COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Board of Supervisors

DATE:

June 9, 2005

BOARD MEETING DATE:

June 21, 2005

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

No

VOTE REQUIRED:

Yes

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Rich Gordon and Adrienne Tissier

SUBJECT:

Accept the Report of the Planning and Building Task Force for the Improvement of the Planning and Building Division

RECOMMENDATION:

We recommend that the Board of Supevisors accept the Planning and Building Task Force report on improving the Planning and Building Division

VISION ALIGNMENT:

Goal(s):

1. Our diverse population works well together to build strong communities, effective government, and a prosperous economy.

2. Civic engagement – including voting, public service, charitable giving volunteerism and participation in public discussions of important issues – is uniformly high among the diverse population.

7. Maintain and enhance the public safety of all residents and visitors.

BACKGROUND:

Last year, the Board of Supervisors authorized the creation of a Planning and Building Task Force to address the concerns of certain users of the system. These concerns were first brought to the attention of the Board during last year’s budget hearings.

The Task Force began meeting in October of 2004, and during its investigation found a number of serious problems within the Division relating to both its level of service to the public, and internal staffing issues. The County’s zoning regulations and other development-related codes are also contributing to the delays in processing planning and building permits, as they are old and have not been updated in some time.

The recommendations, as listed in this report, are directed to the new community development director, Lisa Grote. The task force is not in a position to prescribe specific recommendations for improvement as there are expected “on the ground” issues that may make any specific recommendations unworkable. Rather, the report is written suggesting a number of possibilities linked to benchmarks that we feel the Division should meet in order to provide high-quality service and enjoy employee satisfaction.

The three recommendations are internal improvements within the division, improvements to the service to the public, and a review of all regulatory codes related to development in the County.

Given the strong and passionate response from the many members of the public solicited during the outreach process, it is imperative that the community development director move forward on these recommendations.

FISCAL IMPACT:

There is no fiscal impact in accepting the report. We anticipate that the community development director will request resources at a future date to implement her plans for improving the division.