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ULI Virginia: ENTITLEMENT PROCESS Collaborative Study & Report ULI Member Participation
OVERVIEW
· Mayors, City and County Managers
· Planning Commission / Board Members
· City Council / County Board of Commissioners
· Developer / Landowner / Applicants
· Retail Merchants / Homebuilder Organizations
· Design Review / Architectural Review Boards
PROPOSED COLLABORATIVE STUDY AND REPORT
For developers and design professionals working across many jurisdictions within Virginia and beyond, the process of getting through plan reviews and approvals can vary considerably. Often the project design, proforma, and schedules must be tailored to consider the anticipated cost, timeline, impacts of multiple staff review cycles, public hearings, and community involvement. Is the cost in real dollars, time, and human capital resulting in better development and better communities? Is the squeeze worth the juice?
POTENTIAL DISCUSSION POINTS
1. How do the various forms of local government, internal organizational structures, and the community involvement process impact the efficacy and design outcomes from our plan review and entitlement processes?
2. What role, if any, does the form of city or county government play in the ability to execute an effective entitlement process? Is one form of government more likely to produce better results?
3. Is one internal structure more likely to produce better results than another? What are the key factors in structures that work best?
Management responsibility: which department is on point and where does the director position reside? Departmental coordination in the review process? Staff quality and expertise?How consistently and objectively is the code applied to plan review? Level of community involvement? Level of staff authority to review and approve plans?Level of review by Boards, Commissions, and Council?
4. How can the private sector provide peer review and participate in helping to improve the process?
5. How do we measure the success of our entitlement processes?
PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS:
DRAFT SCHEDULE
July 1-15 Call for Interest
July 15-30 Finalize Focus Group Members
August 1-10 Meeting I
August 24-30 Meeting II
September 15-30 Meeting III
October Meeting IV (if needed)
October - Nov Final report
ULI Program TBD
The intent of this program is to explore how differences in local government structure and departmental organization impact the effectiveness of the entitlement process and the quality of constructed outcomes for development projects. These issues will be studied by ULI members representing the local government and development communities.
BACKGROUND
Local governments around the country operate under various forms of government with many different approaches to internal organizational structures and how land development codes and plan review are managed. Jurisdictions often develop a reputation with regard to how effectively they manage the plan review and approval process with varying degrees of success. This perception will vary depending upon the viewpoints of the various participants and stakeholders in the process including: · Mayors, City and County Managers
· Planning Commission / Board Members
· City Council / County Board of Commissioners
· Developer / Landowner / Applicants
· Retail Merchants / Homebuilder Organizations
· Design Review / Architectural Review Boards
· Community Residents / General Public
ULI Virginia is seeking a small group of members (10-12) to participate in a focus group with broad stakeholder representation to examine how various jurisdictions approach entitlements and lessons learned from completed projects. It is anticipated that the focus group will meet (virtually) from three to four times and share experiences from each stakeholders frame of reference. The findings from this effort will be summarized in a brief report and may serve as the basis for a broader ULI Program event and / or one or more ULI Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) programs.
PROBLEM STATEMENTFor developers and design professionals working across many jurisdictions within Virginia and beyond, the process of getting through plan reviews and approvals can vary considerably. Often the project design, proforma, and schedules must be tailored to consider the anticipated cost, timeline, impacts of multiple staff review cycles, public hearings, and community involvement. Is the cost in real dollars, time, and human capital resulting in better development and better communities? Is the squeeze worth the juice?
Many factors contribute to the efficacy of the entitlement process across different jurisdictions which leads to some interesting questions regarding what factors are most important to create successful outcomes including the following:
1. How do the various forms of local government, internal organizational structures, and the community involvement process impact the efficacy and design outcomes from our plan review and entitlement processes?
2. What role, if any, does the form of city or county government play in the ability to execute an effective entitlement process? Is one form of government more likely to produce better results?
3. Is one internal structure more likely to produce better results than another? What are the key factors in structures that work best?
Management responsibility: which department is on point and where does the director position reside? Departmental coordination in the review process? Staff quality and expertise?How consistently and objectively is the code applied to plan review? Level of community involvement? Level of staff authority to review and approve plans?Level of review by Boards, Commissions, and Council?
4. How can the private sector provide peer review and participate in helping to improve the process?
5. How do we measure the success of our entitlement processes?
Overall time from application to permits?Quality of the end product?Satisfaction of the community?Overall cost-dollars, energy resources, human capital - to execute the process?
Broad representation across typical stakeholders in the entitlement process is critical to validate the process. It is anticipated that representation will include, but not be limited to, the following:
Elected Officials from local government across the state
Staff from local government across the state with direct involvement administering the intake / review process
Architectural / Engineering / Landscape Architectural firms
Neighborhood Organization leaders
Facilitator: TBD
July 1-15 Call for Interest
July 15-30 Finalize Focus Group Members
August 1-10 Meeting I
August 24-30 Meeting II
September 15-30 Meeting III
October Meeting IV (if needed)
October - Nov Final report
ULI Program TBD
