DEVELOPMENT OVERSIGHT COMMISSION

Motion passed.

Unanimous

1. Comments from the Audience.
2. Written Comments Received.

1. Linda Whitney from the Sacramento Old City Association spoke regarding community input for the streamlining recommendations. She commended Commissioner Holloway regarding his proposed outreach plan to solicit community input before adopting a new design review process.
2. No written comments were noted

Tom Lee, Deputy City Mgr., shared the new Community Development Department structure proposed by the City Manager's office. A committee chaired by Gary Stonehouse is reviewing the proposed structure, and will be reporting back to the City Manager on recommended changes, in addition to committee identified issues relating to the reorganization.

The City Manager will then take this plan with the City Council in January, for their review and comment. He will appoint a Director to manage the new department in December. The final plan will be presented to the Council in May, approved in June and implemented in July.

Commissioner Holloway asked if an Org Chart was available, and Tom Lee responded that it would be available after 12/10. He also distributed the Concept Paper to DOC members.

Several Commissioners expressed concerns about the process of the reorganization, and Tom Lee replied that in the next several months the City will share the plan with the various Boards and Commissions in public meetings, in addition to soliciting testimony in the June presentation to Council, in order to obtain community input.

Stacia Cosgrove presented information regarding a workshop that will teach area residents in the Gardenland area about the development process. This area is known for wide and deep lots, and many property owners want to build or subdivide.

This workshop is designed to teach residents how to get started with the development process and to answer specific development related questions. The workshop will have an "Open House" style format, where residents can talk directly with City Staff on 2/21/04 from 9am-12 noon at the Stanford Settlement at 450 West El Camino Ave.

Dennis Richardson presented an overview of the process management framework, including the presentation of written guidelines and a graphic depiction of project complexities vs. process manager assignments.

He stated that he has been working with a DOC Subcommittee (Commissioners Starkweather, Gately, Malinowski and Holloway) to obtain their input and guidance. The Process Managers also traveled to Portland to review their program.

He stated that in a review of projects and benchmarking data, he discovered a need to do a better job attaching resources to projects to improve and achieve benchmarking goals. His goal over the next four months is to hire staff to meet the workload requirements and improve benchmarking statistics.

Commissioners Nunan, Malinowski, Abrahams, Esquivel and Starkweather all offered comments regarding the Process Manager project selection process. They emphasized the need for the use of tracking of project data and the use of this information obtained during the projects to be used for continuous process improvements.

Dennis indicated that all projects should have a "go to" person, and this may not be a Process Manager. He added that he is trying to address the management of processes across the entire spectrum of projects.

Joy Patterson presented the summary of zoning ordinance changes to the C3 business district.

These changes would affect ground floor retail and pedestrian oriented uses. The Downtown Sacramento Partnership is in support of these ordinance changes.

The Commissioners suggested a sunset provision to these ordinances, to allow for economic changes. Joy will bring report on their input, in addition to input from other boards and commissions, in her report to Council.

Commissioner Holloway commended the Zoning Administrator and her group on their early notification process, and asked for a report at the next DOC meeting for possible adaptation in other groups.

Art Gee reported on the streamlining recommendations developed by a subcommittee made up of selected members of the DOC, Planning Commission and Design Review Board.

The staff report contained in the agenda packet was amended since the print date; therefore Art distributed amended copies of the staff report and the discussion paper. He detailed the next steps in the process, which include a presentation to the Design Review and Preservation Board on 12/17, and a report to the Planning Commission on 1/8.

Commissioner Holloway stated that the group has been discussing 4 alternatives, and where there was no consensus on structure, the DOC representatives were sold on the idea of a merger of the design review function into the Planning Commission, in addition to the delegation of more actions to staff. The Preservation Board would continue to review design for all preservation projects.

The subcommittee also wants to take their recommendations to the neighborhood and business communities for their input.

Art Gee asked the Commissioners for guidance in setting a meeting schedule for 2004.

Art agreed to reserve the meeting room for every other month in 2004, with additional meetings available towards the end of the year, to allow for preparation of the annual report.

Art Gee reviewed the annual report update with the DOC members, and stated that the target presentation date to City Council is 2/24/04.

He volunteered staff to assist the subcommittees with meeting facilitation and meeting rooms, in addition to the production of documents and reports. Art added that he needed reports from the DOC subcommittees by 12/29, and would bring a draft report back to the DOC on 1/12.

DOC Chair Mark Abrahams stated that he would meet with the subcommittee chairs to formulate a strategy, and would contact them directly to arrange meeting dates.

Status Report on DOC Short Term Recommendations

1. Teambuilding Workshops
2. Customer Opinion Survey
3. Customer Comment Form Data
4. Brochures
5. Short Term Checklist

Art Gee updated the DOC regarding short term recommendation initiatives as follows:

1. Team building kickoff meeting, originally scheduled for 12/15, has been postponed until January. Chairman Abrahams suggested that the team building would be a good method to facilitate the reorganization.
2. The customer opinion survey questionnaire was drafted by the consultant and reviewed by the project team. The survey should be done by the end of the year, and the results presented in January. The Commissioners suggested that the consultant test the survey questionnaire on two of the DOC members. Commissioners Otto and Nunan volunteered to participate.
3. Customer comment form data was distributed in the agenda packets.
4. Fee brochures, and all other completed brochures will be presented to the DOC in January. The goal to complete the majority of the remainder of the brochures is 1Q2004. The brochure checklist was included in the agenda packet.
5. Chairman Abrahams questioned staff about the public reaction to the 13th and I improvements. Dennis Richardson stated that he has received positive feedback. He added that the City is scheduled to go live with the helpline on 12/9, but there may be a delay due to staff absences. The short-term checklist was included in the agenda packet.

Commissioner Holloway discussed commission ideas regarding benchmarks.

He proposed a comprehensive document to be included in future DOC agendas, beginning at the second meeting of 2004, for all development services benchmarking goals and results.

Gary Alm (Public Works) stated that his department was reviewing all performance measures, and developing a database to measure against benchmarks.

Chairman Abrahams stated that the first meeting of the new year (1/12/04) would include the election of a new Chair and Vice Chair.

Tom Lee stated that Dennis Richardson and Gary Stonehouse would be presenting the quarterly workload report to the City Council on 12/9 at 2pm, and requested that at least two DOC Commissioners be present.

Chairman Abrahams and Commissioner Starkweather volunteered to attend.

Chairman Abrahams called for the adjournment of the meeting at 6:20 PM.

Commissioner Holloway moved for approval, and Commissioner Otto seconded the motion. Vote was 9-0 to adjourn.