural Site Approval
5
24
120
Major Architectural Site Approval
4
32
128
City Project Applications
2
30
60
Director's Minor Modifications /
Temporary Use Permits
37
16
592
Environmental Assessments
10
60
600
Exceptions
17
32
544
Minor Residential Permit
37
32
1,184
Modified/Amended
5
32
160
Municipal Code Amendment
4
200
800
R-1 Design Review
32
32
1,024
Specific Plan Amendments
1
300
300
Tentative Map
2
32
64
Tree Removal Permit
16
10
160
Minor Use Permit
2
40
80
Major Use Permit
2
120
240
Variance
1
32
32
Zoning
1
150
150
TOTAL
6,238
Important pints to note regarding the data presented in the table are presented below.
• There is an estimated need for 6,238 hours of current planning activity or the
equivalent of almost 4.0 full-time equivalent professional planners.
• Additional staff hours would be required for the coverage of the counter and
building permits. This should not be a significant amount of hours beyond that
required for the planning permit workload.
• In evaluating this balance of workload to available staff, it should be recognized
that the City Planner should not allocate more than one-half of his available work
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hours to current or to long-range planning workload; the remainder should be
allocated to management of the Division.
• This would suggest that only 5.0 full-time equivalent positions authorized for the
Planning Division are actually available for processing planning permits. This
excludes the temporary and unbudgeted Assistant Planner position.
The workload data clearly indicates that the Planning Division has adequate
number of authorized positions to deal responsively with planning permit workload.
The remaining 1.0 planner position within the Planning Division should be utilized
to address the advanced planning services that are necessary to develop and update
regulations that fit the circumstances of Cupertino, are easy to navigate, are rational,
and that contain desired outcomes not requiring "herculean" efforts top attain. In
addition, the City Planner
Recommendation #1: Staffing in the Planning Division is sufficient to handle
existing current planning workloads.
2. THE NUMBER OF BUILDING INSPECTORS IN THE BUILDING DIVISION IS
MORE THAN SUFFICIENT GIVEN CURRENT INSPECTION WORKLOAD.
The primary objective of the Building Inspectors is to conduct building permit field
inspections to ensure commercial and residential construction projects are being
conducted to various codes and standards. Inspectors spend the majority of their time
in the field, with the following outlining a typical day:
• 6:30 to 7:30: plan inspection route, provide 2-hour window to customers, etc.
• 7:30 to 11:30: conduct field stops and inspections
• 11:30 to 12:30: lunch
• 12:30 to 4:00: conduct field stops and inspections
• 4:00 to 4:30: enter and / or upload results of field inspections using the Palm
Pilot and Pentamation
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The project team analyzed workload data to determine the number of inspections
and amount of time spent on inspections for staff within this Division. The level of
inspections workload within the Division has fluctuated over the last three years —
averaging approximately 22,120 total inspections per year based on data obtained from
the City, as shown below for the past three fiscal years:
Year
Number of Inspections
2006 / 2007
24,816
2007/2008
20,147
2008 / 2009
21,398
It is important to note these figures represent the total number of inspections, not
inspection "stops". Typically, each inspection stop includes a multiple number of
inspections. Based on our experience working with other cities, building inspectors
average a little less than 3 (2.95) inspections per inspection stop. Applied to number of
Division inspections above, this equates to approximately 8,655 stops made by
inspectors in FY 2006 / 2007, 6,741 inspection stops in FY 2007 / 2008, and an
estimated 7,169 inspection stops in FY 2008 / 2009.
The benchmark utilized by the project team for the number of inspection stops
per inspector is an average between 12 and 16 on a daily basis. Utilizing an average
personnel availability of 208 working days per year (or 1,664 available hours per
employee after leaves, training time, etc.) for each of the Divisions four (4) building
inspectors, the following table estimates the number of daily inspections stops:
Year
# of Inspections
# of Inspection
Stops (Estimate)
# of Inspection
Stops per Day
(Estimate)
# of Daily Stops /
Inspector @ (3.5
Inspectors)
2006 / 2007
24,816
8,655
41.6
11.9
2007/2008
20,147
6,741
32.4
9.3
2008 / 2009
21,398
7,169
34.5
9.9
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Based on this assessment, there are opportunities to reallocate resources and
enhance the utilization of Division building inspectors. As overall development activity
fluctuates in the City, this directly impacts the number of inspections required. At the
staffing level of three and one-half inspectors, the average daily number of stops ranged
between 10 and 11.
Recommendation #2: Maintain current building inspection staffing levels and,
when workload permits, utilize Building Inspectors for other duties such as plan
checking of residential interior remodels, over-the-counter plan checking, etc.
3. AUTHORIZED STAFFING FOR BUILDING PERMIT PLAN CHECKING AND
COUNTER SERVICES IN THE BUILDING DIVISION IS SUFFICIENT GIVEN
EXISTING WORKLOAD.
The Building Division allocates one Building Inspector to review and process
over-the-counter plan check applications (supported / backed -up by other Building
Inspector personnel as needed), and one Plan Check Engineer to review plans for small
projects (remodels, small additions, etc.), mid -size projects (larger additions, remodels,
etc.), and large -size projects (brand-new homes, major tenant improvements, etc.) The
Counter Technician utilizes a routing sheet during the intake process that includes:
• Basic contact information;
• Project description and number; and
• Routing sheet (for other departments such as public works, fire department, etc.)
Overall, the application review process involves knowledge and activities
associated with the uniform building codes, national electronic codes, plumbing and
mechanical codes, energy and Title 24, sending out correction notices, structural plan
checks, and issuing building permits, and the permit process include reviewing
applications, attending pre -application meetings, and recommending conditions.
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(1) The Building Permit Plan Check Function is Adequately Staffed.
The City has authorized a number of various staff to support the building permit
application process as needed, including the following:
• Building Division: 2 (1 dedicated front -counter building inspector and 1 plan
check engineer, and other building inspectors as back-up when necessary)
• Planning Division: 5 full-time plus 2 interns
• Public Works: 3 technician and engineering positions
• Fire: 2 offsite positions (with designated counter hours on a weekly basis)
• Sanitary: 1 off -site position
During FY 2007 / 2008, the Building Division received and processed 2,177 total
building permits (703 commercial permits and 1,474 residential permits), with 42%
being approved over the counter by the designated front -counter building inspector —
equaling approximately 1,262 building permits requiring routing and approval.
Based on previous user fee studies conducted by the firm for building permits,
the average staff hours required for plan checking a building permit plan is 4.1 hours
(ranging from a high of 30 — 35 hours for large family dwelling, hotels, motels, churches,
etc., to a low of 1 to 4 hours for signs, demos, etc.). Based on this data, the following
table estimates the staffing requirements for the building permit plan check process.
Hours
# of Permits Reviewed
1,262.0
Avg. Hours to Process
4.1
Hours Required
5,174.3
FTE Availability Available Hours per Staff
1,560.0
FTEs Required
3.3
As shown above, over 5,000 hours are utilized to review building permit
applications, or approximately 3.3 full-time equivalent positions. Given the number of
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personnel allocated for possible building permit application review, as well as the
number of contractors being utilize to complete their current workload, the number of
staffing is appropriate given the workload.
Recommendation #3: Continue with the staffing levels that are allocated to
building permit plan checking in the Building Division.
(2) Building Division Staffing Levels for the Front -Counter Are Appropriate.
The full time Building Inspector positions serve as the primary points of contact
for the front counter, provide public information, respond to inquiries regarding
application status and timing, intake applications and plans for review, calculate plan
review and permit fees, and perform over-the-counter plan review for projects with
standard plans and/or simple scope. The administrative support positions primarily
assist with the processing of new permit application submittals, including data entry of
project application information, creation of project files, coordination of sending and
receiving plans that are routed to the appropriate reviewing departments (i.e., public
works, fire, sanitation, etc.), processing plan check fees, collecting fee balances, and
issuing permits. In addition, these positions provide back up support to the counter
function due to absence of either of the primary contacts.
The Building Division's staffing level for its permit intake and processing function
is consistent with jurisdictions of similar permit processing workloads and development
climates. However, the workload of permit counter staff is exacerbated by the lack of an
automated permit information system. Inefficiencies in the current intake and processing
function include:
• Applicants typically complete an application using a paper -based system.
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• The Office Specialist position then inputs the handwritten application information
into the Division's permit information system (Pentamation)
Although existing staffing levels for the Division's permit counter are adequate for
existing workload, an improved permit information system may work to reduce wait time
at the counter, elimination of duplication of effort on data entry, better internal financial
control, and increase the number of over-the-counter project reviews. Further evidence
that suggests adequate staffing is the focus group participants' perception that plan
check turnaround time is more than satisfactory.
Recommendation #4: Continue the adequate level of staffing dedicated to the
Building Division's permit counter.
4. THE AMOUNT OF STAFF AUTHORIZED FOR THE ENGINEERING DIVISION
FOR BUILDING, PLANNING, AND ENGINEERING PERMITS IS
APPROPRIATE.
Currently, the Engineering Division allocates various personnel, as needed,
toward processing the building permits that are routed from the Community
Development Building Division for review. The project team documented the number of
permit applications processed by the Engineering Division for review and approval.
The level of staffing allocated to the Division is sufficient for permit plan checking
of engineering permits, building permits, and planning permits.
Recommendation #5: The Engineering Division should maintain the staffing
authorized for the permit plan check process.
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3. ANALYSIS OF THE PERMIT PROCESS
This chapter presents an analysis of the permit process including planning,
building, and engineering permits. The analysis identifies opportunities to (1) streamline
the process for minor permits, and (2) enhance the management of the process.
Overall, the City's permit process for minor planning permits and minor building
permits is much more complicated than necessary and than that found in the City's
peers. The recommendations of the project team to simplify and streamline the process
are presented in the following sections of this chapter.
1. THE PROCESS FOR MINOR PLANNING PERMITS SHOULD BE
STREAMLINED THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.
One of the "building blocks" of the permit system is the regulatory framework.
The zoning ordinance is the regulatory framework that drives the planning permit
process. There are a number of tradeoffs in the development and administration of
zoning ordinances including:
• Flexibility versus predictability;
• Flexibility versus administrative cost;
• Development cost versus quality;
• Preservation versus development; and
• Under -regulation versus over -regulation.
In considering these tradeoffs, there are a number of lessons to be learned from
other cities. These lessons include striking the right balance between discretionary
review and "as -of -right" development.
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The Matrix Consulting Group does not believe that the City has struck that right
balance. While the Community Development Director is authorized to approve,
conditionally approve, or deny minor planning permits, the minor permit process is
complicated, more so than other comparable cities. Cupertino, for example, requires a
planning permit for:
• Construction of a two-story residence; it is not an "as -of -right" permit;
• All new or expanded second story decks for single family residences with views
into neighboring residential side or rear yards;
• Changing a wood fence to a wrought iron fence in front of a fifteen (15) unit
residential project; and
• Minor landscaping and exterior enhancements for a condominium project.
The Matrix Consulting Group recommends that the process for minor planning
permits be streamlined. There are several alternatives to streamline the minor planning
permit process. These alternatives are presented below.
• Increase the types and extent of minor projects approved at the Director -level.
This could include:
R2/R3/ML/PD — minor architectural and site modifications
Sign, fence, deck, R1 exceptions;
R1 front yard interpretation;
Tandem garage review;
Minor building less than 5,000 square feet including
commercial/office/industrial and four (4) residential units or less —
equivalent to a Director's Architectural and Site Application; and
Minor use permits.
• Increase the approval authority of the Planning Commission;
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• Reduce projects requiring City Council review such as conditional use permit
extensions, appeals of the Director's decision, etc.;
• Permit outright the uses that are currently permitted with minor planning permits
by the Community Development Director, where appropriate, using performance -
based development standards; or
• Permit outright the uses that are currently permitted with minor planning permits
by the Community Development Director with limitations with specific
performance -based development standards).
Many of the conditional uses in the existing zoning ordinance are appropriate
considering the circumstances such as hotels, full -service restaurants, theaters, etc.
This is because site -specific impacts can be considered based upon neighborhood
concerns expressed at public hearings, and appropriate conditions of approval then
applied to minimize impacts. The reasons for requiring minor planning permits for all
new or expanded second story decks for single family residences with views into
neighboring residential side or rear yards are far less clear.
Potential impacts can be addressed with performance standards. These
performance standards are designed to deal with two basic concerns:
• How to minimize the adverse effects that new construction or the use of one's
property can have on its neighbors; and
• How to encourage optimal development patterns and activities within a
community, as expressed in planning policies.
The Matrix Consulting Group recommends a new "limited" designation concept
that would impose standards and performance requirements that recognize the types of
uses and the project conditions that generate adverse effects while streamlining the
minor planning permit process.
The use of performance standards would simplify the use regulations, avoid
extensive reliance on minor planning permits, and streamline approvals by deeming
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such uses permitted subject to codified performance standards. These codified
performance standards would need to be tailored to the type of use.
The streamlining of the process, based upon the application of performance
standards, would expand the number of permits that are permitted, if performance
standards are met. For example:
• Ministerial Review (e.g., plot plan or Director's Review). No discretionary review
and no conditions of approval; subject to codified performance standards.
• Quasi -ministerial review (e.g., tree removal permit). Discretionary review for
CEQA document; conditions of approval may be required; subject to codified
performance standards. No conditions of approval or public hearing; approved by
the Community Development Director
The Matrix Consulting Group believes that the City's processing of minor
planning permits should be streamlined, using performance standards. The process
should be streamlined so that these types of minor development are treated as a
permitted use that would only require a building permit, not a minor planning permit.
This modification to the process would require the development of effective design
guidelines for all of the types of residential development that occur within the City
(single-family and multi -family) and the development of performance standards for this
type of development.
Recommendation #6: The City should streamline the process for minor planning
permits by increasing the number of permitted uses that require quasi -ministerial
review and are subject to codified performance standards.
Recommendation #7: The Planning Division should develop codified performance
standards and requirements for these minor permits for consideration and
approval of the City Council.
Recommendation #8: The approval of these codified performance standards and
requirements by the City Council should be sequenced to the conversion of these
minor planning permits to permitted uses.
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2. THE PLANNING COMMISSION SHOULD BE THE FINAL APPROVAL
AUTHORITY FOR CONDITIONAL USE PERMITS AND VARIANCES.
Section 19.124.060 of the City's zoning ordinance provides that upon receipt of a
recommendation of the Planning Commission pursuant to Section 19.124.050, the City
Council may approve, modify, or disapprove the recommendation of the Planning
Commission for conditional use permits and variances.
This is a highly unusual level of approval for these types of permits. In each of
the peer cities included in the comparative survey, the zoning administrator was
approving conditional use permits and variances. None of the peer cities required the
approval of a Planning Commission and a City Council.
This process is also unusual in that the City Council rarely reverses a decision
made by the Planning Commission.
Section 19.124.060 of the zoning ordinance should be modified. The Planning
Commission should be the final decision -making authority with the City Council having
the right of appeal. This is the role of a planning commission that was envisioned when
these commissions were originally created in the United States: to provide for a public
hearing for land use decisions to enable the input of adjacent property owners and
consideration of that input in land use decisions.
Recommendation #9: Section 19.124.060 of the zoning ordinance should be
modified. The Planning Commission should be the final decision -making
authority for conditional use permits and variances with the City Council having
the right of appeal.
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3. THE PLANNING DIVISION SHOULD
MINOR PLANNING PERMITS OR
RESIDENTS.
NOT WRITE STAFF REPORTS FOR
MAIL PLAN SETS TO ADJACENT
With or without the streamlining of the minor permit process, there are other
steps that the City should take to simplify that process. These steps are presented
below.
• The staff of the Planning Division should not write staff reports for minor
permits. At the present time, staff arte writing 3-page staff reports for such types
of minor permits as:
Constructing a 42 square foot addition to an existing 2-story SFR;
modification to a use permit;
Minor modification to re -landscape the front of an apartment complex;
Minor architectural landscaping and outdoor patio enhancements at an
existing bank;
— Allowing a portion of a 2-car garage to encroach by 1-foot into the 19-foot
front -yard setback; and
Enclose an existing sunroom that is setback 17' from the rear property
line.
This is an inefficient use of the time of the staff of the Planning Division. Staff
should document the findings and conditions of approval for these minor permits
into the automated permit information system. Written reports should not be
developed for these minor permits. This is the typical approach used by the City's
peers; staff in the planning divisions in these peer cities are not writing staff
reports for minor permits.
• The Planning Division should not mail the plan sets for minor permits to
those adjacent property owners that are noticed. These adjacent property
owners should still be noticed. However, these plan sets should be made
available at City Hall if requested. Most other planning divisions in these peer
cities do not even notice these minor permits.
Overall, the process utilized for minor planning permits should be simpler than
the process used for major planning permits. At the present time, the difference is
indistinguishable. Second story residential decks are being treated as if they were major
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land development. While the impact on and interest of adjacent property owners should
not be ignored, the process should be simplified to reflect the scope of the proposed
development.
Recommendation #10: The staff of the Planning Division should not write staff
reports for minor permits.
Recommendation #11: The Planning Division should not mail the plan sets for
minor permits to those adjacent property owners that are noticed.
4. APPEALS OF DECISIONS REGARDING PLANNING PERMITS SHOULD BE
LIMITED TO ONE APPEAL.
At the present time, decisions regarding planning permits may be appealed as
much as two times. These decisions can be appealed to the Planning Commission and
to the City Council. This is an unusual appeal process not utilized in peer cities.
The appeal process should be modified so that only one appeal is possible. The
City Council itself, however, should continue to be able to appeal decisions to the
Council -level itself.
Recommendation #12: The number of appeals that are possible for planning
permits should be limited to one appeal.
5. ELIMINATE THE REQUIREMENT FOR A COVENANT.
An obstacle to permit streamlining is the requirement for the filing of covenants
subsequent to approval of a planning application.
This was a common practice in the 1980's and some cities continued this
practice to ensure that future owners of property or tenants were aware of the
conditions of approval. However, in a 1987 decision, Anza Parking Corp. vs. City of
Burlingame (1987), courts have determined that conditions of approval "run with the
land." As a consequence, most cities have discontinued requiring of the recording of the
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conditions of approval. It is unnecessary.
Recommendation #13: Eliminate the requirement for a filing of covenants
subsequent to approval of a planning application.
6. THE CYCLE TIME OBJECTIVES FOR PLANNING PERMITS SHOULD BE
REDUCED.
The Planning Division does not utilize a set of established plan review cycle
objectives that differ based upon the nature of the application. The Division is following
the statutory requirements that are in place requiring approval or denial of submitted
applications.
The ability to evaluate actual review times and performance data is difficult
because the Planning Division is not utilizing the Pentamation system for tracking of
plan review actions and the existing database that is utilized only captures initial
application date and date of final action (approval or denial by staff, the Planning
Commission, or the City Council). It does not track other relevant dates for applications
such as date application deemed complete, date of first and subsequent reviews (if
applicable), or dates for individual reviews completed by other departments.
The following table summarizes the total processing times for various application
types processed in calendar year 2008, based upon the project team's review and
analysis of the available data in the Planning Division database. This table shows the
average time, in calendar days, from the date of submittal to the date of decision (either
approval or denial). The database also groups items together in broad categories
making evaluation of subsets of applications by type more difficult.
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Type of Application
Cycle Time
Director's Minor Modifications / Temporary Use
35.0
Exception Applications
17.0
R-1 Design Review
45.1
Minor Residential Permit
32.0
Tree Removal
32.7
The Matrix Consulting Group recommends that differential plan review times be
established based upon the size and complexity of the application submission as follow.
Possible calendar date targets for processing different types of applications, based
upon the experience of progressive cities and counties, are presented in the table
below.
The City should establish cycle time objectives for all planning applications for
the length of time -- in calendar days -- required to process applications from the date of
submittal to the date of the applicant's initial public hearing or the approval / disapproval
of the application by staff (for those applications subject to administrative approval).
Possible calendar date benchmarks for processing different types of planning
applications are presented in the table below.
Application Type
Review Times in Calendar Days
Architectural Site Approval
90
Director's Minor Modifications / Temporary Use
30
Exception Applications
30
Minor Residential Permits
30
R-1 Design Review
30
Minor Residential Permit
30
Tree Removal
7
Conditional use permit
60
Variance
60
Parcel Map
60
These possible targets for processing applications are based upon the project
team's experience, and should be reviewed by the City Planner, Community
Development Director, and the City Manager, modified as necessary, and adopted by
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the City Council. Within these processing times, differential time periods for review for
the first submission and re -reviews should also be established. Typically, the re -
submittal plan review timeframe should be established at no more than one-half of the
time review period for initial review.
For the Planning Division to effectively set cycle time objectives and meet them,
it is important to have an effective public education effort and the availability of
application guides that identify, in detail, submittal requirements and that provide
guidance to the applicant.
Case managers accepting applications must conduct a thorough review to
ensure that applications are complete (have all required elements for a review to be
conducted) or to inform the applicant of the missing items.
Recommendation #14: The timelines for processing of planning permits by the
City should be reviewed and revised to provide differential time periods for
review based upon project size and complexity and to differentiate between initial
and re -submittal reviews. Plan review timeframes for re -submittals should be
established at no more than one-half the timeframe required for the initial review.
Recommendation #15: Adopted cycle time objectives for planning permits should
be published to the Department website and prominently displayed in the
Department's application materials.
7. THE PLANNING DIVISION SHOULD MAKE THE TENTATIVE PLANNING
PERMIT APPLICATION SCHEDULE MORE VISIBLE ON ITS WEB PAGE.
The Planning Division has developed a tentative application schedule for
planning permits. However, this schedule is "hidden" in a 34-page planning application
form.
The Division should separate this schedule from the 34-page application form,
and publish it separately to its first web page for the Planning Division in the Planning
"sidebar." The "sidebar" should contain a link to the tentative application schedule.
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Recommendation #16: The Planning Division should separate the tentative
application schedule from the 34-page planning application form, and publish it
separately to its first web page for the Planning Division in the Planning
"sidebar."
8. DEVELOP AND ADOPT PLANNING PERMIT CYCLE TIME AGREEMENTS
WITH APPLICANTS FOR HIGH PRIORITY PROJECTS.
Effective planning permit services are able to provide services in a way that is
quick, consistent and predictable. The recommendations to change the way the
Planning Division provides its planning permit plan check services will help the City
enhance its services.
This is particularly important as the City competes against its peers for
commercial development.
A tool that the Cupertino could utilize to enhance its effectiveness in competing
against its peers for commercial development is the use of cycle time agreements with
applicants for high priority projects. These agreements, which should be used
selectively to further the City's economic development objectives, are simple and highly
effective. The agreements are non -binding and typically are limited to 2-pages in length.
The City could choose, for example, to offer cycle time agreements for:
• Commercial projects in the City's commercial centers;
• Industrial projects that generate or retain over 50 employment opportunities;
• Commercial projects that generate significant new sales tax revenue; and
• Affordable housing projects of 10 units or more.
The City should discuss and decide the types of projects that should be afforded cycle
time agreements and the exact content of the agreement. Cycle time agreements
should include basic project information and a schedule for processing of the planning
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permit plan that includes a schedule for the City and for the applicant.
Recommendation #17: Develop and adopt planning permit cycle time agreements
with applicants for high priority projects.
9. THE PLANNING DIVISION SHOULD NOT REQUIRE ALL OF THE PLANNING
PERMIT APPLICATIONS TO GO THROUGH A PRE -APPLICATION REVIEW.
At the present time, a pre -application conference is required prior to submittal on
all planning permit applications. The purpose of the pre -application conference is to
determine if the application is ready for submittal. The applicant is required to call the
case manager to schedule a time for the review of their application materials. The
Planning Division recommends that the applicant allow enough time prior to the
application deadline to prepare additional information or make changes in case any are
needed.
This practice should be utilized only for complex applications such as conditional
use permits, parcel maps, and architectural and site review permits. It should not be
utilized for routine planning permit applications approved by the Community
Development Director, for example. The applicant should be able to submit an
application in the permit center without pre -application review for routine planning permit
applications. This will require that the Division develop and deploy measures to control
the submittal of incomplete applications other than the pre -application conference.
Recommendation #18: Pre -application conferences should not be required for
routine planning permit applications approved by the Community Development
Director.
10. THE PLANNING DIVISION SHOULD TAKE MEASURES TO REDUCE THE
EXTENT OF INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS.
In the absence of a pre -application conference, the Planning Division could
encounter a significant number of planning permit applications being deemed
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incomplete thirty days after submittal. The Division needs to take steps to assure that
the proportion of applications deemed incomplete after the thirty -day review is relatively
small.
(1) The Planning Division Should Develop and Adopt a Written Policy On
Planning Application Completeness.
This policy should be developed to clarify the responsibility of the Planning
Division staff assigned to the permit center for checking planning applications for
completeness at submittal and rejecting the application if incomplete, the essential
submittal requirements for each type of application to be deemed complete, timelines
for all divisions / departments involved in the 30-day completeness review to provide
comments back to the Planning Division, etc.
Recommendation #19: The Planning Division should develop and adopt a written
policy on planning application completeness and the basis for rejecting
incomplete applications.
Recommendation #20: Training should be provided to the Planning Division staff
assigned to the Permit Center regarding the basis for rejecting planning
applications as incomplete.
(2) The Application Guides Should Be Tailored For Each Type of Planning
Permit and Include All Of The City's Requirements For An Applicant To
Achieve A Complete Submittal.
The Planning Division has developed application forms and guides for its
application types such as conditional use permits, variances, etc. The Planning
Application form, for example, is for all non-residential applications. It contains a list of
all fees charged by the Planning Department. It also contains information required by
the Public Works Department for meeting the C3 requirements for water retention on
site etc. It is 34-pages long.
These application guides need to be customized to each type of permit (i.e.,
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conditional use permit, variance, etc.). The guides should define the required submittal
and application information for the applicant to aid in the development of a complete
application for each specific type of permit. These application guides should not be 34-
pages long. These guides should be approximately 4 to 6 pages in length.
The City Planner should assemble a team of staff for those divisions /
departments involved in the planning permit process and update all of the City's
application guides for planning permits. These guides should include the whole gamut
of application requirements, but the City Planner should exercise authority to assure
these requirements are realistic.
These application guides should include a checklist of submittal requirements
that an applicant has to check off and that requires the applicant's signature. This is
designed to have the applicant self -certify the application includes all of the information
required to achieve a complete submittal. The Division has developed a limited number
of such checklists for parking, for hillside exception applications, tentative maps,
variances, and the CEQA initial study. These checklists should be expanded to included
each application type, and be integrated with the application guide itself for each type of
permit, which is not the case at the present time.
Recommendation #21: Planning application guides should be developed for each
specific type of planning permit to include all of the City's requirements for an
applicant to achieve a complete submittal.
Recommendation #22: These planning permit application guides should be
approximately 4 to 6 pages in length.
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(3) The Case Manager Should Meet With The Applicant To Discuss Issues That
Have Been Found During The Initial Thirty -Day Completeness Review Of
The Application
Applicants for planning permit applications, or their representatives, should be
invited to meet with the case manager and other necessary staff to discuss their
application if it will be deemed incomplete at 30-days. The case manager would inform
the applicant face-to-face about basic problems, if any, with the application being
deemed complete, preliminary environmental findings, basic conditions that might be
imposed, and timing for processing of the application. The meeting would allow the
applicant to meet staff members that are working on the application, and staff could
hear what goals the applicant might have, and what problems the conditions might
cause.
Recommendation #23: The case manager in the Planning Division should meet
with the applicant to discuss issues that have been found during the initial 30-day
completeness review of the application.
(4) The Planning Division Should Provide Training To Consulting Planners,
Architects, Engineers And Developers Regarding Its Planning Permit
Submittal Requirements.
The Planning Division should be proactive and periodically meet with consulting
planners, architects, engineers, and with developers that prepare discretionary permit
applications for submittal to the City and discuss planning permit submittal
requirements. As part of this training, the staff should identify for consulting planners,
architects, and engineers and with developers the most common factors that delay
projects. These discussions should also occur after each submittal when consulting
planners, architects, and engineers are involved in the development of the application
and when they encountered particular problems meeting submittal requirements. The
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training of the consulting planners, architects, engineers and developers should be
viewed as an ongoing responsibility, almost like preventive medicine. The intent is to
prevent a recurring pattern of incomplete submittals.
It is in the Division's best interests to educate applicants, make them aware of
how the City interprets regulations, provide them with examples of acceptable work, and
otherwise help them navigate the process.
Recommendation #24: The Planning Division should provide training to
consulting planners, architects, engineers and developers regarding its planning
permit submittal requirements.
Recommendation #25: The Planning Division should provide training after each
submittal when consulting planners, architects, and engineers are involved in the
development of the application and when they encountered particular problems
meeting submittal requirements.
11. UTILIZE THE AUTOMATED PERMIT INFORMATION SYSTEM TO MANAGE
THE PLANNING, BUILDING, AND ENGINEERING PERMIT APPLICATION
PROCESS.
There are a number of important objectives for the City in the management of the
planning, building, and engineering permit process. These objectives include the
following:
• Consistent interpretation of regulations;
• Clear communication of the process and the requirements;
• The predictability of the process;
• Staff responsiveness;
• Consistency; and
• Accountability for decisions and the management of the process.
The automated permit information system, when fully deployed, should be
utilized to enhance the accountability for management of the process. The approach to
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the use of the automated permit information system to enhance accountability is
presented below.
(1) Monitor and Maintain Case Assignment and Case Status Information in the
Automated Permit Information System.
The current approach to monitoring and maintenance of planning, building, and
engineering permit cases could be improved by effective case management,
supervision, and monitoring using an automated permit information system including:
• Improving management's ability to track project staff's progress;
• Improving staff's ability to track concurrent project developments; and
• Improving the ability of management to manage workload within their division.
Accurate data on workload, by permit type, cyclical variances in activity, and
workload activity by team and by planner are all essential management tools. With this
information, management can make informed, logical decisions regarding staffing,
budgeting, procedures, and organizational structure.
This will necessitate managers, supervisors, and staff to be held accountable for
the timely input and updating of data into the automated permit information system. This
is one of the biggest challenges that cities face in the deployment of these systems.
Recommendation #26: Develop and adopt a written City policy and procedure for
the maintenance of case status information in the automated permit information
system by managers, supervisors, and staff assigned to processing planning,
building and engineering permit applications.
Recommendation #27: Develop and adopt a written City policy and procedure that
assigns responsibility to the division -heads for assuring ongoing maintenance of
case status information in the automated permit information system and that
requires the division -heads to audit the caseload assigned to staff to determine
whether the case is active, is inactive as a result of applicant inaction and should
be terminated, or has been closed and the case should be updated in the
automated permit information system.
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(2) Track And Monitor The Success Or Failure Of Staff Assigned To
Processing Planning, Building, and Engineering Permit Applications In
Meeting Cycle Time Objectives.
The City, once it has established cycle time objectives for planning, building, and
engineering permit applications, should utilize the automated permit information system
to measure and monitor staff performance in meeting these objectives. It is important for
the division -heads to have quantifiable tools to: regulate performance, identify training,
staffing needs, and detect organizational deficiencies. The cycle time objectives can
serve as fair and accurate means to gauge staff performance for the following reasons:
• Staff will know and be familiar with the standards;
• Standards are easily understandable;
• Standards are flexible;
• Standards have been created through their input.
The management reports defined and discussed in a later section of this chapter, if
generated on a regular basis, would track both individual and overall staff performance.
Recommendation #28: The City should hold division -heads in Planning, Building
and Engineering accountable for tracking and monitoring the success or failure
of their staff in meeting cycle time objectives through regular management
information reports generated on a monthly basis by the automated permit
information system.
Recommendation #29: The ability of the staff in the Planning, Building and
Engineering divisions to consistently meet the cycle time objectives should be
integrated into their performance evaluation.
(3) The Division -Heads Should Be Held Accountable For Formally Planning
and Scheduling Planning, Building, and Engineering Permit Applications
Processed By Their Staff Using the Automated Permit Information System.
The division -heads in the Planning, Building and Engineering divisions should be
held accountable for preparing and maintaining a schedule for processing of planning,
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building, and engineering permit applications by their staff. The purpose of the schedule
is to make visible the amount of calendar days required to analyze and reach a decision
on the permit application. The specific objectives related to the design and development
of this system should be as follows:
• To establish a process whereby specific calendar day targets are set for each
application based upon cycle time objectives established by the City;
• To utilize the proposed automated permitting systems to ease the tracking of the
timeliness of the processing of planning permit applications and enable the
division -heads to hold their staff accountable; and
• To generate data sufficient to assist in the assessment of the performance of
these staff in comparison to those cycle time objectives;
Major elements of the system are presented below.
• The division -heads would review incoming applications and analyze application
characteristics, focusing in particular on potential processing difficulties. Once
difficulties are identified, the division -heads would (1) set calendar day targets for
completing the analysis of the application, and (2) set overall staff hours
allocated to the staff for processing the application. The division -head would
review the most recent open case inventory report and note the workload of their
plan checking staff. Cases would then be assigned as appropriate. The division -
head would then enter the cycle time target dates and the name of the staff in the
automated permit information system.
• When projects are first assigned, the staff to whom the permit application is
assigned would review the calendar day and staff hour target established for the
case. If the staff believe that the targets are unreasonable after a review of the
application, those staff should discuss them with the division -head and negotiate
appropriate changes.
• The automated permit information system should be utilized to track the extent to
which the specific cycle time objectives are met, and to `red flag' permits that
exceed these guidelines.
The division -heads should be held accountable for the ongoing maintenance of
this open case inventory and the completion of the processing of permits in accordance
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with the cycle time objectives. The planning and scheduling system should be utilized
to..
• Evaluate employee performance;
• Balance workload among different staff; and
• Quantify the anticipated completion date of various applications given all work in
progress.
The planning and scheduling system should be designed to manage the
workload including reviewing actual progress versus scheduled deadlines and facilitate
the shifting of work assignment and schedules in the face of changing priorities or
►Xl•Ti:7rerro1
Recommendation #30: The division -heads in Planning, Building and Engineering
should formally plan and schedule the permit applications processed by their
staff using the automated permit information system.
Recommendation #31: The division -heads in Planning, Building and Engineering
should be held accountable for the ongoing maintenance of this open case
inventory and the completion of the processing of permits by their staff in
accordance with the cycle time objectives.
(4) Generate Ongoing Monthly Management Information Reports Using the
Automated Permit Information System To Track Performance Against Cycle
Time Objectives And Monitor The Case Workload And Performance of Staff
Assigned To Processing Permit Applications.
The division -heads in Planning, Building and Engineering must receive reliable
information on workload and individual staff workload to use in scheduling. In addition,
overall information on staff efficiency and productivity should be available for staff
evaluation.
Management information reports capture the detailed information about staff
productivity and performance to monitor workload, balance assignments and evaluate
internal operations. After several discussions with management and staff, we
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recommend the automated permit information system be utilized to track and report the
following information:
• Division Workload;
• Case Tracking;
• Elapsed Processing Times;
• Work in Backlog;
• Personnel Productivity; and
• Project Management Measures.
The division -heads are not currently provided with the type of reliable information
necessary to manage the processing of permits. The Matrix Consulting Group believes
it is imperative that management be provided with reliable case information to manage,
direct and enhance the operations and the processing of permits.
Once these initial management information reports are implemented and used
routinely. These management reports focus more on staff performance and workload
monitoring necessary for management to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of
the divisions.
Recommendation #32: The City should utilize the automated permit information
system to generate ongoing monthly management information reports to track
performance against cycle time objectives and monitor the case workload and
performance for staff assigned to the processing of these permits.
12. THE ROLE OF THE CASE MANAGER IN THE PLANNING DIVISION SHOULD
BE CLARIFIED.
The City currently utilizes a quasi -case manager approach in processing
planning permit applications in which the assigned case planner takes the lead in
shepherding the application through the planning process. The purpose of this case
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manager system is to provide applicants with a single point of contact as their permit
goes through the multi -department (or Division) plan check process and to coordinate
the development of a unified set of comments and corrections for applicants. Assigned
case managers currently perform some of the functions of a comprehensive case
manager — though additional expansion of these duties is necessary.
There are three key aspects of case management that leading organizations use
to support an organized approach to permit administration. These are: (1) providing a
single point of contact for applicants, (2) having dedicated project managers, and (3)
monitoring internal timelines. These are described below:
• Single Point of Contact — A single point of contact is having one person
assigned to a particular permit or permit type, and having that individual
accessible to the applicant for any questions regarding permit application, review,
and issuance.
• Dedicated Case Managers — Similar to a single point of contact, dedicated
project managers (also known as application facilitators, case managers) are
typically assigned only for large or complex projects. A project manager is
different from the single point of contact, in that the project managers take an
active role in managing the permit application through the permit process.
• Monitoring Internal Timelines — These are the approaches used to monitor the
time it takes to process a permit from the time of permit application.
The case manager in the Planning Division should be responsible for managing
all aspects of a planning permit application submitted to the Planning Division, including
being the single point of contact for applications submitted, monitoring internal timelines
and each reviewer (whether within the Planning Division or external to it), and taking an
active role in managing the permit application and moving it through the permit process.
The case manager should be empowered to manage the review of these permit
applications by all staff in the various divisions/departments that are conducting reviews.
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The project manager should further be empowered as the team leader of a multi-
discipline team comprised of staff from all reviewing entities but particularly from
Planning, Engineering, Fire and Building.
While the Planning Division already utilizes a quasi -case manager system, the
parameters and authority of the case manager should be clarified and defined in writing.
The parameters or authority of the project or case manager should include those
aspects defined in the following paragraphs.
(1) The Case Manager Should Be Responsible for Making Sure the Applicant
Gets to a Clear Decision Point in Accordance with Adopted Timelines.
The case manager position is designed to make sure that the review of the
permit application submitted to the Planning Division proceeds in a timely and
predictable fashion. The current process utilized by the Planning Division for processing
development permits includes the following:
• Applicants have available, under the current process, the ability to attend a pre -
submittal meeting with representatives of the various reviewing Departments.
Submission requirements and the general conception of the proposed
development are discussed.
• Once an application is submitted, it is assigned to a current planner who
becomes the "project manager" for that project.
• Development plans are routed to several departments, including Building, Public
Works/Engineering, etc. Reviewing divisions / departments are provided a
deadline for returned comments.
• After the review meeting, the case manager assigned to the project summarizes
the comments and sends them to the applicant.
• If revisions are required, based on division / department comments, it is the
applicant's responsibility to work out issues with individual departments /
divisions.
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While the initial stages of this process are consistent with a good case manager
system, the latter stages lack clear guidelines, and sometimes follow-through, on how
quickly divisions / departments should respond to revisions made by the applicant and
when an ultimate decision will be made. The case manager from the Planning Division
assigned to the project should facilitate the resolution of issues between the applicant
and reviewing divisions / departments.
However clear rules have not been established. As a result, the Matrix
Consulting Group recommends that the case manager's role throughout the process be
clarified.
Some concerns were identified regarding the ability to get timely responses to
voice mail and phone messages left by applicants with reviewing departments/divisions
or the assigned planner. To remedy this, all interactions with an applicant should be
noted in a Planning Division policy regarding timeframes for responding to inquiries on
projects (i.e. — within 24 hours) should be established. If a formal response cannot be
given to the applicant within the established time frame, they should at least be
contacted and provided a time by which a response will be issued.
Recommendation #33: The Planning Division should establish guidelines for
reviewing departments to respond to all submissions by applicants and establish
clear timelines at each step. This would include the 30-day initial completeness
review and subsequent reviews.
Recommendation #34: A formal written policy should be established for response
times by Planning Division staff to inquiries from applicants that are received via
email and/or voice mail. Planning Division staff should be held accountable for
meeting these guidelines.
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(2) The Case Manager Should Be Responsible for Complete and Timely
Communication Among the Multi -Disciplinary Team.
The case manager should make sure communication occurs among the multi-
disciplinary team, and that complex issues are resolved, such as when conditions of
approval issued by individual departments imposed conflicting requirements on the
applicant.
During the focus groups conducted by the project team, a number of comments
were received regarding conditions of approval imposed on projects. Two specific
areas of concern were:
• Not all conditions appeared to be related to code requirements but were
preferences of specific individuals conducting the review; and
• Staff reports often contained conditions of approval that differed from those
previously discussed between staff and the applicant.
While the case manager is not expected to be the technical expert on reviews
conducted by other Departments, the project manager project manager should lead any
discussions that focus on resolving conflicting conditions of approval or competing code
requirements. His or her job is to keep the review process of the permit application
submitted to the Planning Division coordinated and predictable. Additionally, the case
planner should ensure that all conditions of approval distributed to applicants clearly
identify the code or regulation that imposes the condition to prevent conditions being
imposed that are "personal preferences". To ensure that there is no lack of
understanding between the applicant and staff, all conditions of approval should be
documented in writing and provided to the applicant. Additionally, a copy of the staff's
draft report should be provided to the applicant when developed — ideally with sufficient
time for the applicant's review prior to the meeting at which it is being considered.
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Recommendation #35: The case planner in the Planning Division should serve as
the project manager and be responsible for the communication among the multi-
disciplinary team and the resolution of conflicting conditions of approval or
competing code requirements.
Recommendation #36: The case manager should ensure that all conditions of
approval are provided to the applicant in writing and that each condition
references the specific code or regulation that imposes / regulates the issues.
Additionally, a copy of the staff report should be provided to the applicant once
completed.
(3) The Role and Authority of the Case Manager Should Be Clarified in a
Written Policy.
The responsibility and the authority of the project manager should be clearly
spelled out in a written policy developed by the Planning Division, and approved by the
Community Development Director. The responsibility and authority, in addition to that
previously identified, should include:
• Conducting pre -application meetings and reviews as appropriate;
• Collecting and integrating comments from other divisions and departments;
• Resolving inter -division or inter -departmental problems, such as conflicting
conditions of approval;
• Assuring that the conditions of approval suggested by other divisions or
departments are reasonable, specific to the project under review (and not blanket
conditions of approval that are inapplicable), and reference specific regulations;
• Analyzing the application in regards to compliance with zoning regulations and
the general plan;
• Coordinating citizen input and comments;
• Working with the applicant to resolve problems and revise the project as
appropriate;
• Managing the processing of the permit application in accordance with adopted
timelines and seeing that they are met;
• Promptly reviewing and issuing notifications of omissions or problems with the
project;
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• Coordinating with key decision makers;
• Signing the staff reports; and
• Following up on enforcement of conditions.
The role of the case manager should be that of a team leader; if there are
problems with one of the members of the team, it would not be the role of the project
manager to resolve this problem directly with that member, but rather with the
supervisor of that member of the team. It also does not suggest that the project
manager has the authority to override code requirements or adopted standards.
However, if the project manager has a problem with the conditions of approval
suggested by the team member, it should be the role of the project manager to resolve
that problem working with the member of the team or the supervisor of that member of
the team.
In summary, the case manager is a team leader for a multi -disciplinary team who
is responsible for keeping the review of a permit application on track, who makes sure
issues involving conflicting code or regulatory issues are resolved, who charts a clear
course for the applicant through the review process, and who makes sure issues
regarding the application are identified early in the review process.
Recommendation #37: The authority of the case manager should be clearly
spelled out in a written policy developed by the Planning Division and approved
by the Community Development Director.
13. THE CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL UTILIZED BY ALL OF THE DIVISIONS
AND DEPARTMENTS IN THE REVIEW OF PLANNING, BUILDING, AND
ENGINEERING PERMITS SHOULD BE DOCUMENTED.
In the experience of the Matrix Consulting Group, one of the primary methods for
assuring consistency in the completion of plan check activities, whether it is a building
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permit plan check, final development permit plan check, or conditional use plan check,
or any other type of planning application review, is to document and publicize in writing
the standard conditions of approval that staff will be utilizing. The Planning Division
should take the lead in the development of this effort.
Other divisions and departments involved in the permit activities should follow
suit and develop, in writing, their own standard conditions of approval. This would
include Engineering, Fire Prevention, and Building. These standard conditions of
approval (related to land development applications) should be posted on the Planning
Division's web site for use by the general public and the development community to aid
them in knowing what will be expected from them when applying for permits. They
should be developed in "plain English" so they are suitable for use by both seasoned
developers and individual citizens undertaking a small project or who do not routinely
utilize the planning process.
The Planning Division should take lead responsibility in facilitating and publicizing
the development of these standard conditions of approval by all of the divisions and
departments.
Recommendation #38: The conditions of approval utilized by all of the divisions
and departments in the review of planning, building, and engineering permits
should be documented and posted to the City's web site.
Recommendation #39: The Planning Division should take lead responsibility in
facilitating the development of these written conditions of approval by all of the
divisions and departments.
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14. THE PLANNING DIVISION SHOULD DEVELOP AND UTILIZE A FULL RANGE
OF CHECKLISTS FOR THE REVIEW AND PROCESSING OF PLANNING
PERMIT APPLICATIONS BY ITS OWN STAFF.
To increase consistent application of the enabling ordinances among all staff,
and to provide a means for the applicant to pre -evaluate an application prior to
submission, the Planning Division staff should review and update the current checklists
that are available as part of the application handouts. The Division has developed a
limited number of such checklists for parking, for hillside exception applications,
tentative maps, variances, and the CEQA initial study. These checklists should be
expanded to included each application type, and be integrated with the application
guide itself for each type of permit, which is not the case at the present time.
These checklists should be designed to ensure that staff (and applicants) are
reviewing all critical areas of each application for a common series of compliance
factors with the Zoning Ordinance and General Plan. Given the various modifications to
the Zoning Ordinance that take place over time and the myriad of situations that can
arise when trying to apply and interpret the code, this can reduce uncertainty and
inconsistent application of the principal regulations. These checklists should be posted
on the departmental web site when available; and when completed as part of a plan
review, should become a part of the application file.
For example, for a preliminary development plan application, the checklist could
include such aspects as the following:
• Setting up the file;
• Reviewing for consistency with zoning guidelines, parking standards, setback
and height requirements, compliance with requirements for drainage,
downstream sanitary sewer analysis, traffic impact analysis, etc.;
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• Working with the applicant to obtain an adequate design for either staff approval
or the Planning Commission;
• Coordinating the resolution of revisions required by other divisions / departments;
and
• Conditional clearance prior to the building permit plan check.
The checklists should be utilized in all project reviews to ensure consistency and
completeness of the reviews conducted. These checklists also provide important
guidance to individuals, contractors, design professionals, and developers that are
doing work for the first time in the City to fully understand how the codes are applied in
Cupertino, specific requirements that must be met, and generally detail the type and
level of detail of the information necessary for submittal in order to gain approval.
Recommendation #40: The Planning Division should develop and utilize
checklists for the review and processing of discretionary and administrative
applications by its own staff.
Recommendation #41: The Planning Division should publish its checklists to its
web site for use by those individuals submitting plans.
15. THE PLANNING DIVISION SHOULD DEVELOP MULTI -FAMILY,
COMMERCIAL AND SIGN DESIGN GUIDELINES.
The purpose of design guidelines should be to guide, educate and motivate
homeowners, developers and designers to create projects that contribute to community
design objectives and provide the tools needed for staff, the Design Review Committee
and other decision -makers to properly evaluate development proposals. The City has
developed residential design guidelines, but other design guidelines either have not
been developed (multi -family) or not fully developed (signs).
There are a number of issues that would need to be considered in the
development of commercial design guidelines, for example, such as the following:
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• How to maintain a commercial area consistent with the existing neighborhoods
with regard to bulk, size, height, and scale of structures? Will the commercial
development be consistent with the scenic character of the City and enhance the
appearance of the specific commercial area? The guidelines should encourage
design to maintain and reinforce the unique scale and character of Cupertino.
• What methods for controlling size, bulk and scale are preferred? How compatible
is the structure's mass, bulk and scale with neighboring structures' mass, bulk
and scale? How does a large expanse of wall contribute to a structure's
appearance of bulk? How can a structure's mass be articulated to minimize large
expanses of walls? Do building plate heights create wall, window and door
details that are of a human scale? The design guidelines should provide a
richness of architectural facade depth and detail, provide a unified design around
all sides of the building, avoid blank walls and service areas that are visible from
adjacent streets and projects, and utilize high quality building materials and
details,
• Are the guidelines easy to understand and based upon transparent rationale?
• Do the guidelines work to ensure that the beauty of commercial areas is
preserved with consideration of structure placement, use of materials,
landscaping, exterior lighting, etc?
• Can the design guidelines be crafted to make the review process proceed more
efficiently?
The commercial design guidelines should cover a number of topics including the
following:
• Site planning;
• Site layout, development pattern, building orientation, etc.;
• Relationship to surrounding development;
• Vehicular and pedestrian access and circulation;
• Parking;
• Landscaping and screening;
• Lighting;
• Hotels and motels (building materials, internal circulation, building form, building
architecture, etc.); and
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• Signage.
The challenge in the development of these guidelines will be to crafting clear
quantitative review standards that are easy to administer and offer certainty to
developers and citizens alike while maintaining a requisite degree of design flexibility to
allow and encourage creative site and building design.
Recommendation #42: The Planning Division should develop design guidelines
for multi -family, commercial, and signs.
16. CODE INTERPRETATIONS SHOULD BE DOCUMENTED AND PUBLISHED
TO THE PLANNING, BUILDING, AND ENGINEERING DIVISION'S WEB
SITES.
Another tool to help the Planning, Building, and Engineering divisions achieve
consistency in plan checking is an "interpretations log" that records how various
provisions of the zoning ordinance, subdivision ordinance, and building codes are
interpreted and applied in cases where the application of certain regulations is not
entirely clear.
Interviews with personnel within the Planning Division indicate that a number of
code interpretations have already been documented and are contained within a binder
in the office for use by staff. However, these interpretations are not disseminated
beyond the Division and are not available for use by the public to better understand how
to comply with the City's regulations.
The Planning, Building, and Engineering divisions should begin documenting
code interpretations of the zoning ordinance, subdivision ordinance, and building codes
and publish these interpretations on the City's web site. These interpretations should
be reviewed at least annually (and whenever the referenced regulation is modified or
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adjusted) to ensure continued applicability. Only interpretations that are not "site
specific" should be included.
Recommendation #43: The Planning, Building, and Engineering divisions should
document interpretations of the zoning ordinance, subdivision ordinance, and
building codes and make these available to the public on their web sites.
17. ENHANCE THE MANAGEMENT OF THE BUILDING PERMIT PLAN CHECK
PROCESS.
The length of time taken to process building permit plans cannot be managed or
controlled in any meaningful way unless certain conditions exist:
• Targets are set for the length of time each organizational unit should take to
process building permit plans.
• Actual processing times are systematically collected and monitored.
• On -going processing time performance is visible to all concerned parties.
The City should utilize the automated permit information system so that these
conditions can be met and control exercised over the length of time expended in
processing building permit applications and plans. The steps that should be taken for
improving the control over the length of the time required for processing building permit
plans are presented in the sections below.
(1) Revise the Cycle Time Goals for the Length of Time Required to Process
Building Permit Plans to Serve as a Performance Guideline for All
Organizational Units.
The Building Division has already adopted cycle time goals for building permit
plan checking. These goals include the following:
These cycle times include:
Residential Plan Review Cycle Times:
• Over the Counter: small projects (250 sq. ft. or less) within 30 minutes
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• Express Plan Check: medium sized projects (500 sq. ft. or less) within 5 business
days
• Standard Plan Check: initial review within 10 working days, second review within
5 working days
• Large / Major Projects: apartments and subdivisions (over 10 units) is a
minimum of 4 weeks.
Commercial Plan Review Cycle Times
• Over the Counter: less than 30 minutes only on Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday between 1.30 and 2.30
• Express Plan Check: medium sized projects (10,000 sq. ft. or less) within 5
working days
• Standard Plan Check: initial review within 10 working days, rechecks within 5
working days
• Large / Major Projects: minimum 4 weeks.
There are a number of problems with these cycle time objectives. First, these
goals do not identify the types of permits that should be plan checked over-the-counter.
The Residential Plan Review Process Workbook, for example, merely states that "this
process is for very small residential projects (250 sq. ft. or less) that can be reviewed by
Building Department staff in less than thirty (30) minutes. It does not specify the specific
types of permits that can be approved over-the-counter. Other cities that provide
responsive over-the-counter services will identify the specific types of building permits
that can be approved over-the-counter such as electrical lights, HVAC replacements,
reroofs, sewer line replacement, water heater replacement, kitchen remodel, new
windows, portable spas, solar systems, decks,
The Division should clarify those types of permits that will be plan checked over-
the-counter in these plan check objectives. Secondly, some types of minor residential
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remodel projects and additions should be plan checked in less than five (5) working
days. Examples of these types of permits are presented in the table below.
Balcony
Remodel — Major SFD
Addition SFD
Accessory Building — Detached
Accessible Ramps
Fences w/Calculations.
Garage — Detached (SFD)
Patio Enclosure (SFD)
Third, the commercial cycle time goals the plan check cycle goals for tenant
improvements are too long based upon the experience of the firm with other cities.
The Building Division should revise these cycle time benchmarks and include a
number of features. These features are presented below.
• The benchmarks should identify those organizations that should receive the
building permit plans. For example, pools, decks, and spas should be plan
checked only by Building, simple tenant improvements should be plan checked
only by Building, and commercial shells by Building, Planning, Fire, and
Engineering.
• These benchmarks should be established as a joint effort by each of these units.
Ultimately, however, the Chief Building Official needs to review these targets to
determine whether processing targets are not unacceptably long.
• The benchmarks need to be differentiated according to the type of plan being
processed and its complexity. The target for processing a plan for a residential
interior remodel should be different than that of a custom single-family residence.
• These benchmarks should be designed to enable the Chief Building Official to
hold each organizational unit involved in the plan checking process accountable
for the length of time the unit takes to review and approve plans.
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The attainment of these benchmarks is dependent upon streamlining a number
of the existing processes, the effective use of the automated permit information system
to document actual cycle time versus these objectives, the effective and expanded use
of over-the-counter plan checking by the Building Inspector, etc.
Recommendation #44: Revise the building permit plan check cycle time goals for
the length of time required to process building permit plans to serve as a
performance guideline for all organizational units.
(2) Utilize the Automated Permit Information System to Assure the Status of
Each Plan Check Is Readily Visible.
The automated permit information system should be used to make visible the
amount of calendar time required to check building permit plans and enable an easy
comparison with targets for processing these plans. The specific objectives related to
the system include:
• To establish a process whereby specific calendar data targets are set for each
building permit plan.
• To generate data sufficient to assess the performance of each division or
department (Planning, Building, Engineering, Fire, etc.) in comparison to those
targets.
• To enable automated feedback to the Chief Building Official when plan checking
by these divisions exceeds targets.
Major elements of the system are as follows:
• The Building Division would enter the appropriate data for processing each
building permit plan including the divisions to which the plan is distributed, the
date of distribution, and the due dates.
• The Division would enter the actual date the plans were returned by all units after
completing the plan check.
• The Chief Building Official, or his / her designee, on a weekly basis — would
access the system to determine which plans are still being checked and
exceeded the targets. The Senior Plans Examiner would then contact the
manager or supervisor of those units to prompt the completion of those plan
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checks.
• The Division would utilize the automated permit information system to generate
reports regarding actual processing time versus targets.
The automated permit information system should be the tool which the Division
utilizes to manage the plan check process and assure the time required to process
building permit plans consistently meet targets.
Recommendation #45: The Building Division should utilize the automated permit
information system to assure the status of each plan is readily visible.
(3) The Chief Building Official Should Be Given the Written Authority and
Responsibility to Interface with Other Organizational Units to Resolve
Delays in Processing Building Permit Plans.
This authority should include the following elements:
• Scheduling of the plan check of building permit plans by the various
organizational units.
• Identification of the timing and priorities for plan checking of building permit plans
by the various organizational units involved in commenting and analyzing the
plans.
• Monitoring the timely plan check of building permit plans and contacting the
managers or supervisors of these units to prompt the completion of the plan
check if the guidelines for completion are exceeded.
This authority and responsibility should be clearly spelled out to other
organizational units involved in processing building permit plans by the Community
Development Director.
Recommendation #46: The Chief Building Official should be given the written
authority and responsibility to interface with other organizational units to resolve
delays in processing building permit plans in a formal written policy published by
the Community Development Director.
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18. SIMPLIFY AND STREAMLINE THE BUILDING PERMIT PLAN CHECK
PROCESS.
This section presents an analysis of the plan review and permitting services
provided by the Building Division. Similar to other sections in this chapter, this section
focuses on issues related to:
• Levels of service provided by the plan review and permitting programs;
• Ability to increase services to the public; and,
• Ability to increase customer service to the public.
The following are summaries of improvement opportunities in the plan review and
permitting programs of the Building and Safety Division.
(1) The Extent of Building Permits Provided On-line Should Be Expanded.
Permits that do not require a plan check, such as single trade permits (i.e., water
heater change -out, furnace change -out, re -roofs, and even simple kitchen remodels),
often known as over-the-counter permits, are well suited to on-line permit processing.
Similar to e-commerce transactions, such as buying products from a web site, this
activity involves credit card processing and the printing of a permit. On-line processing
of permit applications can be as basic as automating only the front-end information
collection process or as complete as full automation of the entire over-the-counter
permit transaction.
At their own personal computer, applicants can apply for a building permit,
schedule an inspection, and print the permit and receipt. Credit card payments are
secured through the use of encryption technology. Applicants can setup their access so
that basic information does not need to be re-entered for multiple transactions. The City
has the capability to allow applicants to complete a permit application via the Internet.
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Applicants, for example, can complete on-line forms and hit a "send" button to transmit
the application to the City's permit database. The on-line system can process, review,
approve, and stores completed permits. The permit system then generates a permit for
the applicant. Applicants can pay for permits using a credit card.
The Division should expand this feature. In the first month — mid -September to mid -
October — 10% of the building permits were issued on-line.
The objective of the Division should be to issue 20% of its building permits over
the Internet. This should include simple kitchen remodel, re -roofs, skylights, masonry
chimney repair, swimming pool removal, gas lines, irrigation sprinklers, sewer lines, tub
and shower replace/repair, water heaters, water piping, water service lines, air
conditioning, chimney, electrical panes, furnace, gas line, lighting, and spas. Some of
these permits are already issued on-line; the range of the types of permits issued on-
line should be expanded.
Recommendation #47: The Building Division should issue not less than 20% of its
building permits over the Internet.
(2) Expand the Extent of Building Permits Issued Over -the -Counter.
For the past several fiscal years, the Division has plan checked from 42% to 45%
of the building permit applications over-the-counter, as noted below.
Year
# of Over -the -Counter
Plan Checks
# of Other Plan
Checks
% Over -the -Counter
2006 / 2007
1,069
1,306
45%
2007 / 2008
923
1,275
42%
2008 / 2009
1,104
1,104
43%
The best practice target for this practice is 50% to 75% of total building permits being
checked over the counter.
The project team does not expect that over-the-counter building permits would be
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issued for such permits as new multi -family, new commercial, or new single family.
However, the project team does expect that over-the-counter permits can be issued for
such building permits as the following:
• Single family addition. Single story room addition not to exceed 600 square feet;
• Single family Outdoor Pools and Spas;
• Single family Patio Enclosures;
• Single family New Roof Framing Over Existing Roof (without major structural
work);
• Office Space: Tenant Improvements for office space less than 4,000 square feet.
For commercial projects to be issued over-the-counter, the following restrictions
should apply:
• There will be no storage of hazardous materials of any amount in the space;
• The proposed tenant improvement should not contain any alterations to the
structural system of the building (e.g. openings into bearing or shear walls,
changes to floor system, etc.). Structural modifications required to install roof
mounted mechanical equipment should be exempted pending plans examiner
verification;
• The proposed tenant improvement should not contain any alterations or
modification to fire -rated walls; and
• The application does not require any special Planning, or Fire District processing.
The project team should expect that the Division should be able to increase the
number of building permits issued over-the-counter from 42% to 45% of total plan
checks to 60% using these criteria.
The Counter Technician, when the position is filled, should be utilized for the plan
checking and issuance of these types of minor and miscellaneous building permits. This
assignment should recognize the impact of this additional skill and knowledge
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requirements. The Counter Technician should be required to obtain certification by the
International Code Council as a Permit Technician to enable this position to the provide
over-the-counter plan checking. This would increase the responsibility of the Counter
Technician and will also benefit the Division by enabling the Division to enhance the
Building Inspector assigned to counter duty to plan checking of residential and
commercial plans of a more significant nature, such as tenant improvements. This
reassignment could be achieved by the following method:
• The Division should provide the support, funding, and work hours necessary for
the Counter Technician to obtain certification as an ICC-certified Permit
Technician.
• The Building Official should function as a team leader for the Counter Technician
and train the incumbent in the performance of plan checking of minor and
miscellaneous building permit plans.
• The Plan Check Engineer should provide code and practical plan check training
to the Counter Technician for an appropriate period of time.
• The Division should establish a time period for training and implement the
program on a target date. The Division should confer with the Counter
Technician to establish the implementation date. The Division should establish
the target date realizing that some of the quality expertise will only occur with
practice. A comfort level can be achieved by realizing that support by the Plan
Check Engineer is available.
This method will produce quality performing Counter Technician that is fully capable of
plan checking miscellaneous and minor building permit plans.
Recommendation #48: The Building Division should increase the number of
building permits issued over-the-counter to 60% of all building permits issued.
Recommendation #49: The Counter Technician position should be reclassified to
Building Technician.
Recommendation #50: The Building Technician position, when filled, should be
utilized to provide over-the-counter plan checking of minor and miscellaneous
building permits.
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CITY OF CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA
Management Study of the Permit Process
Recommendation: #51 The Building Technician classification should be revised
to require certification as an ICC-certified Permit Technician within 12 months of
hire.
Recommendation #52: The Building Division should provide support, funding,
and training to the Building Technician to obtain as an ICC-certified Permit
Technician.
(3) Develop Standard Plans For Use By The Public In The Construction Of
Minor Residential Improvements.
A number of residents in Cupertino and other communities are do-it-yourselfers
in terms of constructing minor retaining walls, residential patio covers, detached storage
sheds, and outdoor fireplaces. In other instances, residents will pull building permits
rather than their contractors for construction such as spas.
The City should assist these "do it yourselfers" meet building permit plan check
requirements by developing standard plans. These standard plans, if utilized by the "do
it yourselfers" in applying for their building permit, would allow avoiding the retention of
an architect or designer for the preparation of these plans, as long as the homeowner
utilized these standard plans.
In addition, the Building Division should develop a "Home Improvement Center"
web page on the City's web site to assist the homeowner navigate through the building
permit plan check and inspection process.
Recommendation #53: Develop standard building permit plans for use by the
public in minor residential improvements.
Recommendation #54: Develop a "Home Improvement Center" web page on the
Town's web site to assist the homeowner navigate through the building permit
plan check and inspection process.
Matrix Consulting Group Page 58
CITY OF CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA
Management Study of the Permit Process
(4) The Division Has Developed a Number of Cycle Time Objectives for Plan
Review, But Actual Cycle Time Exceeds the Objectives.
The Division has established cycle times for both residential and commercial plan
reviews. This information is identified within the guidebooks published by the Division
and available on the Division's web site.
The project team analyzed plan check cycle time data provided by the Division
that identified the number of building permit plan checks completed during FY 2007 /
2008 (showing the permit number, permit type, apply date, date in, revision, date out,
reviewer, and permit issue date). The following exhibit shows the calculation of the
number of days between the "date out" and the "apply date," and utilizes a sampling of
3,932 permits received by the Division.
As indicated in the exhibit, the average time between the application date and the
date of review completion was 33 days (and a median of 24 days). For the top ten
permit types in terms of volume (excluding single trade permits), the average days from
"application date" to "date out" was 40 days. The data provided does not allow for the
calculation of elapsed time between re -submittals.
Additionally, it is a challenge for the Division, given current technology limitations,
to identify and publish more comprehensive data that will allow the project team or the
Division to better manage its cycle time performance. However, based on this available
data, actual cycle times are generally longer than the cycle time objectives (e.g., for
large projects the cycle time objective is 28 days, however, the average for all types of
permit applications is 33 days).
Matrix Consulting Group Page 59
CITY OF CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA
Management Study of the Permit Process
Exhibit 1 (1)
Building Division Plan Check Cycle Time
Type
# of Permits
# of Days (Apply Date
to Date Out)
# of Reviews
TELECOMFAC
27
78.3
1.7
SOLAR-RES
49
11.4
1.1
SFDWL-REM
189
24.3
1.3
SFDWL-N EW2
2
2.0
1.0
SFDWL-N EW1
237
59.5
1.6
SFDWL-DEM
56
40.1
1.1
SFDWL-ADD1
345
38.0
1.5
RM131
1
2.0
1.0
MFDWL-REM
9
21.4
1.4
MFDWL-NEW1
4
4.8
1.0
FURN/AC
106
48.4
1.5
COMML-TI
259
32.8
1.3
COMML-NEW
15
14.9
1.1
COMML-DEM
3
1.0
1.0
CM136
2
14.5
1.0
CM131
8
16.1
1.4
CMAP2
8
18.8
1.4
CELECTRICA
1
9.0
1.0
CEAP5
10
19.6
1.1
1 SOLARRES
51
13.6
1.1
1 SOLARCOMM
5
10.8
1.0
1 SHELLBLDG
42
82.5
1.9
1 SFDWLREM
8
25.6
1.3
1 SFDWLNEW1
7
16.9
1.0
1 SFDWLDEM
103
41.4
1.1
1 SFDWLADD1
21
30.3
1.3
1 RPSS
8
32.4
1.5
1 RBSP
6
10.2
1.2
1 R3SFDW
454
73.5
1.7
1 R3SFDREM
173
23.0
1.3
1 R3SFDALT
5
19.8
1.4
1 R3SFDADD
662
48.5
1.5
1 R3SFD
5
22.6
1.8
1 R1 APTRM
37
177.7
1.3
1 R1 APT
116
125.2
1.6
1 M TI
54
54.7
1.5
11 TI
7
16.1
1.3
1 GENRES
182
26.9
1.2
1 GENCOM
122
43.9
1.4
1 E TI
11
29.7
1.8
1 COMMLTI
1
9.0
1.0
1 COMMLADD
4
10.0
1.0
1 CMAP2
1
2.0
1.0
1 CEAP6
5
37.0
1.4
Matrix Consulting Group Page 60
CITY OF CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA
Management Study of the Permit Process
Exhibit 1 (2)
Type
# of Permits
# of Days (Apply Date
to Date Out)
# of Reviews
1 CEAP5
19
13.6
1.4
1 BOFF
16
45.7
1.9
1 B TI
371
30.9
1.4
1 A3
34
53.4
1.8
1 A TI
71
42.9
1.4
Average
33.2
1.3
Median
24.3
1.3
Matrix Consulting Group Page 61
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Management Study of the Permit Process
The project team also calculated the cycle time from the application date to the
actual permit "issue date," and found the average number of days was 68, while the
median number of days between application date and the permit issuance date was 54
days. This suggests that once the Building Division completes plan checking, there is a
lag time between the final plan review, and when the applicant actually picked up and
paid for the permit. The Division cannot and should not be held accountable for this lag.
Once a mechanism is in place to more comprehensively measure actual cycle
time performance, monthly reports should be developed for reporting the actual time
required to plan check building permit plans versus the targets.
The information contained in this report would be used for several purposes:
• To identify where processing delays are occurring, in what step of the process,
and the organizational unit responsible
• To trigger questions regarding the causes of the delays so that corrective action
can be take
• To provide a more reliable and readily available record on what happened to
each building permit plan.
It should be underscored that the scheduling and monitoring system proposed is
not intended to replace the responsibility and accountability of staff in other
organizational units who actually plan check the building permit plans. This system has
been designed only to provide important and more accurate, comprehensive and
uniform information regarding the plan checking of building permit plans and to pinpoint
the manager that owns the process: the Building Official. Without this information and
this ownership, it is virtually impossible to control the number of days required for
processing of these building permit plans.
Recommendation #55: The Building Division should improve the building permit
plan check performance to meet its stated plan check cycle time objectives.
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(5) Reduce The Number Of Organizational Units That Plan Check Some Types
Of Building Permit Plans.
In many instances, the divisions / departments that plan check building permit
plans in Cupertino is different than patterns used in other cities. For example:
• Single-family additions are routed to the Planning Division, the Engineering
Division, Building Division, Sanitary, and Fire Prevention;
• Patios and decks are routed to the Planning Division and Building Division; and
• Tenant improvements are routed to the Planning Division, Building Division,
Sanitary, and Fire Prevention.
Other cities have reallocated responsibility for zoning clearance with their
Building Division. This eliminates the need for building permit plan checking of simpler
building permit plans by the Planning Division such as patios and decks, single family
additions, or tenant improvements
Other cities, such as Pasadena, only route single-family additions and remodels
and new single family residences to the Fire Department for plan checking if located in
the Hillside District Overlay.
The City should take steps to reduce the number of divisions / departments that
plan check building permit plans. The project team recommends the City review the
routing of building permit plans to assess if all organizational units need to review these
plans. For example, the City could consider the following:
• The City should eliminate the routing for single-family remodels/additions to the
Planning Division, Fire Prevention, and to the Engineering Division. This will
require the Building Division to check for zoning clearances, and easements.
• Tenant improvements should not be routed to the Planning Division. This will
require the Building Division to check for zoning clearances.
• Minor permits, such as awnings, spas, and pools, should be plan checked solely
by the Building Division.
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Management Study of the Permit Process
The project team believes the routing of building permit plans can be reduced.
The Chief Building Official should develop a proposal for review of the City Manager's
Office and the affected departments.
With the effective deployment of the automated permit information system, the
responsibility for zoning clearance should be reassigned to the Building Division. The
automated permit information system should enable the plan checking staff of the
Building Division to determine the zoning of the property. This would enable the staff of
the Division to determine the development standards (e.g., setbacks) for the
applications. This transition should not occur until the Building Division staff has been
trained in the use of the system, and Building Division staff has been trained in applying
the development standards.
Recommendation #56: The Building Division should reduce the number of
divisions and departments that are routed building permit plans.
Recommendation #57: The City should assign responsibility to the Building
Division for zoning clearance of simple building permits.
19. CONTRACTORS SHOULD BE ABLE TO SCHEDULE BUILDING
INSPECTIONS UP TO 7:00 AM OF THE DAY OF THE REQUESTED
INSPECTION.
The leading industry practice for customers to schedule an inspection is up to
7:00 AM the morning of the desired date and time. Inspection requests are processed
until 3:30 PM the day before the scheduled inspection. This is due the highly manual
nature of the scheduling process, which involves the following:
• The administrative staff print out the listing of requested inspections at the end of
the afternoon
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• The Senior Building Inspector then reviews and manually assigns the various
inspections staff based on geographical location, workload, areas of interest /
expertise, etc.
• The Senior Building Inspector then prints the master copy and distributes to
inspections staff in the morning, printing a specific copy for each building
inspector.
• The Building Inspector staff then determines the windows of time they will
conduct the inspection (typically 2-hour windows). The Building Inspector notes
these windows of time on the master copy and makes copies for the division's
administrative staff to enable these staff to respond to telephone inquiries about
time window.
Because of these processes, the ability to accommodate inspections requests up
to 7.00 AM the same day is challenging, as the schedule is confirmed by that time. As
such, the Division should utilize more automated processes in order to better
accommodate same -day inspection requests.
Recommendation #58: The Building Division should adopt a policy to
accommodate inspection requests up to 7:00 AM for same day inspection request
service.
20. THE ENGINEERING DIVISION IS MEETING THEIR CYCLE TIME OBJECTIVE
FOR PLAN CHECKING BUILDING PERMIT PLANS IN 5 TO 10 DAYS.
The project team obtained Engineering Division data for building permit plan
checking. Using a sample of 19 building permit applications, the plan check cycle time
of the Division is presented in the table below.
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Management Study of the Permit Process
1st Review
#
Date In
Date out
Days
1
2/2/09
2/2/09
0
2
10/15/08
10/16/08
1
3
10/20/08
10/21 /08
1
4
10/23/08
10/27/08
4
5
11 /14/08
11 /18/08
4
6
10/16/08
10/21 /08
5
7
10/7/08
10/13/08
6
8
11 /19/08
11 /25/08
6
9
2/13/09
2/19/09
6
10
10/20/08
10/28/08
8
11
1 /5/09
1 /13/09
8
12
3/2/09
3/11 /09
9
13
3/2/09
3/11 /09
9
14
11 /12/08
11 /21 /08
9
15
10/8/08
10/22/08
14
16
2/2/09
2/17/09
15
17
1 /9/09
1 /25/09
16
18
2/6/09
2/23/09
17
19
12/16/08
1 /9/09
24
Average
9
Median
8
As shown above, the average number of days for this sample was nine (9) days
of review time, with a median of eight (8) days. It is important to note, however, that this
was just a sampling of over 159 building permit reviews conducted over a 3-month
period, including the following:
Plan Type
Number
Arch
108
Arch / IMP
2
Arch / RGP
1
IMP
43
Parcel Map
3
RGP
1
Structural
1
3-Month Total
159
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Management Study of the Permit Process
Annualized, the Engineering Division conducts approximately 636 permit
application plan checks that are routed from the Community Development Department,
which equates to approximately 12 per week, or 2.5 per day. Based on this
assessment, the Engineering Division should better track the intake dates of building
permits being routed from the Community Development Department, and continuously
monitor their cycle time performance of reviews.
21. THE ENGINEERING DIVISION SHOULD DEVELOP APPLICATION GUIDES
FOR ENGINEERING PERMITS.
The Engineering Division has an important role in the planning and building
permit processes. In these instances, the Division is most often not the lead in the
process: the Community Development Department is the lead in the process.
The Division, however, is the lead with some permits. This could include grading
permits, improvement plans, utility joint trench permits, encroachment permits, heavy
haul permits, sewer lateral or water service permits, etc.
A guide for a grading permit could include such aspects as the following:
• The purpose of the permit
• The process for plan checking the permit
• The required material that must be submitted with the application such as
grading plan, preliminary landscape and irrigation plan, etc.
• A checklist to assure the applicant is aware of submittal requirements
• General grading notes / conditions of approval
In each of these instances, the Engineering Division should develop an
application guide.
Recommendation #59: The Engineering Division should develop application
guides for those permits in which the Division is the lead.
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22. THE ENGINEERING DIVISION SHOULD PUBLISH ITS CYCLE TIME
OBJECTIVES FOR PLAN CHECKING TO ITS WEB PAGE.
To provide better customer service, the Engineering Division has a number of
items available on the web site, including the following:
• Engineering Standards - which includes guidelines as the City of Cupertino
Standard Details, the Best Management Practice Plan Sheet, and Guidelines and
Standards for Land Use Near Streams (user manual).
• Pavement Management Program — which is a comprehensive description of the
program, maintenance techniques, and overall condition of Cupertino's streets
• Fee Schedule (effective July 1, 2008) — which summarizes the user fees for
engineering, planning, building, and recreation
• Maps and Data — which provides a city map guide and a Water Service Boundary
Map
• Permit Applications — which allow users to download various types of
applications, including an encroachment permit, grading permit, permit parking,
streamside modification, and block party / special event permit.
The Engineering Division should also develop cycle time objectives for all permit
applications for the length of time -- in calendar days -- required to process applications
from the date of submittal to the date of the applicant's initial public hearing or the
approval / disapproval of the application by staff. Possible calendar date benchmarks for
processing different types of permit applications are presented in the table below.
Proposed Cycle Time Objective (Calendar
Type of Permit
Days) At The Median
Tentative maps / Parcel Maps
21 calendar days to complete for the first plan
check, and 10 calendar days for rechecks
Final Subdivision Map Improvement Plans
21 calendar days to complete for the first plan
check, and 10 calendar days for rechecks
Final Parcel Map Improvement Plans
14 calendar days to complete for the first plan
check, and 7 calendar days for rechecks
Grading Plans
14 calendar days to complete the first check, and
7 calendar days for rechecks.
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Management Study of the Permit Process
For the Engineering Division to set cycle time objectives from the date of submittal of
the application, as opposed to the date the application is deemed complete, the
Engineering Division staff will need to be rigorous in checking applications at submittal
to assure the applications contain all of the essential information required to achieve a
complete submittal, and rejecting applications that do not contain this essential
information. It will also require that the application guides developed that clearly identify
the elements of a complete application.
As a general policy, the Engineering Division has an objective of reviewing the
first submission within 5 to 10 days for building permit review, however, this should be
stated in the residential development guidebook and the commercial development
guidebook, as well as made available on the Division web -site.
Recommendation #60: The Engineering Division should publish its cycle time
objectives to the Division's web site and identify these cycle time objectives in
the Division's application guides.
23. THE ENGINEERING DIVISION SHOULD DEVELOP APPLICATION GUIDES
FOR ENGINEERING PERMITS.
The Engineering Division has an important role in the planning and building
permit processes. In these instances, the Division is most often not the lead in the
process: the Community Development Department is the lead in the process.
The Division, however, is the lead with some permits. This could include grading
permits, improvement plans, utility joint trench permits, encroachment permits, heavy
haul permits, sewer lateral or water service permits, etc.
A guide for a grading permit could include such aspects as the following:
• The purpose of the permit
• The process for plan checking the permit
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• The required material that must be submitted with the application such as
grading plan, preliminary landscape and irrigation plan, etc.
• A checklist to assure the applicant is aware of submittal requirements
• General grading notes / conditions of approval
In each of these instances, the Engineering Division should develop an
application guide.
Recommendation #61: The Engineering Division should develop application
guides for those permits in which the Division is the lead for plan checking.
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CITY OF CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA
Management Study of the Permit Process
4. ANALYSIS OF THE AUTOMATED PERMIT
INFORMATION SYSTEM
The acquisition of a fully functional and easy -to -use automated permit
information system should be viewed as a high priority by the City of Cupertino.
However, If the City is to obtain an effective return on its investment, there are a number
of features that should be included with the system.
1. ALL OF THE CITY'S DIVISIONS AND DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE INVOLVED
IN THE ISSUANCE OF PERMITS SHOULD UTILIZE THE AUTOMATED
PERMIT INFORMATION SYSTEM TO MEET ALL OF THEIR PERMIT
REQUIREMENTS.
It is apparent that not all of the divisions and departments involved in the permit,
plan check, and inspection process do not utilize an automated permit information
system or do not fully utilize the existing automated permit information system..
The City will be making a significant investment in an automated permit
information system. The system will be capable of a broad range of tasks including the
following:
• Plan review tracking;
• Permitting including the issuance and tracking of permits;
• Inspections scheduling and tracking;
• Workflow management;
• Fee calculation and collection;
• Customer communications through web -based customer services;
• Telephone -based voice response services; and
• Inter- and intra-departmental communication and management.
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All of the departments and divisions involved in the issuance of permits need to
utilize the automated permit information system for all aspects of the planning, building
permit, and engineering permit process.
Recommendation #62: All of the departments and divisions should utilize the
automated permit information system for all aspects of the planning, building
permit, and engineering permit process.
Recommendation #63: Modules, applications and reports should be developed
within the automated permit information system to support the work of these
departments and divisions.
Recommendation #64: Training should be provided to staff as appropriate in the
use of the automated permit information system.
2. THE PUBLIC AND APPLICANTS SHOULD BE PROVIDED WITH ACCESS TO
THE AUTOMATED PERMIT INFORMATION SYSTEM OVER THE INTERNET.
Automating the permit process opens the door for customer self-service. Simple
e-permitting capabilities allow citizens and businesses to use both the Internet and the
telephone to check the status of their permit application or comment on new
development projects. The use of standard Web development technologies and
relational databases make permit information available through the Internet.
A fully functional automated permit process provides the capacity for the public
and for applicants to access the automated permit information system through the
Internet. This capacity would make information from the City's permit database
accessible via the Internet by permit applicants, residents, and other interested parties.
In this instance, the City's web site would provide a search form where citizens enter a
property address or permit number to receive current information on that permit, 24
hours a day, seven days a week, from any computer with Internet access. The City can
control the amount of information that is accessible by the public and can limit the
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amount of users by incorporating password protection, if it chooses to do so.
This feature of the automated permit information system should be utilized to
enable applicants to check the status of their permits. Giving applicants the ability to
check the status online reduces telephone and walk-in traffic and allows applicants and
city residents to review this information even when City Hall is closed.
It should also be utilized to enable citizens to review proposed projects online. By
placing information about proposed developments on the web, citizens have increased
opportunity to participate in the extent and type of development occurring in their
neighborhood.
Overland Park, Kansas, for example, enables citizens to access development
activity in their neighborhood through a marriage of their permitting software and
geographical information system. The City's Web site contains "What's Happening In
My Neighborhood."
Recommendation #65: The City should utilize the automated permit information
system to provide the capacity for the public and for applicants to access data
through the Internet or for the public and applicants to subscribe to information.
3. THE AUTOMATED PERMIT INFORMATION SYSTEM SHOULD INCLUDE THE
CAPACITY TO INTERFACE WITH AN INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE.
Interactive Voice Response systems (IVR) systems are used widely throughout
the customer service industry. When calling a bank, credit card company or utility
company, most customers interact with an automated voice system before reaching a
live person. An IVR system is available 24 hours a day and can simultaneously handle
multiple callers. When connected to an automated permit system, IVR enables permit
applicants and other interested parties to receive information such as permit status and
the expected date of completion, schedule an inspection, or obtain the results of an
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inspection.
An IVR system can be programmed to adapt to an organization's specific needs.
For example, announcements can be incorporated into the IVR system notifying
external customers of changes in the permit process, important dates, and events of
concern to permit applicants.
City employees are responsible for maintaining the system and providing back-
up customer service when callers indicate the need to speak directly with Permit
Center/counter staff or other city staff. Both internal and external customers use the IVR
at any time, night or day.
An IVR system is a "black box" (a self-contained computing system that can be
plugged into other systems) that interfaces with a host computer(s) and telephone
system through various communications protocols. Calls come into the system through
the telephone switch or are routed by an Automated Call Distributor (ACD). The system
prompts callers to select the information they want from a menu. The caller makes a
selection either by using the touch-tone keypad or by speaking into the telephone
receiver. The system then retrieves the requested information from the host system and
"delivers" it to the caller.
Recommendation #66: The automated permit information system should include
the capacity to interface with an Interactive Voice Response system.
Recommendation #67: The City should acquire an Interactive Voice Response
(IVR) System.
4. THE AUTOMATED PERMIT INFORMATION SYSTEM SHOULD HAVE
WIRELESS CAPABILITIES.
Using a handheld computer, inspectors in the field should be able to access the
City's permit database. They should be able to download a list of scheduled inspections,
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enter inspection results, and even print a certificate using a small, wireless printer.
Inspectors should also be able to collect information in the field and load this information
into the permit database.
Building inspectors in the Building Division have mobile "laptop" systems for field
use. These mobile systems should be used in field.
Recommendation #68: The automated permit information system should have
wireless capabilities.
5. THE AUTOMATED PERMIT INFORMATION SYSTEM SHOULD HAVE THE
CAPABILITY FOR AUTOMATED WORKFLOW.
Complex planning and building permits often have to be routed to several
employees at different departments and divisions within the City. Automating the permit
process using the automated permit information system means that the planning and
building permit will not sit on a desk too long or get misplaced as it is being reviewed.
The system itself operates according to business tasks and rules defined by the City.
Automated workflow systems encompass role/relationship definition, security, auditing,
and tracking capabilities. Users have the ability to know who has taken what actions on
what date and where a particular task is in a sequence of steps. In addition, the system
may have the ability to effectively archive required data and recreate representations of
data.
Managers and permit staff use automated workflow to track a variety of
documents, plans and attachments associated with a planning and building
permits permit application. External customers do not usually access the
agency's workflow system.
Recommendation #69: The automated permit information system should
have an automated workflow capacity.
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6. THE AUTOMATED PERMIT INFORMATION SYSTEM SHOULD HAVE THE
CAPACITY FOR ONLINE PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION
TOOLS.
The City should host project management and collaborative Web tools on their
own Web site. Both city employees and external permit participants from the design and
building community work together via electronic communication to share documents. A
password should be required to enter the Web site, but be accessed from any
computer.
Architects, consultants, developers, and contractors should be able to use this
tool to participate with City plan checking staff on complex projects involving a large
number of plans and details.
Recommendation #70: The automated permit information system should have the
capacity for online project management and collaboration tools.
7. THE AUTOMATED PERMIT INFORMATION SYSTEM SHOULD HAVE THE
CAPACITY FOR INTERFACING WITH GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
SYSTEMS (GIS).
GIS links maps of an area with information from a database to generate maps
and reports, allowing users to display, analyze, maintain, and model location -based
information to support decision making. GIS systems have the capability to combine
disparate sets of data (maps, aerial photographs, land coordinates) from various
departments and agencies (such as water, electric, gas, land use) to graphically display
data in any combination, for many purposes. For permitting, GIS can be used to search
for addresses and features such as poles, utility mains or pipes below or above ground,
water table and seismic information, and find its location in relation to any other location
such as a freeway, or residential, commercial, or flood zone.
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Recommendation #71: The automated permit information system should have the
capacity to interface with ESRI GIS.
8. STAFF REPORTS AND ARCHITECTURAL PLANS SHOULD BE STORED IN
PERMITS PLUS.
Document management tools within the automated permit information system will
offer the capacity to transform paper documents into digital documents and files,
allowing staff to store, manage, and access documents and applicants and the public to
access these documents using a standard interface — the automated permit information
system. Using these document management tools, any information associated with the
permit process is digital and indexed to the permit application. In addition to the
electronic documents that can be stored in the automated permit information system,
hard copy documents, photos and drawings can be scanned and converted to digital
files in the automated permit information system. Organizations are beginning to
integrate document management tools into their permit processes because this
technology improves the linkages between related information and provides a single
point of access to multiple sources of permit information.
The City should accomplish this goal using a number of approaches. These
approaches are presented in the paragraphs below.
• All documents created by staff regarding permits, plan checks, and
inspections should be archived in the automated permit information
system so that they can be stored and located more easily and efficiently.
The automated permit information system will have the capacity to store
electronic documents (such as those created by Microsoft Word or Excel), legacy
documents imaged or scanned from paper or microfiche, and documents and
images from databases. In addition, city staff can scan non -electronic documents
to add them to the document management database.
• The City should scan architectural plans submitted to the City
electronically or require the applicant to submit electronic copies of these
architectural plans. This is not an uncommon approach. Other cities and
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counties have already taken this step.
• Architectural plans that are scanned should be archived in the automated
permit information system. All plans should be labeled and archived for future
reference. There are a number of public agencies that are not only archiving
these architectural plans, but also receiving these plans from applicants over the
Internet.
Recommendation #72: All documents created by staff regarding permits, plan
checks, and inspections should be archived in the automated permit information
system.
Recommendation #73: Architectural plans should be archived in the automated
permit information system once the permit is finalized.
9. PLAN CHECK AND PERMIT ANNOTATIONS, CORRECTIONS AND
COMMENTS SHOULD BE STORED IN THE AUTOMATED PERMIT
INFORMATION SYSTEM.
Once planning and building permits are plan checked, annotations and
comments could be added within the automated permit information system, shared
among the review team, and forwarded to the applicant. This is an essential element of
the automated permit information system: to facilitate collaboration, integration, and
cooperation among staff, applicants, architects, and the neighborhoods. Use of the
automated permit information system for these annotations and comments provides the
potential for 24/7 access to staff, applicants, architects, and the neighborhoods.
The City should fully utilize the capacity of the automated permit information
system storing comments and corrections. All of the divisions and departments that
utilize the automated permit information system should enter and store their
annotations, comments, and conditions in this system.
Recommendation #74: All of the divisions and departments that utilize the
automated permit information system should enter and store their annotations,
comments, and conditions in the system.
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10. THE CITY SHOULD ACQUIRE A FULLY FUNCTIONAL COMMERCIAL -OFF -
THE -SHELF AUTOMATED PERMIT INFORMATION SYSTEM.
The City is now working with Pentamation to develop a fully functional automated
permit information system. This process has been ongoing for several years and the
automated permit information system has not yet reached its full development and
conclusion. The Planning Division is still using a Microsoft Access database to track
permit applications, while the Engineering Division is using a Microsoft Excel
spreadsheet to track permit applications. Various features of the Pentamation permit
system have yet to be implemented.
The Matrix Consulting Group recommends that the City provide Pentamation with
the opportunity to identify the total installed cost for the development and deployment of
a fully functional automated permit information system.
Regardless of that effort, the Matrix Consulting Group believes that the City
should acquire a fully developed commercial -off -the -shelf automated permit information
system. Given the costs of the Pentamation permit system to -date, the Matrix
Consulting Group believes that the City would be better served by acquiring a system
that has already been fully developed and deployed, with a significant installed
customer base, rather than continuing to allocate additional funds for the development
of the automated permit information system by Pentamation.
Recommendation #75: The City should provide Pentamation with the opportunity
to identify the total installed cost for the development and deployment of a fully
functional automated permit information system.
Recommendation #76: The City should acquire a fully developed commercial -off -
the -shelf automated permit information system.
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5. ANALYSIS OF THE PERMIT CENTER
The Matrix Consulting Group evaluates permit centers from the context of
sufficient space for receiving and serving customers; sit-down counters for customers;
computers that customers can access for application preparation and review of zoning,
building materials, reading material; maps (general plan/zoning) available for customer
access; application guides and forms; toys for children; etc.
1. THE CITY SHOULD REMODEL THE PERMIT CENTER.
In the evaluating the ability of the downstairs permit center to effectively serve
the City's customers in this context, the Matrix Consulting Group noted numerous
problems from a customer service perspective regarding the permit center as presented
below.
• The space available in the permit center is limited and at peak hours the center is
crowded. Our national experience is that the best permit centers have extremely
large waiting areas so customers do not feel they are in such a hectic
environment. Given the number of permit center customers, the lobby is too
small. A few of our recommendations can help this.
• There is an absence of sit-down work space for customers.
• There is a shortage of conference rooms for staff to have meetings with permit
center customers to discuss their applications.
• The permit center is not staffed during the lunch hour.
The Matrix Consulting Group recommends that the City remodel the permit
center. The permit center should provide sit-down counters for customers, computers
that customers can access, better access to small conference rooms for staff to meet
with applicants and discuss their applications, etc.
Recommendation #77: The City should remodel the permit center.
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6. ANALYSIS OF PERMIT ADMINISTRATION
This chapter presents an analysis of the administrative practices of the permit
process such as staff training, customer service in the permit center, etc.
1. A GREATER FOCUS SHOULD BE PLACED ON ENSURING THE
AVAILABILITY OF PLANNERS TO SERVE THE FRONT COUNTER DURING
ALL HOURS OF OPERATIONS AND INCREASE THE SERVICES PROVIDED
TO THE PUBLIC ON A WALK-IN BASIS.
At the present time, all planners are assigned (on a rotating basis) to works shifts
at the front counter. The staff member assigned to the counter is not required to remain
at the counter, but is provided a pager to carry so that they can be located when a
customer arrives and needs assistance.
While generally this approach is effective in utilizing staff time and freeing them
up to work on projects at their desk, some issues with this approach were identified
including periodic inability to locate the planner in a timely manner, and the wait time for
customers during the location of the planner by the receptionist in the permit center.
Additionally, the counter is not staffed during lunch hours as the entire City organization
takes a coordinated lunch period and services to the public (at the permit center) are
closed from noon to 1:00 p.m. While this approach typically works well for staff, it often
eliminates a key time period for many applicants who may need or desire to conduct
permit processing during their lunch period.
The Division should provide a greater focus on ensuring that a planner is
available during all hours of operation, including the lunch hour, to address issues and
answer questions at the front counter. This can be easily accomplished through efforts
such as the following:
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• Rotating lunch hours so that front counter service can be provided throughout all
hours of operations; and
• Increasing the time spent at the front counter during the shift by physically basing
a planner at the front counter and utilizing the computer at the counter for
planners to conduct other work activities when an applicant is not present.
This approach will increase the availability of staff to handle customer issues
promptly, and eliminate the perception, shared with the project team, that Planning staff
is not always readily available or easily located to handle counter functions.
Additionally, the project team recommends that the Planning and Development
Department institute a set schedule for providing review of minor corrections over the
counter to expedite the approval process. This can be undertaken on a pilot basis to
determine the usefulness to the applicants and gauge the workload that is generated by
this approach. Individual planners assigned to current planning should have a set
number of hours, on a recurring weekly basis, where they are available in the office to
review minor corrections on planning related issues outstanding. The hours for each
current planner should be posted in the Permit Center and on the Department's web
site.
The Department should establish guidelines for what constitutes "minor
corrections" and should inform applicants when they qualify to utilize this service by
noting this when comments are issued for a particular plan review.
Recommendation #78: A greater focus should be placed by the Planning Division
on ensuring availability of a professional staff member at the front counter during
all hours of operation including during the lunch hour.
Recommendation #79: The Planning Division should conduct a pilot program of
providing scheduled hours for "walk in" reviews of minor corrections to expedite
the approval process.
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2. SEVERAL COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND EDUCATION EFFORTS SHOULD
BE UNDERTAKEN TO EDUCATE AND ENHANCE RELATIONSHIPS WITH
THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY.
One of the easiest, least expensive and most effective opportunities to enhance
the service provided to the customer is to ensure that frequent, timely, and meaningful
dialogue is undertaken. These interactions should be designed to increase the
customer's understanding of existing procedures and policies, and to provide a
mechanism
for staff to
receive
ongoing
feedback regarding
issues from the
development
community.
The
following
sections outline
some specific
recommendations.
(1) A "How to Develop in the City of Cupertino" Guide Should Be Developed.
A comprehensive how to guide should be developed that covers the entire permit
process from project concept through the final certificate of occupancy. In developing
this guide, the City needs to ensure that it is developed in a "plain English" approach
that is understandable by a variety of audiences and not just those that work within the
development arena on a daily basis. The City currently has in place many elements that
would be included within this document. These would simply need to be updated and
refined for inclusion.
This document needs to be more than a simple recitation of the ordinances, but
clearly explain the steps of the process, how to comply and appropriately submit an
application, and identify the review that will be conducted by staff. Within this document,
it would be appropriate to include copies of checklists for each phase of the process that
clearly identify to the applicant the information that must be submitted and why it is
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required. A section that clearly outlines the review time standards that have been
adopted by the City should also be included within the document.
Another critical component of the guide should be a section outlining the
standard conditions of approval for each of the reviewing departments (as discussed
previously in this chapter).
Recommendation #80: The City should develop a comprehensive "How-to
Manual" or "Development Guide" for use by the public and publish this document
to their web site.
(2) The Level of Ongoing Dialogue Between the Community Development
Department and the Development Community Should Be Increased.
The Community Development Department should focus on increasing the
amount and type of communication, dialogue and interaction with the development
community in a proactive manner — not simply working with them when problems arise.
This should be initiated by publishing a periodic newsletter (either 2 or 4 times per year)
that addresses changing requirements, code interpretations, a discussion of emerging
issues, or an informational discussion of a particular policy or requirement. These
newsletters should be posted on the City's web site and emailed directly to all
individuals who sign-up to receive them.
Additionally, at least annually, the Community Development Department should
host a meeting with the development community to discuss issues of general interest,
solicit input for consideration on specific regulations under consideration for revision,
and provide an opportunity to receive feedback regarding service levels. Most
communities that implement this approach utilize a one and a half hour to two-hour
meeting that is focused on a specific topic and held in a community center.
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Finally, the Community Development Department should conduct an annual
survey of the development community to evaluate the Community Development
Department's level of performance. This can easily be accomplished through the use of
a short online survey. Staff should consider whether there are a significant number of
customers that wouldn't be able to respond online and if so, hard copy forms of the
survey should be available in the permit center. Additionally, comment postcards
should be made available to all applicants following the completion of the application
review (approval or denial), asking them to evaluate the level of services provided on
their case.
The City of San Jose has developed a customer satisfaction survey; the Matrix
Consulting Group has provided a copy to the Community Development Department.
Recommendation #81: The Community Development Department should institute
a periodic (two to four times per year) newsletter that is distributed to the
development community containing code or interpretation updates, training
information, and general discussion of relevant topics.
Recommendation #82: The Community Development Department should conduct
at least an annual meeting to engage the development community in a discussion
of general issues regarding permit matters in Cupertino, solicit input regarding
service levels, and seek input regarding potential changes to the enabling
legislation (general plan, subdivision ordinance, zoning ordinance, and building
codes).
Recommendation #83: The Community Development Department should conduct
an annual and ongoing customer satisfaction survey.
(3) New Ordinance and Code Requirements Should Be Implemented After
Communication With The Development Community.
When Building Inspectors bring new information into the field for building inspection that
was acquired at outside training or realize that something that they have not been
requiring is, in fact, required by the codes, Building Inspectors immediately call for
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corrections. On other occasions they may decide to change requirements after meeting
together. This causes hardship for owners and contractors when construction has to be
dismantled and it impacts their costs and job completion deadlines. Owners and
contractors are entitled to notice time in order to prepare for requirements not previously
imposed. The Building Division should provide 60-days notice regarding any changed
requirements not previously invoked, and should not impact jobs under construction.
Recommendation #84: The City should require that any new ordinance and code
requirements not previously imposed will not be enforced on current
construction and future jobs until the industry is informed and a 60-day waiting
period is put in place.
Recommendation #85: The City should communicate any new plan review and
inspection requirements to developers, contractors, architects, engineers, and
the construction community through issuance of information bulletins and a
newsletter. Distribute information bulletins describing the new requirements, and
show effective date of implementation.
3. ADDITIONAL TRAINING SHOULD BE PROVIDED TO STAFF OF THE
PLANNING, BUILDING, AND ENGINEERING DIVISIONS.
During the conduct of the study, the project team concluded that, as a general
rule, the staff assigned to the Planning, Building, and Engineering divisions were
generally well -versed and trained regarding their assigned duties and in professional
planning techniques
There are several areas where the project team recommends that the City focus
additional efforts to further enhance the training of staff of the Planning Division. These
include:
• Supporting and encouraging staff to achieve the AICP certification
available from the American Planning Association. This is the nationally
recognized certification for professional planners, and it ensures that staff stay
both current in the planning profession and maintain a broad understanding of
applicable planning techniques and practices, including emerging and developing
aspects of the profession. Achievement of the AICP certification should be
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strongly considered as a requirement for advancement within the Planner job
family.
• The utilization of the current bi-weekly departmental staff meeting to
increase staff's understanding of difficult compliance issues related to
implementation of the General Plan and Zoning Ordinance. At each meeting
an individual staff member should be responsible for leading a short training
session on a particular topic. The focus of this training should be to increase the
staff ability to make decisions at the lowest appropriate level in the organization.
This will also have an added benefit of increasing consistency among staff. Staff
who have attended external training sessions should also share the training
information received during these departmental staff meetings.
• Coordinating the training that staff attend annually to ensure that the
limited training funds are most effectively utilized. Priority should be given to
ensuring that all staff attend sufficient training in order to maintain their AICP
certification. Additionally, training should be coordinated so that staff attend a
variety of training sessions and generally do not all attend the same training
session (which may be appropriate on certain topics).
An enhanced focus on these areas of training will increase and maintain the
professional knowledge and skills of the planning professionals in the City.
Sending individual Building Inspectors to classes presented outside of the City is
also encouraged. It is equally important that the staff share the information received
from seminars and classes, and that all agree on the use of each subject. Individual
Building Inspectors that receive information learned from outside the organization need
to verify how it is going to be utilized in the City through team learning and sharing.
Placing priority on training, sharing of information, and agreement on interpretations
should contribute to the issue of consistency.
Coordination and consistency can be enhanced by periodic meetings between
fire inspectors, Plan Check Engineer, Building Inspectors, Counter Technician, and all
personnel who participate in the development process, to review operations and
contribute to efficient delivery of services. Involving everyone who serves in the
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development process will assure that all good ideas are heard and will allow everyone
to participate and take advantage of resolution of all matters. If consensus cannot be
achieved, supervision and management may have to make decisions and publish their
findings. This kind of effort will give all personnel the opportunity to be involved, provide
input and take ownership for the process.
Recommendation #86: All full-time planners should be encouraged to attain the
AICP certification from the American Planning Association. The City of Cupertino
should consider requiring achievement of this certification to progress through
the Planner job family.
Recommendation #87: The Planning, Building and Engineering division -heads
should develop annual training programs for each employee in the division.
Recommendation #88: The Planning, Building and Engineering divisions should
provide additional training to increase their ability to make decisions regarding
subdivision ordinance, zoning ordinance, and building codes to increase
consistency of interpretation among staff.
Recommendation #89: Provide not less that 40-hours of job -related training
annually for each employee of the Planning, Building and Engineering divisions.
Recommendation #90: Establish and publish quarterly training agendas. Assign
all employees as presenters, and have them prepare outlines for their
presentation. Bring in outside industry training where appropriate.
Recommendation #91: The Building Division should implement quarterly training
sessions with Fire Prevention Inspectors, Building Inspectors, the Plan Check
Engineer, the Counter Technician, and all employees involved in the development
process (Planning, Engineering, Fire Prevention, etc.) to review operations,
eliminate overlap or duplication, and improve coordination for efficient delivery of
services. Allow each discipline to present matters of concern for decision and
resolution.
Recommendation #92: The Building Division should involve the District Fire
Inspectors, at least monthly, in the building code training to achieve consistency.
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4. THE CITY SHOULD UNDERTAKE A COMPREHENSIVE USER FEE STUDY.
The Matrix Consulting Group recommends that the City conduct a
comprehensive development fee study that covers the planning, engineering and
building permit plan review and inspection fees within the next several years.
While the Planning Division has a goal of covering 100% of their current planning
processes through related fees, the City has not undertaken a fee study of the planning
land development fees in recent years. The fees associated with the building permits
were last reviewed in 2007. The best practice is to undertake a comprehensive fee
analysis at least every five years.
The City should ensure that all planning, building, and engineering permit fees
related to land development are included in the next fee study conducted. The inclusion
of these fees in the study at the same time the building fees are evaluated will not
increase the cost of the study significantly and should require an additional expenditure
within the range of $10,000 to no more than $15,000.
Recommendation #93: The City of Cupertino should ensure that all planning,
building, and engineering permit fees are reviewed and evaluated when the next
review of development fee schedules is conducted to ensure fees are
appropriately calculated and assessed.
5. THE CITY SHOULD CHARGE A TECHNOLOGY FEE TO PROVIDE FUNDING
FOR THE DEPLOYMENT OF THE AUTOMATED PERMIT INFORMATION
SYSTEM AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS.
A key tenet of the City's development services is that the costs of these services
should be recovered through user fees. In fact, one of the City's financial policies states,
"we will pursue cost recovery for services funded by governmental funds incorporating
defined budgets, specific goals, and measurable milestones."
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The City should charge a technology fee as a surcharge on its planning and
building permits. This fee should be based upon the actual costs to fund the deployment
of the automated permit information systems, the accessory technologies such as
wireless devices, the ongoing licensing fees, and the replacement funding for the
system. The funding should also be utilized to deploy the geographic information
system within the Community Development Department.
Other cities, such as Sacramento and Culver City, already charge such a
technology fee. In both instances, it amounts to a 4% surcharge.
Recommendation #94: The City should charge a technology fee as a surcharge to
its building permits.
6. THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT AND THE ENGINEERING
DIVISION SHOULD DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN A POLICIES AND
PROCEDURES MANUAL FOR PERMIT PROCESSING.
The division -heads in the Planning, Building, and Engineering divisions should
develop a central desk manual for employees which lists office management duties and
who is responsible. The manual should include instructions on how to use the manual,
detailed definitions of procedures or processes, direction about when and where to get
help, and any other necessary resources and references (software manuals, important
phone numbers, etc.). Examples of items to be included in the manual are shown
below.
Function
Policies and Procedure Information
Permit Processing
Overview of processes required from start to finish on application
submittals
• Application submittal checklists and requirements
• Protocol for answering the phones, scheduling appointments
• Policies for rejecting incomplete submittals
• Process for fee calculations and collecting money
• Procedures for packaging and routing plan submittals
• Plan routing matrix by type of project and department requiring review
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Function
Policies and Procedure Information
Plan Review
Plan Review Checklists
• Case management duties for plan review staff
• Cycle review times by type of project
• Customer service goals such as response times for email and phone
inquiries
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Common Code interpretations
• Policies regarding communication with customers about vacation and
9/80 schedules
An employee desk manual will provide a quick reference for employees to get
questions answered, back each other up in the case of absence, and gain a
comprehensive understanding of the Division's operations. In addition, it provides the
division -heads a method for standardizing operating procedures and developing
measures of accountability for those procedures for staff. The division -heads should
also work closely with lead workers, supervisors and managers in the Division to update
the manuals on at least an annual basis.
Recommendation #95: A comprehensive desk manual should be developed for all
major work functions and services provided by the Planning, Building and
Engineering divisions. A copy of the manual should be available to each
employee, and updated at a minimum on an annual basis. The manual should be
published to the Intranet.
7. THE MANAGEMENT OF ADVANCED PLANNING SHOULD BE IMPROVED.
The Planning Division already develops an annual work program for advanced
planning projects for each fiscal year. For example, the advanced work program for
fiscal year 2009-10 includes the development of a green building policy / sustainable
land use policy, a long-term assessment of the City's jobs / housing balance, etc. The
annual work program includes a bar chart schedule for each project included in the
annual work program.
This is a good step. Additional improvements are required to enhance
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accountability.
(1) The Annual Work Program Should be Expanded.
The annual work program should be expanded. The program should be include
such information as the following:
• A description of the project (already included in the existing program);
• The priority of the project (already included in the existing program);
• A summary of previous work performed on the project;
• The tasks to be performed for the project in the next fiscal year;
• The milestone dates for each project;
• The name of the project manager;
• The proposed allocation of staff hours per Planner per month to the various
projects;
• The month -by -month allocation of staff hours by planner;
• The proposed consulting budget for the project, if appropriate) in the next fiscal
year including the source of funding, appropriation status, and proposed
expenditures by major component;
• A summary month -by -month Gantt chart for the year that provides an overall
summary of the tasks to be performed for each project ((already included in the
existing program).
This expanded annual work program will likely require one to two pages per project.
Recommendation #96: The Planning Division should expand the annual work
program.
(2) A Project Work Plan Should Be Prepared Prior to the Initiation of Each
Advanced Planning Project.
At the inception of a project, the project may be loosely defined. For example, the
initial request may be for a zoning ordinance amendment that presents legal or policy
issues. If potential project issues are identified early, the City Planner can determine
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whether alternatives need to be developed to achieve the desired result. If the project is
not adequately defined, the estimated time requirements are likely to be understated.
The projects should be formally defined, in writing, via a project work plan.
This project work plan is, in essence, a scoping document. The Planning Division
should not initiate an advanced planning project until this scoping document has been
developed. The project work plan should include the components enumerated below.
• The project title;
• A general project description including a narrative summary description of the
project;
• The project objectives;
• The planning process to be utilized that would be utilized (such as the tasks and
activities involved in the study startup, data collection an analysis, development
of study alternatives, environmental assessment, and final study report);
• The study data needs and sources (maps, soil studies, etc.);
• A budget covering the project management or Planning Division staffing including
the staff costs, consulting costs and other related costs such as traffic analysis,
environmental impact report preparation, etc.;
• The responsibility for completing the various components of the advanced
planning project including the manager, supervisor or lead worker, and planning
staff;
• The extent of coordination necessary, listing the inter -agency coordination by
outside agency with whom coordination will be required in the completion of the
advanced planning project, the nature of the coordination, and the key contacts;
• The preliminary schedule for completing the advanced planning project
• A document control procedure and record -keeping system including contract
documents;
• Project team organizational structure and staffing levels required throughout the
advanced planning project, including the estimated staffing required in terms of
person hours required for each task; and
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• Community relation and public information requirements including public
hearings or meetings and how the public will be informed and involved in the
advanced planning project and informed about the progress of the project.
A project work plan should be completed before commencement of an advanced
planning project. It should be reviewed with the Planning Commission prior to the
commencement of the project.
Recommendation #97: The Planning Division should complete a project work
plan prior to commencement of an advanced planning project.
(3) A Quarterly Report Should Be Prepared Reporting Progress Against the
Project Work Plan
The Planning Division should prepare a quarterly narrative statement regarding
each advanced planning project. The following information should be included in this
status report.
• The advanced planning project name;
• The project manager assigned to the project;
• A comparison of actual project costs to date versus planned including
Budget for the project including staff costs, consultant costs, and other
related costs; and
Project expenditures to date separately identifying staff expenditures from
consulting expenditures;
• A comparison of actual project schedule to date versus planned including:
The date the advanced planning project was scheduled to begin and
actually begun; and
The current status of the project containing explanations such as 30%
complete.
These should be simple reports. The reports should be published quarterly, on-
line on the Internet. Each project should be presented on a single line with information
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regarding the project number, project title, project description, budget amount, current
balance, the project manager, the date for completion, and comments (e.g., project is
50% complete).
Recommendation #98: The Planning Division should publish a quarterly report
regarding the status of advanced planning projects.
(4) A Final Report Should Be Prepared on Completion of an Advanced
Planning Project.
Without a formal analysis and distribution for review, the mistakes and
weaknesses of one project will almost certainly be repeated on others. The final report
should focus on analyzing the good and bad aspects of the completed project,
transmitting that information to the staff of the Advanced Planning Section, and
providing a convenient summary of the project.
At the completion of the project, the project manager assigned to the project
should complete a final report including:
• Project name, and a description of the project.
• Costs — planned versus actual with an identification of reasons for the variances;
• The staff hours allocated to the project - planned versus actual;
• The schedule for completion of the project - planned versus actual;
• Whether the project at completion met the expectations of the community, the
appropriate Boards and Commissions and City Council;
• Comments and discussion regarding the project as necessary including unusual
conditions encountered during the project.
This report should be circulated to the other staff within the Planning Division, the
City Planner, and the Community Development Director.
Recommendation #99: At the completion of an advanced planning project, a final
report should be published good and bad aspects of the completed project,
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transmitting that information to the staff of the Planning Division, and providing a
convenient summary of the project.
(5) The Vacant Senior Planner Position Should be Filled and Dedicated to
Advanced Planning.
Regardless of the project management practices for advanced planning, the City
needs to dedicate staff to advanced planning. At the present time, the Planning Division
is allocated a temporary Assistant Planner position. There is sufficient ongoing
advanced planning workload to warrant a full-time authorized position. The vacant
Senior Planner position should be filled and dedicated to advanced planning.
To help pay for the costs of advanced planning, the City should charge a zoning
ordinance update fee. This fee is permissible, and utilized by a number of cities to
enable the fiscal sustainability of advanced planning.
Recommendation #100: The vacant Senior Planner position should be filled and
dedicated to advanced planning.
Recommendation #101: The City should charge a zoning ordinance update fee to
enable the fiscal sustainability of advanced planning as a surcharge to its
building permits.
8. THE SENIOR PLANNERS SHOULD BE UTILIZED AS LEAD
PROFESSIONALS IN THE PLANNING DIVISION.
In evaluating the current plan of organization for the Planning Division in
comparison to the principles noted above, a number of issues are apparent. These
issues, presented as advantages and disadvantages, are presented in the table below.
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Advantages
Disadvantages
• The current structure provides clear lines of
The lines of accountability and functional
accountability, but at the City Planner level.
cohesion are muddled in regards to the
• The current approach to organizing long-range
provision of advanced planning and current
planning and current planning promotes
planning below the level of City Planner.
resource sharing, scalability (ability to manage
The spans of control are too narrow for the
peaks and valleys), and adaptability (cross
Senior Planners if the Senior Planners are to
functional capability) since staff can be utilized
be utilized as first -line supervisors.
for both advanced planning and current
The "handoffs" for advanced planning projects
planning.
can be a problem given the absence of staff
• The spans of control for the City Planner are
dedicated to this function.
reasonable, and not too broad.
The current structure impedes workload
management, resource sharing, scalability, and
adaptability since different Senior Planners are
responsible for current and for advanced
planning.
• The current structure does not aid performance
management, quality control checks, and
consistency of policy/procedure application
since different Senior Planners are responsible
for current and for advanced planning.
• The current structure impedes the sharing of
knowledge and understanding due to the lack
of lead workers.
The current plan of organization clearly offers a number of advantages. The
current plan of organization has worked for the Division. However, the current plan of
organization has a number of issues associated with it as noted previously.
The Matrix Consulting Group recommends a modified plan of organization for the
Division that provides for career growth for the Senior Planners by utilizing these three
Senior Planners as lead professionals for distinct services within the Division. Important
points to note regarding the proposed role of the Senior Planners are presented below.
• The City Planner would continue as the division -head for the Planning
Division.
• The Three Senior Planners would be responsible for taking the lead a
distinct function. One of the Senior Planners should take the lead for Current
Planning, the other should take the lead for Advanced Planning, and the third for
CEQA. These three Senior Planners would be the lead practitioners in these
areas.
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• In this role, the Senior Planner would be responsible for being a lead
professional for a team of other professionals. This team could include
Assistant and Associate Planners or staff from other divisions, as appropriate.
These three Senior Planner positions should be trained and utilized as lead
professionals.
Recommendation #102: The Senior Planners should be utilized as lead
professionals within the Planning Division. This role should be clarified in a
written division policy and procedure.
9. THE ENGINEERING DIVISION SHOULD UPDATE THE STORMWATER
MASTER PLAN.
The stormwater master plan was prepared in the 1980's. Master plans typically
have a 20-year life span at the maximum given changes in the regulatory environment
and the implementation of the capital projects contained in the master plan.
The Engineering Division should update the stormwater master plan in the next
two years using a consulting engineering firm. The pricing in this economic environment
should be advantageous to the City.
Recommendation #103: The Engineering Division should update the stormwater
master plan in the next two years using a consulting engineering firm.
10. THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL SHOULD DEVELOP ALTERNATIVES FOR
THE CONSIDERATION OF THE CITY COUNCIL TO AVOID CONDUCTING
PUBLIC HEARINGS FOR CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS IN THE EARLY
MORNING.
A number of different types of planning permits require the consideration and
decision of the City Council. This includes such types of permits as conditional use
permits and variances.
The project team, in studying the permit process, also reviewed the decision -
making process. A review of this process found that the decisions made by the City
Council sometimes occur in the early morning. This is unusual and not commonly found
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in Cupertino's peer cities. The decisions made in the early morning by the City Council
defeat the purpose of public hearings since few members of the public can afford to
participate in the public process in the early morning.
The Mayor and the City Manager should develop alternatives for the
consideration of the City Council to avoid conducting public hearings after a certain hour
in the evening such as 11 pm. Implementation of these alternatives would enable viable
public comment and participation.
Recommendation #104: The Mayor and City Manager should develop alternatives
for the consideration of the City Council to avoid conducting public hearings for
City Council meetings in the early morning.
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7. ANALYSIS OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND
DESIGN REVIEW COMMITTEE
This section presents an analysis of the Planning Commission and staff
interactions with the Commission, as well as approaches that could be utilized by the
Community Development Department to enhance the effectiveness of the operations
and planning efforts of the Planning Commission and the Design Review Committee.
The Planning Commission is appointed by the City Council and is designed to review
and make recommendations on major planning permits and to provide feedback and
review of changes to enabling legislation affecting the planning process. The Design
Review Commission is a subset of the Planning Commission and includes members of
the Planning Commission acting on behalf of the full Commission.
1. THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND DESIGN REVIEW COMMITTEE SHOULD
CONDUCT AN ANNUAL RETREAT WITH STAFF.
The staff of the Community Development Department Planning Division should
conduct a retreat with the Planning Commission and the Design Review Committee
annually. The purpose of the retreats is to enable the Commission and Committee to
get away from the ordinary routine and discuss strategic issues such as the annual work
program, for example. One city's annual retreat agenda for its Planning Commission
consisted of the following:
• The Commissions' role in implementing City Council policy;
• Review of variances and planned unit developments zoning regulations; and
• The code enforcement process, coordination with Planning and case studies.
Other cities utilize these annual retreats to discuss zoning regulations, the
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grounds upon which applications can be denied, future planning efforts and developing
issues, transportation issues, housing policy, etc. It is important to keep the
commission fully aware of changing requirement, trends in the industry, and specific
challenges that may be faced in the coming year. Similar topics should be covered with
the Design Review Committee to ensure a clear vision and the development of an
agreed upon annual work program that is in conformance with the adopted City Council
policy goals.
Managerial and supervisory staff of the Planning Division should participate in
this annual retreat with the Commission and Committee. An important part of the
annual retreat is to define the relationship between the Planning Commission and the
Design Review Committee and the staff of the Planning Division. This includes the
expectations the two entities have of staff and, similarly, what expectations staff has of
the Planning Commission and Design Review Committee. Without discussing the
expectations each has of the other, misunderstandings can result. This, in turn, can lead
to publicly aired disagreements on critical planning issues that reflect poorly on the City
as a whole.
To enhance the working relationships between the Planning Commission and the
City Council, the Planning Division should conduct joint retreat sessions with the
Planning Commission and the City Council annually. The purpose of these joint work
sessions is to discuss matters involving planning, land use, and community change
management issues. To avoid being haphazard and disjointed, an agenda should be
developed by the Department and followed through the retreat to ensure an orderly and
comprehensive session.
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The Planning Division should designate one individual, such as the City Planner,
to serve as the facilitator to keep this annual retreat on track, develop the agenda,
coordinate the meeting, and conclude the retreat by developing an agreed upon list of
actions or next steps.
Recommendation #105: The Planning Commission should conduct annual
retreats with staff.
2. THE CITY COUNCIL SHOULD CONDUCT A JOINT MEETING EACH YEAR
WITH THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND DESIGN REVIEW COMMITTEE.
It is extremely critical for the effective implementation of the general plan and the
zoning regulations that the City Council and the Planning Commission speak from the
same basis on a common vision for the city and development activities.
The Commission and the City Council need to discuss their expectations of each
other. Regular meetings, not less than once annually, keep lines of communication
open between the bodies, preventing rifts and misunderstandings. The Planning
Commission functions as an extension of the City Council in implementing land
development within the City of Cupertino. It is critical that all entities are proceeding in
their review and approval (or denial) with a common vision and understanding of what is
trying to be achieved.
In addition, these meetings are a good time to discuss potential changes (at a
high level) in the Zoning Ordinance utilized by the City. This session can include a joint
visioning exercise between the Planning Commission and the City Council to provide
guidance to staff in making changes in the enabling ordinances and setting work
priorities for the coming year. By conducting this joint visioning exercise for the
updating of the zoning ordinance (and the design review regulations), listening to ideas
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(and complaints) about a range of neighborhood and citywide issues, the City Council
and these two Commissions can provide early input and direction to these critical policy
documents, to assure the document incorporates the important perspectives and
concerns of all interested parties and present a common vision for the future of
Cupertino. This will reduce the chances of being "blind -sided" by critical comments at
the end of the process or the City Council and the Commissions proceeding in different
directions.
Recommendation #106: The City Council and the Planning Commission should
conduct joint meetings at least annually.
Recommendation #107: The City Council and Planning Commission should
conduct a joint visioning exercise early in the process of any updating of the
Zoning Ordinance.
3. COMMISSION MEMBERS SHOULD BE PROVIDED WITH ONGOING
ANNUAL TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES.
The Planning Division should provide members of the Planning Commission with
ongoing training. This issue is so important that the states of Kentucky and Tennessee
have passed legislation in the past few years that mandates orientation for new
Planning Commissioners and continuing education for these commissioners (as well as
staff). This training ensures that members serving on this critical commission are
provided a common base of knowledge of the planning profession and the enabling
ordinances and regulations adopted by the City of Cupertino.
The ongoing training that should be provided by the Planning Division to
commission members should include such topics as the following:
• The legal basis for the Commission;
• The duties, roles and responsibilities of the Commission, including the kinds of
decisions that the Commission makes, and the required legal basis for making
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those decisions;
• The structure and staffing of the Planning Division, and the duties, roles and
responsibilities of staff;
• Recent significant issues, significant applications, and advanced planning
program initiatives that the Commission and City Council have considered;
• The comprehensive plan, the Zoning Ordinance, and any design guidelines that
have been developed by the City, and the overall planning and land use
framework;
• The bylaws of the Commission and the City Council, meeting management and
procedures;
• Public participation, both in terms of noticing and at Commission and City Council
meetings;
• Environmental regulations and environmental issues;
• Sources of funding for the Planning Division and the most recent adopted annual
budget for the division — both revenues and expenditures;
• The most recent advanced planning work program adopted by the City Council;
and
• Publications available from the Planning Division.
In addition, each member of the Planning Commission should be provided with
membership in the American Planning Association. The American Planning Association
provides information specifically for Planning Commissioners including a Commissioner
newsletter, a CD-ROM and video training package series for planning commissioners,
audio training packages, a planning commissioner training resource center, a planners
book service and a series of retreats at the annual American Planning Association
annual conference, the monthly Planning magazine, and other relevant material. This
membership is available at a discounted rate for planning board members.
Recommendation #108: Planning Commission members should be provided with
ongoing training of no less than four hours a year.
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Recommendation #109: The members of the Planning Commission should
continue to be provided with membership in the American Planning Association.
4. AN ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION SHOULD BE
PREPARED AND SUBMITTED THE CITY COUNCIL.
As part of ensuring ongoing communications and interaction, the City Planning
Commission, with the assistance of staff from the Planning Division, should prepare an
annual report. This report should be formally submitted to the City Council.
The report should outline the activities performed by the Planning Commission
including information such as:
• Workload data, including the number of cases processed and summaries of the
outcome;
• Major issues faced during the year; and
• Identification of potential areas for future revision in the enabling ordinances
(drawn from both cases where the commission had difficulty in applying it during
the prior year, or from areas identified as potentially conflicting or problematic).
This report should be reviewed during the annual meeting held between the City
Council and the Planning Commission.
Recommendation #110: The Planning Commission should prepare an annual
report summarizing their activities and submit it to the City Council.
5. THE CITY SHOULD TAKE A NUMBER OF STEPS TO REDUCE THE LENGTH
OF PLANNING COMMISSION MEETINGS.
It is clear from a review of agendas and minutes of the Planning Commission that
these meetings are lengthy. The Planning Division should work with the Chairperson of
the Commission to develop and implement steps to reduce the length of these
meetings. The recommendations of the Matrix Consulting Group to address this
challenge are presented below.
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• Amend Planning Commission Bylaws To Clarify the Responsibility of the
Chairperson To Manage Commission Meetings. The clarification of the
responsibility of the chairperson should include presiding over all commission
deliberations and having the authority to preserve order, enforcing rules of the
commission, assuring commission meetings are conducted in accordance with
commission bylaws, and determining the commission order of business.
The bylaws should clarify that one of the main duties of the chairperson is
to preside over meetings of commission and ensure these meetings are well -run,
prompt, that its membership is respectful of each other and staff, that these
meetings do not consistently end at the early hours of the morning, and a
pleasant atmosphere exists at these meetings.
The role and responsibility of the chairperson should include monitoring
Commissioner comments to assure these comments are pertinent to the matter
and concise, that Commissioners avoid issues that it cannot use to base its
decisions, and provide direction to the public about what issues are germane to
the Commission.
Recommendation #111: Amend the Planning Commission bylaws to clarify
the responsibility of the Planning Commission chairperson to manage
Commission meetings.
• Amend Planning Commission Bylaws To Reduce the Amount of Time
Available to Public Speakers to the Same Amount As Provided by the City
Council. The amount of time provided for applicants, appellants, and the public
should be the same for the Planning Commission as the public. The issues
considered by the City Council are equally as serious and complex as those
before the Planning Commission. The amount of time provided for public
speakers by both bodies should be the same.
Recommendation #112: Amend the bylaws of the Planning Commission to
reduce the amount of time available to public speakers to the same amount
as that provided at City Council meetings.
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APPENDIX 1 - PROFILE
This section of the profile provides organizational and operational information for
the resources allocated to the City permit process, including the Administrative,
Planning, Economic Development and Housing, and Building Divisions of the
Community Development Department, and the Engineering Division of the Public Works
Department.
The information in this profile is based upon interviews conducted with Division
personnel, collection of workload statistics from various information management
systems, and review of budget and other documentation, and is organized as follows:
• Administrative Division;
• Planning Division;
• Economic Development and Housing Division;
• Building Division; and
• Public Works Engineering Division.
For each of these areas, the project team provides the organizational structures,
the key roles and responsibilities of staff involved in the permit process, and a summary
of workload and service levels where available.
1. THE ADMINISTRATION SERVICES DIVISION IS AUTHORIZED 6 POSITIONS.
The Administrative Services provides overall direction to the Community
Development Department and general administrative support to the department's other
divisions (the Planning Division, Economic Development and Housing Division, and the
Building Division). Its activities include staff support to top and mid -level management,
and the Planning Commission, Design Review Commission, Environmental Review
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Commission, and the Housing Commission. It is involved in the overall direction and
coordination of department's different programs and work processes. The Division
accomplishes a number of ongoing tasks including the following:
• Provides overall support to the department in the areas of budget management,
purchasing and personnel recruitments;
• Monitors contracts and payments for professional consultants (such as Arborist,
Architectural Advisor, and Geologist) hired by the department; and
• Oversees and monitors work plan items of the department's different programs
including completion of the annual work plan items adopted by the City Council.
The fiscal year 2008 / 09 work plan adopted by the City Council included the
following projects and tasks related to the Community Development Department.
• Major Developments: Periodic updates and analysis regarding major
development projects including: Cupertino Square, HP Property, The Oaks,
Rose Bowl, North Vallco Parkway Retail, and California Pizza Kitchen.
• E-Services: Implementation of enhanced E-Services including online building
permitting and inspection scheduling, on-line issuance of basic permitting
functions, and redesign of website.
• Housing: Implement various affordable housing efforts including: develop and
encourage development of housing opportunities for Cupertino workers, creation
of a teacher housing assistance program, and implementation of Cleo Avenue
Affordable Housing.
• Economic Development / Redevelopment: Several Council priorities were
established including:
- Encourage, retain and support health environment for retail growth.
- Consider retail in reviewing new developments.
• Planning: Specific projects adopted by the City Council as priorities in the
Planning area included:
- Review the Heart of the City plan.
- Development of Green Building Standards.
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- Preparation of Historic Preservation Policy.
- Develop policy for tree topping under property maintenance standards.
- Place sign code review on Planning Commission work program.
- Update of General Plan Housing Element
The plan of organization for the Administration Division is presented in the first
exhibit at the end of this chapter. The Division is authorized 6 full-time equivalent
positions. The number of staff by classification is presented in the table below.
Class Title
Number of Authorized Positions
Director of Community Development
1
Administrative Assistant
1
Senior Office Assistant
2
Administrative Clerk
2
The roles and responsibilities of the staff assigned to this Division are presented
in the second exhibit at the end of this chapter. The following table outlines the overall
budget, by division, for the Community Development Department.
% Change
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
05/06 to
Actual
Actual
Adopted
Adopted
08/09
Administration
$209,148
$194,606
$211,184
$265,068
26.7%
Planning
$1,024,561
$1,166,623
$1,674,265
$1,750,428
70.8%
Housing
$1,394,794
$375,568
$555,828
$740,553
-46.9%
Building
$2,438,731
$2,230,732
$2,107,466
$2,365,653
-3.0%
TOTAL
$5,067,234
$3,967,529
$4,548,743
$5,121,702
1.1
As noted in the chart above, the overall budget for the Community Development
Department has increased only 1.1 % over the last four years. A review of the budget
detail shows that the major areas of change during this time period are the amount of
funds allocated for contractual services and special projects.
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2. THE PLANNING DIVISION IS AUTHORIZED 5.5 PROFESSIONAL PLANNING
POSITIONS.
The Planning Division is responsible for long-range planning and current
planning. The plan of organization for the Planning Division is presented in the third
exhibit at the end of this chapter. The Division is authorized 5.5 full-time equivalent
professional planning positions. One of these positions — A Senior Planner - is vacant; a
temporary Assistant Planner position has been authorized. Important points to note
concerning the plan of organization are presented below.
• The Planning Division is organized in one section. All planners carry both an
advanced planning and a current planning workload. Senior Planner typically are
assigned those projects that are more complex, have unique characteristics, or
are otherwise more difficult. The Assistant and Associate Planners handle more
routine applications.
• The City Planner serves as the division -head for the Planning Division, and
reports to the Community Development Director. The City Planner provides
overall guidance to the Division, supervises all staff of the division, and is
responsible for assigning applications to staff planners.
• The Associate Planner is shared between the Planning Division and the
Economic Development and Housing Division.
• The Planning Intern works 24 hours per week and is responsible for handling
counter functions, processing of simple planning applications, and special
projects as assigned.
• Daily counter / phone duties are shared between two planners.
• The authorized Planning Division staffing is presented in the table below.
Class Title
Number of Authorized
Positions
Number of Vacant
Positions
City Planner
1.0
0
Senior Planner
3.0
1
Associate Planner
0.5
0
Assistant Planner
1.0
0
Assistant Planner- Temporary
1.0
TOTAL
6.5
1
The table shows 6.5 positions; one of these 6.5 positions is a 1.0 temporary
Assistant Planner.
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The roles and responsibilities of the staff assigned to the Planning Division are
presented in the fourth exhibit at the end of this chapter.
The fifth exhibit presented at the end of this chapter presents the workload for the
Planning Division, while the sixth exhibit presents service levels and other important
operational characteristics for the Planning Division.
The Planning Division supports three commissions: the Planning
Commission, the Design Review Commission (a subset of the Planning Commission)
and the Environmental Review Commission. The make up and roles of the
Commissions are presented in the paragraphs below.
• Planning Commission. The Planning Commission consists of five members
appointed by the City Council to carry out a variety of assigned and delegated
functions. State law sets out the major areas over which the Planning
Commission has authority, either as a decision -making or advisory body to the
City Council. The Commission is responsible for recommending various
development policies to the City Council, and once adopted in the form of the
City's General Plan or other ordinances (such as sign ordinance), for reviewing
development applications for their conformance to the adopted plans and
policies. The Commission acts as an advisory body to the City Council on
applications for subdivision of land, and the approval or denial of tentative parcel
maps (four parcels or greater) and, making recommendations to the City Council
on a variety of discretionary development applications (Conditional Use Permits,
Development Plan Review Permits, etc.), variances from the zoning regulations
and for the environmental assessment of such applications, as proscribed by law
or municipal ordinance.
• Design Review Committee. The Design Review Commission consists of the
Planning Commission Vice -Chair and one additional Planning Commission
member appointed by the Planning Commission. An alternate member is
designed in the absence of the Planning Commission member and is also
selected by the Planning Commission. The Design Review Committee is charged
with reducing the Planning Commission's workload by addressing design review
responsibilities and incorporating professional architectural advice into the
process.
• Environmental Review Committee. The Environmental Review Commission
consists of the following members: one City council person, one Planning
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Commission, the City Manager, the Director of Public Works and the Director of
Community Development (or their designated alternatives). The Chair of the
Committee may appoint one at -large nonvoting citizen member to the committee.
The Environmental Review Commission is responsible for reviewing all
discretionary projects, not otherwise exempted from environmental assessment,
for evaluation under the California Environmental Quality Act. The Committee
will evaluate the initial study of a project to determine whether the project will
have a significant effect on the environment.
3. THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING DIVISION IS AUTHORIZED
2.5 EMPLOYEES.
The Economic Development and Redevelopment Division is responsible for
managing the City's overall economic development efforts (including business
attraction, retention and assistance), CDBG administration, housing programs and
related services. Primary goals related to housing include:
• Encourage a balanced community by improving local availability of affordable
housing opportunities; and
• Maintain existing housing through correction of housing deficiencies and building
code violations.
• Prepare updates or modifications to the Housing Element of the General Plan
when necessary.
• Prepare and submit approved Consolidated Plan to HUD.
• Coordinate the Request for Proposals process for CDBG funds and Affordable
Housing Funds annually. Present CDBG proposals to the Housing Commission
for their recommendation to the City Council.
• Develop and monitor contracts with all CDBG sub -recipients on a quarterly basis.
• Present funding applications and coordinate meetings of the Cupertino Housing
Commission. Conduct quarterly monitoring of housing program accounts and
affordable housing loan / rent payments to the Affordable Housing Fund. Work
with local developers to encourage development of 30 affordable housing units.
• Monitor existing Housing Rehabilitation Program loan collections, payoffs,
foreclosures and program income for a $100,000 loan portfolio.
• Facilitate Mortgage Credit Certificate funding in the amount of $100,000.
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• Work with school district to provide teacher housing opportunities.
The plan of organization for the Economic Development and Housing Division is
presented in the seventh exhibit at the end of this chapter. The Division is authorized
2.5 full-time equivalent positions. Important points to note concerning the plan of
organization are presented below.
• The Division is managed by the Economic Development / Redevelopment
Manager.
• One staff member, the Senior Planner CDBG, is responsible for administration
and oversight of all CDBG, public service and housing programs.
• The Division shares an Associate Planner with the Planning Division. While
staffing is shown as split 50% between the two Divisions, current planning
functions take priority over non -planning activities.
• The authorized Economic Development and Housing Division staffing is
presented in the table below.
Class Title
Number of Authorized
Positions
Economic Development/Redevelopment Manager
1
Senior Planner CDBG
1
Associate Planner
.5
TOTAL
2.5
The eighth exhibit at the end of this chapter presents the roles and responsibilities of the
staff of the Division.
3. THE BUILDING DIVISION IS ALLOCATED 10.0 FULL-TIME EQUIVALENTS
The Building Division safeguards the health and safety of residents, workers, and
visitors to the City of Cupertino through the administration and enforcement of building
codes and ordinances adopted by the City, by providing field inspections and plan
checking, and overall regulating the design, construction, use, occupancy, location and
maintenance of all buildings and structures. The Division service objectives include:
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• Assist customers in meeting their deadlines and objectives
• Increase the knowledge of staff through in-house training, meetings, and
seminars.
• Provide useful and informative data on the City's website.
The plan of organization for the Building Division is presented at the end of this
profile. The Division is authorized 10.0 full-time equivalent positions. Important points to
note concerning the plan of organization are presented below.
• The personnel of the Division are primarily organized within building inspections
and plan checking.
• The authorized Building Division staffing is presented in the table below:
Class Title
Number of Authorized Positions
Building Official
1
Senior Building Inspector
1
Building Inspector
6
Plan Check Engineer
1
Counter Technician
1
• The Building Official is the overall manager of the Division, providing general
guidance and leadership and represents the Division in meetings with elected
City officials, executives, and the community.
• The administrative support is responsible for routing plans and entering data
regarding permit applications and inspections into the computer application.
• The Building Inspection section is responsible for conducting required field
inspections at various points of residential and commercial building projects,
address citizen complaints, enforce building codes, conduct community
education, etc.
• The Plan Check section is responsible for reviewing residential and commercial
building, remodel, and tenant improvement plans for conformance to State and
Municipal building codes.
The key roles and responsibilities of the personnel assigned to the Building
Division are presented in an exhibit at the end of this profile. Other exhibits for the
Division presents service level information.
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4. THE PUBLIC WORKS ENGINEERING DIVISION ALLOCATES
APPROXIMATELY 1.25 FULL-TIME EQUIVALENTS TO THE PERMIT
PROCESS
The Public Works Engineering Division reviews plans for private residential and
commercial developments to ensure conformance with City standards. Public Works
Engineering staff involved in the permit process are co -located with the Community
Development Department personnel (within the same office space) with the following
positions providing some level of involvement in the building permit approval process:
• The Assistant Director of Public Works oversees the review of building and
discretionary permits (encroachment, grading, etc.), commercial development,
land division, single family dwelling, room additions, etc., including those projects
which impact the right of way and on additions resulting in 25% or more square
footage
• An Engineering Technician is routed the plans from the Building Division and
enters the information into an excel spreadsheet for tracking purposes. This
position will route to an engineer for review.
• Engineer positions provide all the permit review (1 position is dedicated, 1 other
position to a much lesser extent), processing the drawings, conducting site visits
utilizing field checklists, reviewing plans, spending time with developers and
owners to make sure public works issues are being addressed.
For the past three months, the Engineer Division conducted approximately 159
plan checks for permits. Annualized, the Public Works Engineering Division conducts
plan reviews routed from Community Development for approximately 636 permits (or 53
per week).
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Director
(1)
Planning Division
City Planner
(1)
Exhibit 2
Plan of Organization of the
Administration Division
Economic Development
& Housing Division
Economic Development/Redevelopment Manager
(1)
Building Division
Building Official
(1)
Administrative Services Division
Administrative Assistant
(1)
Administrative Clerk
(2)
Senior Office Assistant
(2)
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Exhibit 3 (1)
Roles and Responsibilities of the
Staff of the Administrative Division
Position
Number of
Positions
Description of Responsibilities
Community
1.0
• Supervises the City Planner, Building Official, Economic
Development Director
Development/Redevelopment Manager, and the
Administrative Assistant.
• Represent the City in development and land use matters.
• Plans, organizes, controls, and evaluates the work activities
of the Community Development Department.
• Research, analyze and recommend policies for development
and land use matters.
• Implements and monitors long-term plans, goals and
objectives focused on achieving the Department's mission
and City Council priorities and annual workplan.
• Directs the development of and monitors performance against
the annual department budget.
• Participate in numerous public meetings including City
Council meetings and Planning Commission meetings.
• Oversees the development, implementation and evaluation of
plans, policies, systems and procedures to achieve the
Department's goals, objectives and work standards
• Provides leadership to develop and retain highly competent,
service -oriented staff through selection, training and day-to-
day management practices that support the Department's
mission and values
Administrative
1.0
• Reports to the Community Development Director.
Assistant
• Assists the Community Development Director by providing
administrative and technical support in the planning, direction
and operation of the department.
• Serves as Office Manager and supervisor for all
Administrative support staff. Assigns, prioritizes and
evaluates work efforts of assigned staff.
• Oversees departmental records retention program.
• Assists with department budget development and ongoing
administration and monitoring of budget.
• Performs all accounts payable and payroll functions for the
Department.
• Manages on -going and project specific contracts for external
consultants and resources (i.e. - architectural/design
consultant, arborist resources, geologist/soils consultant,
traffic consultant, and environmental assessments.
• Handles bond processing, recordkeeping and tracking.
• Manages Planning Commission agenda process including
drafting Director's report.
• Drafts Development Activity Report.
• Oversees and updates departmental website.
• Serves as project manager for eGov implementation.
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Exhibit 3 (2)
Position
Number of
Positions
Description of Responsibilities
Senior Office Assistant
2.0
Provides back up support to administrative staff assigned to
the Planning Division, including the front lobby counter to help
with minor questions about plan check, issue permits and
collect fee balances.
• Processing the plan checks, including data entry, checking for
fees, routing them to different departments based on scope
off work, filing the charts, etc.)
• Other general administrative duties include filing, scanning
and microfilming, printing out the daily schedule, handling
phone calls, and consensus reports.
• One Sr. Office Assistant assigned to serve as receptionist /
front counter staff.
• Enters applications into permitting software, accepts and
processes permit payments, and issues receipt to applicant.
• Answers incoming calls and walk-ins and directs to
appropriate division / staff member.
• Conducts research of permits as requested.
Administrative Clerk
1.0
• Reports to the Administrative Assistant.
• Provides administrative support to Planning staff including
preparation and distribution of agenda packets for Planning
Commission (PC), Design Review Commission (DRC), and
Environmental Review Commission (ERC).
• Prepares minutes of DRC and ERC meetings.
• Handles noticing of property owners within applicable radius
for planning applications.
• Assists in entering new planning applications into Planning
Database.
• Coordinates efforts between IT and Pentamation on
implementation of planning module and e-services.
• Responsible for developing reports from data maintained in
Pentamation utilizing Cognos.
• Oversees records storage and retention efforts of Community
Development Department.
• Performs application and permit electronic filing program
including indexing and organizing of microfilm that has been
converted to electronic format. Conducts scanning of
records.
• Maintains all planning application files (paper copies).
• Provides backup for issuance of building permits.
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Exhibit 3 (3)
Position
Number of
Positions
Description of Responsibilities
Administrative Clerk
1.0
Takes phone calls regarding inspection requests and
schedules inspections in Pentamation.
• Processing the incoming and outgoing plan checks, including
entering the permit information into Pentamation (permit
number, intake date, due date, department route, etc.).
• Delivering documents to planners and the respective
Departments, including Public Works, Fire, and Sanitation
• Processing address changes and sending out letters to the
affected agencies (Assessor's Office, utilities, school districts,
etc.) of the change, and sending out letters for expired
permits
• Printing out the master inspection log report on a daily basis
and updating it to include the assigned inspector and time of
inspection.
• Entering into Pentamation the field inspection results and
comments, if any.
• Other general administrative duties such as ordering supplies,
handing customer phone calls, handling the Quarterly
Construction Tax report, etc.
• Answers phones and assists callers directly or by transferring
them to appropriate staff member.
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Senior Planner
(3)
(1 vacant)
Planning Intern
(0.5 - part-time)
Exhibit 4
Plan of Organization of the
Planning Division
City Planner
0)
Assistant Planner
(2)
(1 budgeted;
1 temporary)
Associate Planner
(.5)
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Exhibit 5 (1)
Roles and Responsibilities of the
Staff of the Planning Division
Position
Number of
Positions
Description of Responsibilities
City Planner
1.0
Manages the Planning Division including supervision of all
planning staff (6.1 full time equivalents).
• Ensures current planning operations meet all federal, state,
and local rules and regulations for processing times, public
disclosure, compliance with codes, environmental
assessments, etc.
• Coordinates divisions efforts with other agencies (including
Fire and Health) and adjoining communities.
• Maintains a small current planning workload as necessary.
• Reviews all work of assigned staff including staff reports,
administrative approvals, etc.
• Responsible for case assignments to planners.
• Drafts policies and procedures related to current and
advanced planning and ensures the adherence of the
Division to adopted policies and procedures.
• Develops goals and objectives for the Division, and
monitors performance.
• One Senior Planner supervises work efforts of the
contracted Assistant Planner and the Planning Intern.
Senior Planner
3.0
Reports to City Planner.
(1 vacant)
Carry both a current planning and advanced planning
workload. Generally assigned more complex current
planning projects.
• Conducts zoning studies; analyzes land use issues;
recommends resolutions to land use problems; directs
proposed ordinances through review process.
• Reviews assigned planning applications to ensure
compliance with General Plan, Zoning Ordinance, Specific
Plans, and City Development Standards. Ensures
appropriate environmental reviews are conducted.
• Serves as case manager for planning applications and
coordinates review with other departments and external
agencies. Prepares staff reports to Planning Commission
and City Council for assigned projects.
• Coordinates development review meetings with reviewing
departments/agencies and applicants.
• Assists with development of special and specific plans.
• Perform building permit plan checks for zoning compliance.
• Manages, supervises or prepares reports for special
planning projects and studies.
• Handles zoning code enforcement cases based upon
complaints received. Conducts investigations and works
with residents to reach compliance.
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Exhibit 5 (2)
Position
Number of
Positions
Description of Responsibilities
Associate Planner
0.5
Reports jointly to City Planner and Economic Development /
Redevelopment Manager.
• Has assigned counter duty in rotation with other City
planners.
• Assigned both a current and advanced planning case load.
• Current planning work activities include review and
processing of applications for single family applications,
building permit plan check approvals (for zoning
compliance), basic residential and non-residential
applications.
• Handles zoning code enforcement cases based upon
complaints received. Conducts investigations and works
with residents to reach compliance.
• Conducts tree removal permit reviews — conducts site visits
and coordinates with arborist to determine appropriateness
of request.
Assistant Planner
2.0
Reports to one of the Senior Planners.
(1 budgeted; 1
Assigned to counter duty schedule in rotation with other
unbudgeted and
Planners.
temporary)
Provides information and guidance to applicants submitting
a variety of projects including: small residential, 2nd story
additions, processing of covenants, and building permit plan
checks (zoning compliance),
• Ensures applications meet City codes and requirements
including compliance with Zoning Ordinance and standard
conditions of approval. Where required develops staff
reports, issuance of public notices, and development of
staff recommendation for approval/denial.
• Developing Historical Ordinance for consideration by the
City Council.
• Handles zoning code enforcement cases based upon
complaints received. Conducts investigations and works
with residents to reach compliance.
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Exhibit 6
Workload
For the Planning Division
Application Workload
By Type of Application / Permit
Application Type
2006
2007
2008
Architectural Site Approval
25
19
9
City Project Applications
3
4
2
Development Agreements
0
0
0
Director's Minor Modifications
/ Temporary Use Permits
36
38
37
Environmental Assessments
20
10
10
Exceptions
14
11
17
General Plan Amendments
0
0
1
Interpretations
0
1
0
Minor Residential Permit
38
34
37
Modified/Amended
7
3
5
Municipal Code Amendment
3
1
4
R-1 Design Review
62
44
32
Specific Plan Amendments
1
0
1
Tentative Map
12
12
2
Tree Removal Permit
17
14
16
Use Permit
14
11
4
Variance
2
3
1
Zoning
6
0
1
TOTAL
260
205
179
Application Workload
Sorted by Approval Level
Applications by Approval Level
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09 (6
months)
Planning Commission Application (INT, M, TM, V)
26
8
6
City Council Applications CP, GP, MCA, SPA, TR, U, Z
34
32
16
Design Review Committee Applications (ASA, EXC
45
29
7
Staff Level (DIR, R, RM)
160
100
45
Environmental Assessments
12
8
4
TOTAL
277
177
78
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Exhibit 7
Service Levels
For the Planning Division
Characteristic
Description
Hours of Operation and Schedule
Office hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday
through Thursday, and Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Office closed from Noon to 1:00 p.m. daily.
• Individual work hours for each Planner varies. Some staff
are on AWP schedule which includes every other Friday off
and others are on a traditional work schedule. Starting and
ending times vary to provide office and counter coverage.
Coverage Area
For all processing of discretionary and administrative permit
applications assuring the applications meet the
requirements of the general plan and the zoning ordinance.
• Staff provide support to Planning Commission,
Environmental Review Commission, and Design Review
Commission.
• All planners have assigned counter duty shifts. Counter
service is provided in two shifts: 7:30 a.m. to Noon and 1:00
p.m. to 5:30. Planners have pagers so they do not remain
at counter unless customer is present.
• Responsible for the preparation and maintenance of the
General Plan, Zoning Ordinance and any Specific or Area
Plans.
• Specific and Master Plans overseen include:
- Heart of the City Specific Plan
- N. De Anza Blvd. Specific Plan
- South Vallco Master Plan
- North Vallco Master Plan
- Wireless Facilities Master Plan
Training and Certification
The planning series classification descriptions do not
require AICP certification.
• There are three AICP certified members on staff.
Codes Administered and Enforced
General Plan
• Zoning ordinance
• Sign Ordinance
• Subdivision Map Act
• California Environmental Quality Act
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Exhibit 8
Plan of Organization of the
Economic Development and Housing Division
Economic Development /
Redevelopment Manager
(1)
Associate Planner Senior Planner CDBG
(5) 11 (1)
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Exhibit 9 (1)
Roles and Responsibilities of the
Staff of the Economic Development and Housing Division
Position
Number of
Positions
Description of Responsibilities
Economic
1.0
Reports to the Director of Community Development.
Development /
Directly supervises the Senior Planner CDBG and
Redevelopment
Associate Planner (half time assignment).
Manager
Oversees the City's economic development and
redevelopment activities including recruitment/retention
efforts, identification of available space for business
locations/relocations.
• Maintains, compiles and/or analyzes data regarding
community demographics.
• Oversees City TIF district.
• Serves as liaison with variety of organizations and
committees including Chamber of Commerce and
Economic Development Committee.
• Conducts City branding/marketing efforts.
• Develops various publications and brochures including
Restaurant Guide.
• Develops and maintains redevelopment plan for the City.
• Oversees City's CDBG and housing programs.
• Drafts / updates relevant sections of General Plan and
assists with development of specific plans (i.e. — Heart of
the City Plan).
Senior Planner CDBG
1.0
Reports to Economic Development / Redevelopment
Manager.
• Oversees the City's CDBG program (including public
service grant allocations); assisting with development of
staff recommendation to CDBG Committee for action and
recommendation to City Council.
• Serves as staff liaison to Housing Commission.
• Performs all grant administration functions and sub -
recipient monitoring for allocated funds.
• Oversees and coordinates funds allocated to affordable
housing received from Housing Mitigation fee charged on
new developments.
• Enters required data into HUD's IDIS system and prepared
requests for fund drawdowns.
• Responsible for development of Housing Element of the
General plan. Coordinates and oversees efforts of
consultant.
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Exhibit 9 (2)
Roles and Responsibilities of the
Staff of the Economic Development and Housing Division
Associate Planner 0.5 Reports to both City Planner and Economic Development /
Redevelopment Manager.
• Prepares economic data and analysis to support Economic
Development efforts.
• Conducts data analysis on sales tax receipts generated —
restaurant program.
• Works on special projects as assigned (i.e. — preferred
caterer list).
• Develops a variety of reports and brochures as requested
to support programs and efforts of the Division. Dining
guide is one recent example.
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Sr. Building Inspector
(1)
Building
Inspector
(6)
Exhibit 10
Plan of Organization of the
Building Division
Building Official
(1)
Plan Check Engineer Counter Technician
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Exhibit 11 (1)
Roles and Responsibilities of the Staff
Of the Building Division
Position
Number of
Description of Responsibilities
Positions
Building
Division Administration
Building Official
1.0
Serves as Chief Building Code Official for the City of
Cupertino.
• Oversees operation of the Building Division including
performance of the building inspectors, plan check staff, and
permit processing.
• Develops and monitors the budget for the Division.
• Conducts selective plan reviews for complex, high -profile or
otherwise difficult projects.
• Assigns, evaluates and monitors work activities of assigned
staff.
• Responsible for making all final City decisions regarding code
applicabilit , approval of alternative methods/materials, etc.
Building Inspection
Senior Building
1.0
Reports to the Building Official.
Inspector
Conducts inspections on complex, sensitive or problematic
projects.
• Serves as working supervisor for Field Inspectors and
counter plan check personnel. Assigns and evaluates work
activities.
• Prepares daily inspection schedule and assignment of
inspections to inspectors.
• Conducts non-structural building permit plan checks (tenant
improvements, small additions with conventional framing).
• Handles some code interpretation issues.
• Handles customer complaints.
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Exhibit 11 (2)
Roles and Responsibilities of the Staff
Of the Building Division
Building Inspector
6.0
Primary responsibility is conducting inspections for projects at
various stages requiring a building permit (construction and
remodels) that affect a structure's electrical, plumbing, and /
or mechanical systems, including initial inspection and any
necessary follow up for re -inspections, writing correction
notices, issuing permits, etc.
• Responding to citizen complaints and addressing building
code violations (including those resulting from proactive
enforcement).
• Answering questions and providing education to developers,
contractors, architects and the general community regarding
building and development, including non -point source
environmental initiatives, etc.
• 1 position is assigned to the front counter and is responsible
for the intake, review, routing and / or approval of over-the-
counter plan checks, express plan checks, standard plan
checks, and large/major projects.
Plan Check
Plan Check Engineer
1.0
Primary responsibility is reviewing building plans for small
(remodels, minor additions), mid -size (larger additions,
significant remodels), and large (major tenant improvements,
new homes) projects.
• Verifying that plans for construction or alteration to
commercial, residential, and industrial structures comply with
State and municipal codes and ordinances.
• Works with architects, engineers, and contractors to address
questions and issues regarding structural design, zoning,
grading, energy standards, etc.
• Other duties include checking plans over the counter for
smaller rojects and attending development meetings.
Counter Technician
1.0
This position is vacant.
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Exhibit 12 (1)
Service Levels for the
Building Division
Characteristic
Description
Hours of Operation and Schedule
Counter operation is open between 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM
(closed between 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM)
• Building inspections may be scheduled between the hours
of 7:30 AM to 12:00 PM, and from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM by
phone, with customers given a 2-hour window.
• To schedule an inspection for the next day requires the
inspection to be requested by 3:00 PM the previous day.
• Inspectors provide on -call roofing inspections for tear -off
and ply -wood nail and will be there within an hour.
Service / Turnaround Targets
Residential Plan Review Cycle Times:
• Over the Counter: small projects (250 sq. ft. or less) within
30 minutes
• Express Plan Check: medium sized projects (500 sq. ft. or
less) within 5 business days
• Standard Plan Check: initial review within 10 working days,
second review within 5 working days
• Large / Major Projects: apartments and subdivisions (over
10 units) is a minimum of 4 weeks.
Commercial Plan Review Cycle Times:
• Over the Counter: less than 30 minutes only on Tuesday,
Wednesday, and Thursday between 1:30 and 2:30 (these
are the hours when Fire Plan Reviewers are available at
the counter).
• Express Plan Check: medium sized projects (10,000 sq. ft.
or less) within 5 working days
• Standard Plan Check: initial review within 10 working days,
rechecks within 5 working days
• Large / Major Projects: minimum 4 weeks.
Coverage Area
Building Inspector work schedule is M-F from 6:30 AM to
4:30 PM, and typically work schedule is as follows:
- 6:30 to 7:30: plan inspection route, provide 2-hour
window to customers, etc.
- 7:30 to 11:30: conduct field stops and inspections
- 11:30 to 12:30: lunch
- 12:30 to 4:00: conduct field stops and inspections
- 4:00 to 4:30: enter and / or upload results of field
inspections using the palm pilot and Pentamation
• Personnel are combination inspectors and generally
perform all types of inspections.
• Building inspectors are not generally assigned to one of
five "regions" but are reassigned, as needed, based upon
workload and specific expertise.
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Exhibit 12 (2)
Characteristic
Description
Training and Certification
Team conducts staff meetings each Tuesday from 730 —
900 for building code updates, training, etc.
• Building Inspector position require an ICBO certification.
Codes Administered and Enforced
Latest approved by the State of California
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Management Study of the Permit Process
APPENDIX 2 - FOCUS GROUPS
As part of the management study of the permitting process, the Matrix Consulting
Group conducted three focus group meetings with a representative sample of
customers of the process. The purpose of the focus group meetings was to obtain
development industry perceptions of Cupertino's permitting process and to assess
overall customer satisfaction.
Participants in the three focus groups included developers (30%), major
landowners / businesses (30%), contractors (10%), and professionals (e.g., architects)
(30%). Almost all of the participants had worked with Planning, Building and Public
Works/Engineering; one participant had worked only with Planning. They were selected
based upon their knowledge and experience with the City's permitting process.
The focus groups were intended to elicit views and opinions on positive and
negative aspects of relevant development service activities and to seek ideas for
change that would improve and streamline the process.
In considering the results, the reader must bear in mind that unlike technical
research and statistics, the views expressed by individuals are subjective and may
reflect personal biases. In addition, there will be conflicting perspectives between the
developer, residents and businesses surrounding the proposed development, the City's
permit staff. These conflicting perspectives are inevitable in a democratic society, and
result in compromise. Not everyone will get everything they want, and sometimes this
generates negative perspectives (i.e., developers believe staff are too regulatory;
residents feel that staff are too friendly to developers).
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Nonetheless, these perspectives are important as the objective material because
it is these people, with their feelings and prejudices, who establish the users' perception
of the strengths and weaknesses of the process. It is not important to determine
whether or not a particular response is "correct": rather each response is accepted as a
perception, recognizing that perception is reality to the person holding the perception.
The reader should also be aware that although the participants were questioned on both
positive and negative aspects of the process, the tendency of respondents was to dwell
upon those negative aspects that they felt could be improved upon.
1. THE CUPERTINO PERMITTING PROCESS WAS VIEWED BY THE FOCUS
GROUP PARTICIPANTS AS ONE OF THE BEST IN SILICON VALLEY
Overall, the response of the participants in the focus groups to the Cupertino
permitting process was quite positive. Most of the participants were involved in
development in many Silicon Valley cities, and they gave Cupertino high grades relative
to their experiences in nearby communities. With respect to staff attitude, helpfulness,
accessibility and reasonableness, the focus group participants ranked Cupertino among
the top three cities, along with Sunnyvale and Santa Clara. They generally felt that
Cupertino was substantially better than San Jose, Menlo Park and Palo Alto, and
slightly better than Mountain View, Milpitas and Fremont.
The "small town atmosphere" was cited as a Cupertino advantage. Staff
members were generally available when needed, and they exhibited a friendly and
positive attitude. Most participants knew staff members of all departments by name,
and they appreciated the fact that, for any given project, they generally dealt with the
same planner, plan checker, inspector and engineer throughout the entire process. The
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word "excellent" was used several times in describing the attitude and professionalism
of staff.
The groups were nearly unanimous, however, in identifying two major problems
with the Cupertino permitting process: (1) lack of an effective automated on-line
permitting information system, and (2) the City's politically -charged atmosphere relative
to development and growth.
Participants felt that Cupertino lagged far behind adjacent jurisdictions in
providing an efficient, reliable and user-friendly automated/on-line system. They cited
hand-written applications, difficulties in checking the status of an application, and delays
in receiving staff comments and corrections as problems that could be solved by such a
system.
While the politically charged atmosphere was not part and parcel of the
permitting system, it is a major determinant of the overall perception of Cupertino's
attitude toward development and the development industry. Participants recognized the
sharp division of opinion within the community -at -large with regard to development and
growth, which division was reflected within the City Council and between the Council
and the Planning Commission. The result of this atmosphere for developers was less
predictability, greater risk, greater frustration and unanticipated time delays.
2. PLANNING STAFF WAS VIEWED AS FRIENDLY AND HELPFUL, BUT
CAUTIOUS AND SUBJECTIVE
The Planning staff was complimented on its professionalism, its friendliness, and
its sincere effort to be helpful. Focus group participants found planners to be generally
accessible, particularly at the permit counter. Some focus group participants cited the
slow response to telephone calls and a -mails as a negative factor.
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Most participants felt that planners tried to anticipate the reactions of the
Planning Commission and City Council to a proposed project, and advised developers
accordingly. Some felt that this advice was merely a cover to "push their own agenda."
One participant noted that the "ebb and flow of public opinion" makes it nearly
impossible to predict Planning Commission and City Council responses.
Developers reported that they were routinely advised by planners to meet early in
the process with those in the public most likely affected by the proposed project. They
found this advice to be sound and the meetings with the public to be useful.
Most participants saw plan review turn -around time and consistency as
acceptable. Some had a sense that the plan review planner had to go back and get
direction from "someone else," creating unnecessary delay and uncertainty. The overall
turn -around time for processing a development application was seen as long, but not
unnecessarily so given the public notice and other legal requirements built into the
system. There was no sense that turn -around time in Cupertino suffered relative to
other communities.
On the negative side, some focus group participants felt that Cupertino planners
are too rigid, exercising less of a "how can we make this work" attitude than staff of
other City departments. This caution and lack of flexibility was attributed to fear that
they might "get nailed politically" when they appeared before the Commission or Council
if they strayed too far from a rigid interpretation of the code.
On the other hand, some participants found Cupertino planners to be too
subjective. This was particularly true with regard to architectural and landscape design
review. The feeling was that recommendations and conditions of approval were often
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based upon the individual planner's taste and prejudices, rather than upon sound
principles of design. Required plan changes at times appear arbitrary, based upon
opinion rather than upon code. Some developers stated that they are often "surprised"
when they receive a copy of the staff report, because conditions of approval bear little
resemblance to their prior discussions with staff. "Where is the nexus between the
required plan change and the alleged negative impact?" asked one developer.
Recommended Improvements:
The focus group participants offered numerous recommended improvements for
Planning, more than for any other department. They are listed below in no particular
order of priority.
• The Planning Commission should hold public "study sessions" on potentially
controversial projects well before the formal public hearing. This would expose
community concerns early in the process and allow developers to anticipate the
Planning Commission's major issues with the project.
• In their communication with developers, planners should always emphasize facts
over opinions. For instance, instead of saying "There's no way City Council will
ever approve that!", they should report the specific actions of Council on similar
projects over the past year.
• Planners should be careful to link a recommended plan change or condition of
approval to a specific code section or Council policy, or should explain the nexus
to the negative impact being addressed.
• Planning managers should nurture a department culture which consistently
produces the best professional recommendations as opposed to the
recommendations that will most likely satisfy the Planning Commission or City
Council, and be prepared to support and defend those recommendations in the
public forum.
• Applicants should be given the opportunity to review and comment on a draft
staff report on their project before it is released to the public. This would
eliminate factual errors in the report (and discussion of them at the public
hearing) and allow for negotiation on conditions of approval.
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3. BUILDING STAFF IS VIEWED AS KNOWLEDGEABLE, REASONABLE, AND
EXHIBITING A PROBLEM -SOLVING ATTITUDE
Focus group participants expressed a very positive perception of the Building
function in Cupertino --- "one of the best around." Building staff were seen as friendly,
always accommodating, accessible, and willing to "sort through the gray areas" to come
up with a reasonable solution.
Participant's felt that the consistency in building plan checking has improved
since plan checking was moved in-house. They appreciated the fact that the same plan
checker is in charge of a particular project throughout the entire process. Plan
corrections were considered to be clear and specific.
Plan check turn -around time was seen to be good, although some felt that
comments are delayed by a slower response time by fire prevention.
Complex issues are apparently routinely referred to the Building Official for
resolution. Participants seemed to respect the Building Official's rulings, but they felt
that he is often too busy to render a prompt decision.
There was strong consensus that the Cupertino Building staff places unusually
strong emphasis on Title 24 accessibility requirements, and that the interpretation of
these requirements was noticeably less flexible than interpretation of the overall building
code. Inspectors were charged with enforcing Title 24 requirements, and they seemed
to be overly cautious and exacting in requiring corrections. Overall, participants felt that
the Building staff was too fearful of being sued over Title 24 and were therefore
unwilling to take reasonable risk in interpreting the requirements.
Building inspectors are generally seen to be helpful, reasonable and consistent.
They almost always show up on the job when they say they will. A developer noted one
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exception; the developer lost a whole day's work when an inspection request was
apparently not properly entered into the system. It was reported that inspectors
occasionally give oral direction rather than writing corrections on the inspection card.
Recommended Improvements:
• The Building Official should explain in detail his rulings on new and complex
issues to the Building plan checkers, and delegate to them responsibility for
ruling on similar issues when they arise.
• Applicants should be permitted to substitute pages in approved plans when minor
modifications are made, rather than be required to submit a new full set of plans.
• Inspection requests should be confirmed with the contractor by e-mail to insure
that the requests are properly and accurately logged into the system.
4. PUBLIC WORKS/ENGINEERING STAFF WAS VIEWED AS PROFESSIONAL
AND HELPFUL
Focus group participants had limited, but largely positive comments with regard
to Public Works/Engineering. They felt that the staff was knowledgeable, helpful,
accessible and easy to work with. Turn -around time was good, although final resolution
of some issues was often delayed by the slow response time of public utilities.
Engineering codes and guidelines are consistently interpreted.
One participant expressed concern that traffic engineering requirements
appeared to lack sufficient nexus to the anticipated project impacts. This was likened to
alleged similar subjectivity and personal bias in the recommendations of the Planning
staff.
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5. FIRE PREVENTION IS VIEWED AS FRIENDLY AND HELPFUL, BUT NOT AS
FLEXIBLE AND READILY ACCESSIBLE AS CUPERTINO IN-HOUSE STAFF
Cupertino contracts with Santa Clara County for provision of Fire Prevention
services. Because the workload does not require a full-time plan checker, Fire
Prevention staff is scheduled for limited hours at the public counter.
Focus group participants felt that the limited availability of Fire Prevention staff
made the Cupertino development permitting process less smooth and less expeditious
than it might otherwise be. They felt that this often made it difficult for Cupertino staff to
set up interdepartmental meetings to review and comment on development applications,
adding delay to the process. One developer indicated that he somewhat overcame the
accessibility problem by meeting with Fire Prevention staff in their Los Gatos office.
None saw this as an attitude problem on the part of Fire Prevention, but merely as a
scheduling problem.
Fire Prevention plan check was viewed as being very consistent, and inspection
was viewed to be consistent with plan check. The groups noted, however, "huge
swings" in the priorities of Fire Prevention with changes in the Fire Marshall. The
current Fire Marshall is a firefighter, as opposed to a codes person, and relies heavily
upon his inspection staff to discover violations requiring correction. As a result, field
inspection often requires changes that were not anticipated through plan check.
Despite these concerns, the participants seemed quite accepting of the present
Fire Prevention system, and made no specific recommendations for improvement.
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6. THE ROLE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT
PERMITTING PROCESS IS NOT CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD
Focus group participants had little experience in relating to Economic
Development staff. Those that did had positive comments, noting ready availability,
good input, and "very good at connecting the dots in the process." One developer was
grateful for Economic Development's assistance in community outreach. The majority
of the participants, however, did not realize that Economic Development was available
to assist them navigate through the development permitting process.
7. THE CREATION OF AN EFFICIENT AND USER-FRIENDLY ON-LINE PERMIT
PROCESSING AND TRACKING SYSTEM IS VIEWED AS THE SINGLE MOST
NEEDEDIMPROVEMENT
The focus group participants had numerous negative comments about the public
counter, noting that it is "dungeon -like," "uninviting," and "with the Wizard behind the
wall!" Nevertheless, none thought that modernization of the public counter should be
high priority for the expenditure of limited funds. Rather, they unanimously agreed that
any available resources should be directed toward the acquisition of a user-friendly on-
line permit information system.
When asked if they would utilize an on-line system, focus group participants
responded with a resounding "absolutely!" They felt that such a system should, at a
minimum, offer its public users the following on-line operations:
• Permit application;
• Inspection request scheduling;
• Status of application within the system; and
• Comments of various departments on the application as they are completed by
each department (i.e., not withheld until all departments had completed their
review).
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The focus group participants felt that Cupertino lags far behind other Silicon
Valley communities in not having an automated, on-line permit information system. In
their opinion, this is the single most important improvement that the City could make to
its development permitting process.
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APPENDIX 3 - COMPARATIVE SURVEY
This chapter presents the results of the comparative survey conducted as part of
the management study of the Community Development Department. Seven cities were
selected for this comparative survey. The cities are presented below.
• Novato;
• Dublin;
• Mountain View;
• Petaluma;
• Palo Alto;
• Pleasanton; and
• San Ramon.
Of the seven cities, three did not respond including Petaluma, Palo Alto, and
Pleasanton.
1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The table, below, presents the population and estimated geographical size
(square miles) of the city for each of the four responding cities and Cupertino.
City
2008 Population
Estimated Size of the City
Dublin
46,934
12.6
Mountain View
73,932
12.2
Novato
52,737
27.7
San Ramon
59,002
11.6
Cupertino
55,551
10.9
Important points to note concerning the data presented in the table are presented
below.
• The population of the cities ranged form a low of 46,934 for Dublin to a high of
73,932 for Mountain View.
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• The geographical size of the cities ranged from a low of 10.9 square miles for
Cupertino to a high of 27.7 square miles for Novato.
2. PLANNING DIVISIONS
The first section of the survey asked questions regarding the planning
department / division. The following sections present a summary of the information
collected.
(1) Staffing Levels
The cities provided data concerning the number of staff authorized for advanced
and current planning. The table, below, presents a summary of the responses among
the comparative cities.
City
Staff Allocated to Advanced
Planning
Staff Allocated to Current
Planning
Dublin
1.0
6.0
Mountain View
2.0
8.0
Novato
1.5
8.5
San Ramon
1.5
2.5
Cupertino
1.0
4.5
Important points to note concerning the data contained in the table are presented below.
• The number of staff allocated to advanced planning ranged from a low of 1 in
Dublin to a high of 2 in Mountain View.
• The number of staff allocated to current planning ranged from a low of 2.5 in San
Ramon to a high of 8.5 in Novato.
Overall, the cities were mixed in terms of dedicating staff to Advanced Planning on a
full-time basis. Novato and Mountain View indicated that these cities dedicated staff to
Advanced Planning. Dublin, San Ramon, and Cupertino did not dedicate staff to
Advanced Planning.
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(3) Interdepartmental Development Review Committee
The cities were asked if an interdepartmental committee is utilized to review and
critique planning permit applications after submittal, the departments or divisions that
participate, and how the Committee meets. The table, below, presents a summary of
the responses from the cities.
City
Interdepartmental
Divisions/Departments
Meetings
Committee
Dublin
Yes
Engineering, Planning, Building, Fire,
As needed
Police, Water District
Mountain View
Yes
Engineering, Planning, Building, Fire,
Once a month
Urban Forestry
Novato
Yes
Planning, Building, Engineering
As Needed
San Ramon
Yes
Engineering, Transportation, Fire, Police,
As Needed
Building, Planning
Cupertino
Yes
Planning, Building, Engineering
All of the cities use an interdepartmental development review committee. The
most commonly included divisions / departments were Engineering, Planning, Fire, and
Building.
(4) Architectural Review Board
Information was requested regarding the role and responsibilities of the
Architectural Review Board including whether the cities had an Architectural Review
Board, whether the Board considers an application before or after the Planning
Commission, and the types of applications requiring the approval of the Board. The
following table presents a summary of information gathered.
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City
Architectural
Before or After the
Planning Considers
Types of Applications (Approved or
Review Board
Same Application
Recommended)
Dublin
No
N / A
N / A
Mountain
Yes
Before
Single family structures on lots less
View
than 5,000 square feet or in
subdivisions with 5 or more lots, new
single family and 2 family units in the
R-3 zone, 2 single family dwellings on
a single lot in an R 2 zone, buildings
and site improvements in multi -family,
commercial, and industrial districts,
minor setback and FAR exceptions,
etc.
Novato
Yes
Before
All commercial, office, industrial and
most residential construction.
San Ramon
Yes
Before
All new construction, including signs,
but excluding TI's
Cupertino
Yes; a sub-
Before
2-story residential development
committee of
with a FAR over 35% located in a
the Planning
single-family residential zoning
Commission
district, single-family home in a PD
zoning district, minor modifications
to buildings, landscaping, signs,
and lighting for new development,
redevelopment, or modification in
such zones where such review is
required. Exceptions to the R1
Ordinance, minor architectural and
site changes, minor development
proposals located in a Planned
Development zone, minor
modifications and exceptions to
buildings, landscaping, signs, and
lighting for new development,
redevelopment, or modification in
such zones where such review is
required.
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(5) Formal Design Guidelines
The cities were asked if they have formal written design guidelines and the year
the guidelines were developed. The table, below, presents a summary of the responses
among the comparative cities.
City
Formal Design Guidelines
Dublin
Yes
Mountain View
Yes
Novato
Yes
San Ramon
Yes
Cupertino
Yes
All of the cities have developed formal design guidelines. Mountain View has developed
design guidelines for small lot development, row houses, and town houses,
(6) Role of A Zoning Administrator
The cities were asked if a zoning administrator is utilized and the type of
applications approved by a zoning administrator. The table, below, presents a summary
of the responses of the cities.
City
Zoning Administrator?
Applications
Dublin
Yes
Conditional use permits and variances
Mountain View
Yes
Conditional use permit, density bonus, sign
permits, sign programs, variances, temporary
use permits
Novato
Yes
Temporary use permits, use permits and
variances
San Ramon
Yes
Use permits, variances, home occupation
permits, parcel maps
Cupertino
No
N / A
All of the cities, with the exception of Cupertino, utilize a zoning administrator to approve
/ deny a variety of planning permits including conditional use permits, variances,
temporary use permits, etc.
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(7) Planning Applications Approved at the Staff Level
The cities included in the comparative survey were asked to provide information
in regards to the types of application that may be approved at the staff level. The table,
below, presents a summary of the responses of the cities.
City
Applications
Dublin
No response
Mountain View
No response
Novato
Minor design review
San Ramon
Minor design review, minor exceptions
Cupertino
Minor design review, exceptions
All of the cities empower staff to approve minor planning permit applications at staff
level.
(8) Use of the Case Manager Concept
The cities were asked if they use a case manager concept in processing planning
permit applications, and his / her responsibility in managing the processing of these
applications. The table, below, presents a summary of the responses of the cities.
Processing (from receipt through
City
Case Manager Concept
Architectural Review Board to
Planning Commission and City
Council)
Dublin
Yes
Yes
Mountain View
Yes
N/A
Novato
No
N/A
San Ramon
Yes-
Yes
Cupertino
Yes
Yes
All of the cities, including Cupertino, use the case manager concept for managing the
processing of planning permits.
(9) Standard Conditions of Approval and Correction Lists for Planning
Permits
The cities were asked if all of the divisions / departments that are involved in the
processing of planning permits had developed written conditions of approval, written
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correction lists, and whether these conditions of approval and correction lists had been
published to the City's Internet. The table, below, presents a summary of the responses
of the cities.
City
Written Conditions of
Approval
Written Correction
Checklists
Internet Availability
Dublin
Yes
No
No
Mountain View
Yes
No
No
Novato
Yes
Yes
No
San Ramon
Yes
Yes
No
Cupertino
Yes
Yes
No
All of the cities have written conditions of approval, only Novato and San Ramon have
developed written correction lists, and none of the cities have published these
conditions of approval or correction lists to the Planning Division's web site.
(10) Cycle Time Objectives For the Processing of Planning Permits.
The cities were asked if they have developed cycle time objectives for the
processing of planning permits, the cycle time objectives and the degree of success in
meeting these objectives. The table, below, presents a summary of the responses of the
cities.
City
Processing Targets
How Successful in Meeting
Targets
Dublin
No
N/A
Mountain View
No
N/A
Novato
No
N/A
San Ramon
Yes
90%
Cupertino
Yes
90%
Only two cities reported having processing targets: San Ramon and Cupertino.
(11) One -Stop Permit Center
The cities were requested to provide information regarding their one -stop center
for development permits. The cities were also asked what functions were co -located at
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the one -stop center and the hours the center was open for business. The table, below,
presents a summary of the responses of the cities.
City
One -Stop Center
Functions Co -located
Hours of Operations
Dublin
No
N / A
N / A
Mountain View
Yes
Planning and Building
8 am to 5 pm; closed
for lunch
Novato
Yes
Planning, Building, and
9 am to 12 noon
Engineering
San Ramon
Yes
Planning, Building,
8 am to 5 pm, 3 days a
Engineering, and Fire
week
Cupertino
Yes
Planning, Building, and
7:30 am to 12 noon; 1
Engineering
m to 5 pm
The following points present a summary of information in the table above.
• All of the cities report having one -stop centers except Dublin.
• Those cities with one -stop centers co -located Planning and Building in each
instance, and Planning, Building, and Engineering in the instance of Novato, San
Ramon, and Cupertino.
• The hours of operations of the one -stop permit centers were dissimilar amongst
all cities.
3. BUILDING AND SAFETY DIVISION
The cities were asked to provide information regarding their building and safety
division. The following sections provide a summary of the responses.
(1) Valuation and Number of Permits
The cities were asked to provide the total building permit valuation and the total
number of building permits. The table, below, presents a summary of the responses.
City
Total Building Permit Valuation
Dublin
$306,000,000
Mountain View
No Response
Novato
$78,000,000
San Ramon
$65,300,000
Cupertino
$222,500,000
Overall, the total building permit valuation ranged from a low of $65,000,000 in San
Ramon to a high of $306,000,000 in Dublin.
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(2) Staffing Levels
The cities were asked to provide the number of plan checking staff authorized for
building permit plan checking. The table, below, presents a summary of the responses.
City
Total Staffing
Dublin
0.0; outsourced
Mountain View
Novato
2.5
San Ramon
2.0
Cupertino
2.5
The total number of plan checking staff authorized for building permit plan
checking ranged from a low of 0 in Dublin (all plan checking that cannot be approved
over-the-counter is outsourced) to 2.5 staff in Novato.
(3) Utilization of Plan Check Consultants
The cities were asked to indicate the proportion of their building permit plans that
were plan checked by consulting plan checkers. The table, below, presents a summary
of the responses among the comparative cities.
City
% Of Permits Plans Checked by Consultants
Dublin
50%
Mountain View
90%
Novato
30% to 40%
San Ramon
<5%
Cupertino
0%
Dublin had the highest proportion of permits that were outsourced: 50%.
Mountain View, San Ramon, and Cupertino all had little to none of their building permit
plan checking outsourced.
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(4) Plan Checking of Simple Building Permits Plan
The cities were asked to describe alternatives for plan checking building permit
plans including the proportion of their building permit plans checked over the counter
that require plan checking (excluding MEP permits), whether partial permits were
issued, and requirements for plan checking of retrofit window replacements. The table,
below, presents a summary of the responses among the comparative cities.
City
Over the Counter
Partial Permits
Retrofit Window
Replacement
Dublin
10%
No / rarely
Yes
Mountain View
10%
Yes
No
Novato
20%
Yes
Yes
San Ramon
>50%
Yes
Yes
Cupertino
44%
Yes
Yes
Important points to recognize concerning the data contained in the table are presented
in the paragraphs below.
• Most of the cities reported that 10% to 25% of their building permit plans were
plan checked over the counter. San Ramon plan checked over 50% of its
building permit plans over-the-counter..
• Dublin was the only city that did not issue partial permits.
• Only Mountain View did not require building permits for retrofit window
replacements in which the framing was not altered.
(5) Plan Check Cycle Time Targets
The cities were asked if they had developed cycle time targets for the building
permit plan checking, the cycle time in terms of days or weeks, and the degree of
success in meeting those targets.
City
Processing Targets
Targets
Dublin
Yes
98%
Mountain View
Yes
95%
Novato
Yes
90%
San Ramon
Yes
95%
Cupertino
Yes
98%
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As the table indicates, all of the cities have adopted cycle time objectives for building
permit plan checking. All of the cities are highly successful in meeting these objectives.
For Cupertino, it is not possible to determine the success rate in meeting these cycle
time objectives given the limitations in the reporting module of the automated permit
information system.
(6) Standard Conditions of Approval and Correction Lists for Building Permits
The cities were asked if all of the divisions / departments that are involved in the
processing of building permits had developed written conditions of approval, written
correction lists, and whether these conditions of approval and correction lists had been
published to the City's Internet. The table, below, presents a summary of the responses
of the cities.
City
Written Conditions of
Ap roval
Written Correction
Checklists
Internet Availability
Dublin
Yes
No
No
Mountain View
Yes
No
No
Novato
Partial
Yes
No
San Ramon
Yes
No
No
Cupertino
Yes
Yes
No
All of the cities have written conditions of approval with the exception of Novato, only
Novato and Cupertino have developed a written correction list, and none of the cities
have published these conditions of approval or correction lists to the Building Division's
web site.
(7) Building Permit Plans Approvals
The cities were asked to identify the type of building permit plans that were plan
checked over the counter. The following table presents a summary of the information
gathered.
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City
Over -the -Counter
Dublin
Single trade permits, commercial signs w/o calcs,
residential bathroom repair, residential fireplace,
residential repair / in -kind, residential spa, residential
skylights
Mountain View
Single trade and minor building permits including
kitchen / bath remodels without structural
modifications
Novato
Single trade permits and kitchen and bath remodels.
San Ramon
Residential improvements and minor tenant
improvements
Cupertino
Residential: Over the Counter: small projects (250
sq. ft. or less) within 30 minutes
Commercial: Over the Counter: less than 30 minutes
only on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
between 1:30 and 2:30 (these are the hours when
Fire Plan Reviewers are available at the counter).
Overall, the types of building permit plans that were plan checked over-the-counter was
not extensive besides single trade permits.
(8) Combination Building Inspectors
The cities were asked about their utilization of combination inspectors. The
following table presents a summary of the information gathered.
City
Combination Inspectors
Dublin
Yes
Mountain View
Yes
Novato
Yes
San Ramon
Yes
Cupertino
Yes
All of the cities use combination inspectors as a normal practice.
(9) Percentage Of Building Inspection Requests Responded To The Next Day
The cities also provided responses regarding the percentage of inspection
requests that were inspected the next working day.
City
% Of Inspection Requests Inspected the Next
Working Da
Dublin
100%
Mountain View
100%
Novato
100%
San Ramon
100%
Cupertino
100%
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The majority of the cities reported responding to inspection requests within the
next working day.
(10) Use of A Case Manager For Building Permits
The cities were asked if a case manager was utilized for processing of building
permits. The following table presents a summary of the information gathered.
City
Case Manager
Dublin
No
Mountain View
No
Novato
No
San Ramon
No
Cupertino
Yes
Only Cupertino uses a "case manager" concept in its Building Division.
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APPENDIX 4 - SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendation Page
# Recommendation Number*
Chapter 2 - Analysis of Permit Staffing
Staffing in the Planning Division is sufficient to handle existing
1
current planning workloads.
8
Maintain current building inspection staffing levels and, when
workload permits, utilize Building Inspectors for other duties such
as plan checking of residential interior remodels, over-the-counter
2
plan checking, etc.
11
Continue with the staffing levels that are allocated to building permit
3
plan checking in the Building Division.
14
Continue the adequate level of staffing dedicated to the Building
4
Division's permit counter.
15
The Engineering Division should maintain the staffing authorized for
5
the permit plan check process.
16
Chapter 3 - Analysis of the Permit Process
The City should streamline the process for minor planning permits
by increasing the number of permitted uses that require quasi -
ministerial review and are subject to codified performance
6
standards.
17
The Planning Division should develop codified performance
standards and requirements for these minor permits for
7
consideration and approval of the City Council.
17
The approval of these codified performance standards and
requirements by the City Council should be sequenced to the
8
conversion of these minor planning permits to permitted uses.
17
Section 19.124.060 of the zoning ordinance should be modified.
The Planning Commission should be the final decision -making
authority for conditional use permits and variances with the City
9
Council having the right of appeal.
21
The staff of the Planning Division should not write staff reports for
10
minor permits.
22
The Planning Division should not mail the plan sets for minor
11
permits to those adjacent property owners that are noticed.
22
The number of appeals that are possible for planning permits
12
should be limited to one appeal.
23
Eliminate the requirement for a filing of covenants subsequent to
13
approval of a planning application.
23
The timelines for processing of planning permits by the City should
be reviewed and revised to provide differential time periods for
review based upon project size and complexity and to differentiate
between initial and re -submittal reviews. Plan review timeframes
for re -submittals should be established at no more than one-half the
14
timeframe required for the initial review.
24
Adopted cycle time objectives for planning permits should be
published to the Department website and prominently displayed in
15
the Department's application materials.
24
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Recommendation
Page
#
Recommendation
Number*
The Planning Division should separate the tentative application
schedule from the 34-page planning application form, and publish it
separately to its first web page for the Planning Division in the
16
Planning "sidebar."
26
Develop and adopt planning permit cycle time agreements with
17
applicants for high priority projects
27
Pre -application conferences should not be required for routine
planning permit applications approved by the Community
18
Development Director.
28
The Planning Division should develop and adopt a written policy on
planning application completeness and the basis for rejecting
19
incomplete applications.
29
Training should be provided to the Planning Division staff assigned
to the Permit Center regarding the basis for rejecting planning
20
applications as incomplete.
29
Planning application guides should be developed for each specific
type of planning permit to include all of the City's requirements for
21
an applicant to achieve a complete submittal.
29
These planning permit application guides should be approximately
22
4 to 6 pages in length.
29
The case manager in the Planning Division should meet with the
applicant to discuss issues that have been found during the initial
23
30-day completeness review of the application.
31
The Planning Division should provide training to consulting
planners, architects, engineers and developers regarding its
24
planning permit submittal requirements.
31
The Planning Division should provide training after each submittal
when consulting planners, architects, and engineers are involved in
the development of the application and when they encountered
25
particular problems meeting submittal requirements.
31
Develop and adopt a written City policy and procedure for the
maintenance of case status information in the automated permit
information system by managers, supervisors, and staff assigned to
26
processing planning, building and engineering permit applications
33
Develop and adopt a written City policy and procedure that assigns
responsibility to the division -heads for assuring ongoing
maintenance of case status information in the automated permit
information system and that requires the division -heads to audit the
caseload assigned to staff to determine whether the case is active,
is inactive as a result of applicant inaction and should be
terminated, or has been closed and the case should be updated in
27
the automated permit information system.
33
The City should hold division -heads in Planning, Building and
Engineering accountable for tracking and monitoring the success or
failure of their staff in meeting cycle time objectives through regular
management information reports generated on a monthly basis by
28
the automated permit information system.
34
The ability of the staff in the Planning, Building and Engineering
divisions to consistently meet the cycle time objectives should be
29
integrated into their performance evaluation.
34
The division -heads in Planning, Building and Engineering should
formally plan and schedule the permit applications processed by
30
their staff using the automated permit information system.
34
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The division -heads in Planning, Building and Engineering should be
held accountable for the ongoing maintenance of this open case
inventory and the completion of the processing of permits by their
31
staff in accordance with the cycle time objectives
34
The City should utilize the automated permit information system to
generate ongoing monthly management information reports to track
performance against cycle time objectives and monitor the case
workload and performance for staff assigned to the processing of
32
these permits.
36
The Planning Division should establish guidelines for reviewing
departments to respond to all submissions by applicants and
establish clear timelines at each step. This would include the 30-
33
day initial completeness review and subsequent reviews.
39
A formal written policy should be established for response times by
Planning Division staff to inquiries from applicants that are received
via email and/or voice mail. Planning Division staff should be held
34
accountable for meeting these guidelines.
39
The case planner in the Planning Division should serve as the
project manager and be responsible for the communication among
the multi -disciplinary team and the resolution of conflicting
35
conditions of approval or competing code requirements.
41
The case manager should ensure that all conditions of approval are
provided to the applicant in writing and that each condition
references the specific code or regulation that imposes / regulates
the issues. Additionally, a copy of the staff report should be
36
provided to the applicant once completed.
41
The authority of the case manager should be clearly spelled out in
a written policy developed by the Planning Division and approved
37
by the Community Development Director.
42
The conditions of approval utilized by all of the divisions and
departments in the review of planning, building, and engineering
38
permits should be documented and posted to the City's web site.
43
The Planning Division should take lead responsibility in facilitating
the development of these written conditions of approval by all of the
39
divisions and departments.
43
The Planning Division should develop and utilize checklists for the
review and processing of discretionary and administrative
40
applications by its own staff.
45
The Planning Division should publish its checklists to its web site
41
for use by those individuals submitting plans.
45
The Planning Division should develop design guidelines for multi-
42
family, commercial, and signs.
46
The Planning, Building, and Engineering divisions should document
interpretations of the zoning ordinance, subdivision ordinance, and
building codes and make these available to the public on their web
43
sites.
48
Revise the building permit plan check cycle time goals for the
length of time required to process building permit plans to serve as
44
a performance guideline for all organizational units.
49
The Building Division should utilize the automated permit
information system to assure the status of each plan is readily
45
visible.
52
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The Chief Building Official should be given the written authority and
responsibility to interface with other organizational units to resolve
delays in processing building permit plans in a formal written policy
46
published by the Community Development Director.
53
The Building Division should issue not less than 20% of its building
47
permits over the Internet.
54
The Building Division should increase the number of building
permits issued over-the-counter to 60% of all building permits
48
issued.
55
The Counter Technician position should be reclassified to Building
49
Technician.
55
The Building Technician position, when filled, should be utilized to
provide over-the-counter plan checking of minor and miscellaneous
50
building permits.
55
The Building Technician classification should be revised to require
certification as an ICC-certified Permit Technician within 12 months
51
of hire.
55
The Building Division should provide support, funding, and training
to the Building Technician to obtain as an ICC-certified Permit
52
Technician.
55
Develop standard building permit plans for use by the public in
53
minor residential improvements.
58
Develop a "Home Improvement Center" web page on the Town's
web site to assist the homeowner navigate through the building
54
permit plan check and inspection process.
58
The Building Division should improve the building permit plan check
55
performance to meet its stated plan check cycle time objectives.
59
The Building Division should reduce the number of divisions and
56
departments that are routed building permit plans.
63
The City should assign responsibility to the Building Division for
57
zoning clearance of simple building permits.
63
The Building Division should adopt a policy to accommodate
inspection requests up to 7:00 AM for same day inspection request
58
service.
64
The Engineering Division should develop application guides for
59
those permits in which the Division is the lead.
67
The Engineering Division should publish its cycle time objectives to
the Division's web site and identify these cycle time objectives in
60
the Division's application guides.
68
The Engineering Division should develop application guides for
61
those permits in which the Division is the lead for plan checking.
70
Chapter 4 - Analysis of the Automated Permit Information System
All of the departments and divisions should utilize the automated
permit information system for all aspects of the planning, building
62
permit, and engineering permit process.
71
Modules, applications and reports should be developed within the
automated permit information system to support the work of these
63
departments and divisions.
71
Training should be provided to staff as appropriate in the use of the
64
automated permit information system.
71
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The City should utilize the automated permit information system to
provide the capacity for the public and for applicants to access data
through the Internet or for the public and applicants to subscribe to
65 information. 72
The automated permit information system should include the
66
capacity to interface with an Interactive Voice Response system.
73
The City should acquire an Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
67
System.
73
The automated permit information system should have wireless
68
capabilities.
74
The automated permit information system should have an
69
automated workflow capacity.
75
The automated permit information system should have the capacity
70
for online project management and collaboration tools.
76
The automated permit information system should have the capacity
71
to interface with ESRI GIS.
76
All documents created by staff regarding permits, plan checks, and
inspections should be archived in the automated permit information
72
system.
77
Architectural plans should be archived in the automated permit
73
information system once the permit is finalized
77
All of the divisions and departments that utilize the automated
permit information system should enter and store their annotations,
74
comments, and conditions in the system.
78
The City should provide Pentamation with the opportunity to identify
the total installed cost for the development and deployment of a
75
fully functional automated permit information system.
79
The City should acquire a fully developed commercial -off -the -shelf
76
automated permit information system.
79
Chapter 5 - Analysis of the Permit Center
77
The City should remodel the permit center.
80
Chapter 6 - Analysis of Permit Administration
A greater focus should be placed by the Planning Division on
ensuring availability of a professional staff member at the front
counter during all hours of operation including during the lunch
78
hour.
81
The Planning Division should conduct a pilot program of providing
scheduled hours for "walk in" reviews of minor corrections to
79
expedite the approval process.
81
The City should develop a comprehensive "How-to Manual' or
"Development Guide" for use by the public and publish this
80
document to their web site.
83
The Community Development Department should institute a
periodic (two to four times per year) newsletter that is distributed to
the development community containing code or interpretation
updates, training information, and general discussion of relevant
81
topics.
84
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The Community Development Department should conduct at least
an annual meeting to engage the development community in a
discussion of general issues regarding permit matters in Cupertino,
solicit input regarding service levels, and seek input regarding
potential changes to the enabling legislation (general plan,
82
subdivision ordinance, zoning ordinance, and building codes).
84
The Community Development Department should conduct an
83
annual and ongoing customer satisfaction survey
84
The City should require that any new ordinance and code
requirements not previously imposed will not be enforced on
current construction and future jobs until the industry is informed
84
and a 60-day waiting period is put in place.
85
The City should communicate any new plan review and inspection
requirements to developers, contractors, architects, engineers, and
the construction community through issuance of information
bulletins and a newsletter. Distribute information bulletins
describing the new requirements, and show effective date of
85
implementation.
85
All full-time planners should be encouraged to attain the AICP
certification from the American Planning Association. The City of
Cupertino should consider requiring achievement of this
86
certification to progress through the Planner job family.
86
The Planning, Building and Engineering division -heads should
87
develop annual training programs for each employee in the division.
86
The Planning, Building and Engineering divisions should provide
additional training to increase their ability to make decisions
regarding subdivision ordinance, zoning ordinance, and building
88
codes to increase consistency of interpretation among staff.
86
Provide not less that 40-hours of job -related training annually for
89
each employee of the Planning, Building and Engineering divisions.
86
Establish and publish quarterly training agendas. Assign all
employees as presenters, and have them prepare outlines for their
90
presentation. Bring in outside industry training where appropriate.
86
The Building Division should implement quarterly training sessions
with Fire Prevention Inspectors, Building Inspectors, the Plan
Check Engineer, the Counter Technician, and all employees
involved in the development process (Planning, Engineering, Fire
Prevention, etc.) to review operations, eliminate overlap or
duplication, and improve coordination for efficient delivery of
services. Allow each discipline to present matters of concern for
91
decision and resolution.
86
The Building Division should involve the District Fire Inspectors, at
92
least monthly, in the building code training to achieve consistency.
86
The City of Cupertino should ensure that all planning, building, and
engineering permit fees are reviewed and evaluated when the next
review of development fee schedules is conducted to ensure fees
93
are appropriately calculated and assessed.
89
The City should charge a technology fee as a surcharge to its
94
building permits.
89
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A comprehensive desk manual should be developed for all major
work functions and services provided by the Planning, Building and
Engineering divisions. A copy of the manual should be available to
each employee, and updated at a minimum on an annual basis.
95
The manual should be published to the Intranet.
90
96
The Planning Division should expand the annual work program.
92
The Planning Division should complete a project work plan prior to
97
commencement of an advanced planning project.
92
The Planning Division should publish a quarterly report regarding
98
the status of advanced planning projects.
94
At the completion of an advanced planning project, a final report
should be published good and bad aspects of the completed
project, transmitting that information to the staff of the Planning
99
Division, and providing a convenient summary of the project.
95
The vacant Senior Planner position should be filled and dedicated
100
to advanced planning.
96
The City should charge a zoning ordinance update fee to enable
the fiscal sustainability of advanced planning as a surcharge to its
101
building permits.
96
The Senior Planners should be utilized as lead professionals within
the Planning Division. This role should be clarified in a written
102
division policy and procedure.
96
The Mayor and City Manager should develop alternatives for the
consideration of the City Council to avoid conducting public
103
hearings for City Council meetings in the early morning.
98
The Engineering Division should update the stormwater master
104
plan in the next two years using a consulting engineering firm.
98
Chapter 7 - Analysis of the Planning Commission and Design Review Committee
105
The Planning Commission should conduct annual retreats with staff
100
The City Council and the Planning Commission should conduct
106
joint meetings at least annually.
102
The City Council and Planning Commission should conduct a joint
visioning exercise early in the process of any updating of the
107
Zoning Ordinance.
102
Planning Commission members should be provided with ongoing
108
training of no less than four hours a year.
102
The members of the Planning Commission should continue to be
109
provided with membership in the American Planning Association.
103
The Planning Commission should prepare an annual report
110
summarizing their activities and submit it to the City Council.
103
Amend the Planning Commission bylaws to clarify the responsibility
of the Planning Commission chairperson to manage Commission
ill
meetings.
105
Amend the bylaws of the Planning Commission to reduce the
amount of time available to public speakers to the same amount as
112
that provided at City Council meetings.
105
* The page number reference indicates the page where the discussion regarding the
recommendation commences, not necessarily the actual page location of the
recommendation itself.
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