Benest: Clean up planning department by March Benest: Clean up planning department by March (December 03, 2003)

Aggressive timeline pursued to clear logjam

by Bill D'Agostino

City Manager Frank Benest said he has sent a "clear message" that Palo Alto intends to clean up its long-bemoaned and cumbersome planning approval process.

That point was most clearly delivered in an aggressive, four-month timeline for the city to implement changes the city's auditor recommended last month.

If the city meets the new deadlines -- printed in a Nov. 18 memo from Benest to Planning Director Steve Emslie -- nearly all of the auditor's 34 recommendations would be in place by March.

"I want to make it very, very clear to everyone that we are going to streamline this process, make it more customer friendly, and save money for everybody involved in these financial times," Benest said. "It's a clear message."

Real estate developers who have long complained that Palo Alto's process is unnecessarily protracted were relieved by the auditor's report, which sharply criticized the current process, noting it was widely viewed as "redundant, uncoordinated and wasteful."

Among the criticisms leveled by City Auditor Sharon Erickson were the inordinate number of referrals from staff to city boards and commissions, delayed customer service and inconsistent rules.

"The audit helped shift some entrenched attitudes," contractor James Witt said.

At least one major suggested change has already been made -- building permits are now aimed to be processed in four weeks, rather than eight. One permit Witt filed recently is meeting that timeline, he said.

One of Benest's highest priorities is to eliminate the number of public hearings that individual building and remodeling applications go through. The report noted that an Internet company's request to convert a warehouse on Wells Avenue required a whopping eight hearings.

That change will require alterations to the city's code, something scheduled to come before the City Council by February.

Council members themselves need to adjust their behavior to make sure there are fewer hearings, Witt argued. "They need to be professional and stop trying to kowtow to every little vocal group of people that whines or whimpers."

The department's director said the aim of the overhaul is to reduce redundancies, not take away the community's ability to request changes and appeal decisions.

"We're looking at simplifying, not taking the public input out of it," Planning Director Steve Emslie said. "It's possible to do both [although] clearly there's always going to be that tension."

City planners are placed in a difficult situation, Benest noted. On the one hand, they serve their customers -- the developers who apply to build or remodel. On the other hand, they are also the regulators responsible for ensuring those developers do not violate the city guidelines.

Making the changes is important for the city to keep its competitive edge in a increasingly-tough business climate, Benest noted.

"Palo Alto always thought we were immune to the vagaries of the market. It's not the case."

E-mail Bill D'Agostino at bdagostino@paweekly.com

E-mail a friend a link to this story.