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Development Oversight Commission
Meeting Minutes for July 7, 2008

Commission Members

City Staff
William Thomas, Director, Development Services
Sabina Gilbert, Deputy City Attorney
Janis Franklin, Program Specialist

The Development Oversight Commission (DOC) is a commission of the City Council with review and recommendation authority. Its purpose is to provide a forum for the public to introduce and discuss suggestions, comments, and concerns regarding the City's Development Services function. The DOC will host public meetings to hear public comments before providing its recommendations to City Council.

Notice to the Public

You are welcomed and encouraged to participate in this meeting.  Public comment is taken (3 minutes maximum) on items listed on the agenda when they are called.  Public comment on items not listed on the agenda will be heard at the end of the meeting as noted on the agenda. Comments on controversial items may be limited and large groups are encouraged to select 3-5 speakers to represent the opinion of the group.

Notice to Lobbyists: When addressing the Commission you must identify yourself as a lobbyist and announce the client/business/organization you are representing (City Code 2.15.160).

Speaker slips are located in the lobby of the hearing room and should be completed and submitted to the Commission Secretary.

Government Code 54950 (The Brown Act) requires that a brief description of each item to be transacted or discussed be posted at least 72 hours prior to a regular meeting.  The City posts Agendas at City Hall as well as offsite meeting locations.

The order of agenda items is for reference; agenda items may be taken in any order deemed appropriate by the Commission.  The agenda provides a general description and staff recommendations; however, the Commission may take action other than what is recommended.  The agenda is available for public review on the Wednesday prior to the meeting.  Hard copies of the agenda, synopsis, and staff reports are available from the Development Services Department at 300 Richards Boulevard, 3rd Floor (.25 cents per page) , during regular business hours or can be downloaded at www.cityofsacramento.org/dsd.

Meeting facilities are accessible to persons with disabilities.  If you require special assistance to participate in the meeting, notify the Development Services Department at (916) 808-5908 at least 48 hours prior to the meeting.

Minutes

All items listed are heard and acted upon by the Development Oversight Commission unless otherwise noted.

Call to Order – 5:30 p.m.

Roll Call -

Began at 5:30 PM.  All present except Packowski (late), McBurney (late), and Holloway (absent)

Consent Calendar

All items listed under the Consent Calendar are considered and acted upon by one motion.  Anyone may request that an item be removed for separate consideration.

1. Approval of Minutes for June 2, 2008
   Location: Citywide
   Recommendation: Approve Commission Minutes for June 2, 2008.
   Contact: Janis Franklin, Program Specialist, (916) 808-7705
   Action:  Moved, seconded and carried (Nunan, Fuerst, 6, 0, 0) to approve minutes
   

Staff Reports

Staff reports include oral presentations including those recommending receive and file.

2. Director Update - Activities of the Development Services Department (Oral)
   Location:      Citywide
   Recommendation:  Receive and Comment on leadership meeting, hot dog fundraiser and core services design team update.
   Contact:  William A. Thomas, Director of Development Services, (916) 808-1918
   Action: No public comment.  William Thomas advised that the Development Services Department had a good month and he is starting to observe forward thinking.  He updated the Commission regarding a hot dog fundraiser for a basketball hoop and barbeque for 300 Richards.  In addition, he advised the DOC of the next steps with the core services project, which includes work of a cross representative staff design team who are tasked with the next steps with this project, including a cost accounting system, and performance trend measures.  This design team will create their own timeline and work plan. He also briefed the DOC on his plan to re-instill the fundamentals of the department operating principles and MATRIX.  He added that he plans to bring the strategic goals for the next year to the next DOC meeting.  Chair Valine asked if the department had an employee focus group, and William Thomas answered that he was changing the communications teams to include a staff focus group.  Chair Valine asked about key drivers that could be measured and monitored as a tool to maintain the number one customer service ranking.
   
   

3. Report Back on Recommended Changes to City Code Section 17.192 - Condo Conversion Ordinance and Fee
   Location:  Citywide
   Recommendation:  Review and Comment
   Contact:  Greg Sandlund, Assistant Planner, Planning Department, (916) 808-8931; Desmond Parrington, Infill Coordinator, (916) 808-5044
   Action:  Greg Sandlund reviewed efforts to update the Condo Conversion Ordinance, including the presentation of a background on events to date and next steps.  He outlined two options for the revision of the ordinance, one which streamlined the ordinance and made the conversions of condominiums easier, and the second which made the condo conversion process predictable and understandable for applicants and staff.  He stated that the Planning Department staff supported option two.  He added that staff supported updating the tenant assistance procedures and revising income requirements.  He reviewed next steps, including modification of the ordinance in spring 2009.  Chair Valine asked if the City had a goal for the ratio of rentals vs. homeownership. Desmond Parrington indicated that staff would look at the ratio by community plan area.  Commissioner Fuerst commented that he did not see progress on staff’s recommendation regarding modification of the ordinance.  Greg Sandlund indicated that staff recommended retaining the intent of the ordinance.  Commissioner McBurney commented on the statistics in the staff report regarding home ownership, and stated that the numbers used were from the 2000 census, and had changed significantly since that time.  William Thomas commented regarding the lack of process streamlining in the recommendation.
   
   
4. Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency Development Fee Collection Impacts
   Location:      Citywide
   Recommendation:  Review and Comment
   Contact: Seth Wurzel, Vice President, EPS, (916) 649-8010; Tim Youmans, Managing Principal, EPS, (916) 649-8010
   Action:  Seth Wurzel reviewed the SAFCA Development Fee requirements, including details about the purpose of the fee, fee collection timing and administration of the program. He reviewed the fee program area and projects that would be funded by the collection of this fee, and the provision for administrative fees to offset collection costs by the included jurisdictions as a component of the collection agreements.  He added that SAFCA was open to including this fee in any fee deferral program offered by the jurisdiction, and reviewed the periodic evaluation of the program.  Commissioner Nunan expressed concerns about the amount of the fee for commercial projects, and asked about how the fees were determined.  Tim Youmans reviewed the purpose and application of the fee collection.
   
   
   
5. Update on Draft of the Fee Deferral Program for Development Fees
   Location:      Citywide
   Recommendation:  Review and Comment
   Contact: Janis Franklin, Program Specialist, (916) 808-7705
   Action:  Chair Valine moved this order of this agenda item to #3.  Janis Franklin reviewed the staff report regarding updating the DOC on the fee deferral program draft, including next steps and revisions from prior drafts.  Commissioner Schriefer commented regarding the language about sustainability in the program draft and encouraged staff to change the wording to make the requirement clearer.  Commissioner Nunan asked about eligibility for commercial projects.  Commissioner Packowski asked about the origination and approval of the application.  He also asked about a definition of the type of jobs these projects would create.  Commissioner Fuerst asked about the payment of all non-City controlled fees and the ability to defer those fees.  William Thomas answered that if the governing bodies of those agencies adopted a fee deferral program, that the City would allow participation as well.  Commissioner Fuerst asked about phasing of repayment of deferred fees.  Commissioner McBurney expressed that she did not like the close of escrow option in the program.  She expressed caution regarding the additional work to administer a program with this option.  Dennis Rogers, Sr. VP of the Building Industry Association (BIA), a registered lobbyist, spoke to the DOC regarding the current need for the fee deferral program, and indicated that this program could make the difference in projects moving forward.  Dennis added that the BIA request was to include impact fees and they recognized that fees for services should be paid at the time of the issuance of the permit.  He added a request that there be a formal request to other agencies, such as the school system, to participate in a deferral program.  He suggested language changes regarding security, specifically in reference to close of escrow, and added a recommendation that construction must begin within 6 months rather than 60 days.  Chair Valine asked Dennis Rogers about safeguards regarding a commercial program.  Commissioner McBurney stated that the program should be very clear that it was limited to the deferral of impact fees only.  Dennis Rogers added that the vast majority of fee deferral applications in the region utilized the certificate of occupancy option.  Chair Valine requested that the DOC discuss the issue of including administrative fees in the program in addition to offering a commercial fee deferral program.
   
   
   
6. Planning and Building Division Workload Statistics and Service Levels
   Location:  Citywide
   Recommendation:  Receive and file
   Contact: Greg Bitter, Principal Planner, (916) 808-7816; Carl Hefner, Deputy Chief Building Official, (916) 808-8779
   Action:  Bob Chase presented the context regarding building division workload statistics, and distributed revised graphs to the DOC based on meetings with a DOC subcommittee.  Commissioner McBurney recommended that cycle 4 staff time should be chargeable, and in addition, she wants to see late permits by discipline, including Fire, Utilities, Transportation, Parks and Site to review the workload for resource needs.  She also stated that the numbers from Planning did not give benchmarks or goals on cycle time, and that this information would provide greater predictability for applicants.  Carl Hefner reviewed the intent of the report, and solicited recommendations from the Commission.  Commissioner Nunan provided clarification and perspective regarding the history behind improvements in plan review.  Commissioner McBurney recommended the creation and use of checklists for customers.  Commissioner Schriefer commented on the increase of late permits during the past two months, and complimented staff on his recent application experience and recommended continuous reinforcement of customer service training.  William Thomas indicated that he would be meeting with other development related department directors in the coming week to request workload updates for the DOC on a regular basis, similar to the reporting from the Building Division.  Greg Bitter reviewed Planning Division workload statistics, which covered the volume of entitlement applications.  He discussed issues with performance trend measurements as they relate to entitlement applications due to the number of variables involved.  William Thomas commented that the environmental determination would drive the ability to provide predicable benchmarks for applications.
   
   
7. Ombudsman Workload Statistics and Service Levels
   Location:  Citywide
   Recommendation:  Receive and file
   Contact: Bridgette Williams, Senior Development Project Manager, (916) 808-8053
   Action:  Bridgette Williams presented details regarding the ombudsman program, including benchmarks for three priority levels and performance vs. benchmark data. Chair Valine expressed concerns about the “red” priority having a 14 day benchmark, rather than 24 hours.  He stated that this goal was unimpressive and not customer oriented, and that the timeframes were extraordinarily long, and the percentage of cases that met the timeframes was extraordinarily low.  Commissioner Fuerst agreed that the data presented did not represent good customer service.  Bridgette Williams reviewed improvements to the program that were implemented after the review of the initial workload statistics and service levels.  Commissioner Schriefer expressed concerns about the “red” priority, commenting that the priority should be high public safety concerns, rather than the origin of the complaint.  Ryan Pham, Administration Division Manager, stated that the department is in the process of creating a performance trend measurement system, to include measures of success and meaningful data for all programs, including the Ombudsman program.
   
   

Public Comments - Matters Not on the Agenda

8. None.

Questions, Ideas, and Announcements of Commission Members

9. None.

Adjournment - 8:20PM