Santa_Monica_News_USC Report Confirms Planning Department Woes

USC Report Confirms Planning Department Woes

By Jorge Casuso

Jan. 14 – If perception is reality, Santa Monica’s Planning Department is in trouble, according to a study issued by USC graduate students Tuesday.

Prepared for the Chamber of Commerce by the university’s Master of Business Administration class, the study confirmed longstanding complaints that navigating the City’s planning bureaucracy can be an often lengthy and unpredictable process.

The study compared Santa Monica’s department to those of three other municipalities – Burbank, Culver City and Pasadena – and found that applicants here receive less guidance and are required to submit to a more subjective process than in the three comparable cities.

“Overall, some might describe the philosophy of the city as being contradictory,” the authors wrote. “They aim to promote new and innovative businesses, but it can also be very difficult to move through the discretionary process.”

“Perception is reality,” said Audney DePaulo, a student who worked on the report. “It certainly applied with our findings and suggestions. Maybe the perception of customer service is lacking in the planning department and that led to some disenchantment.”

For the study -- which was unveiled at a chamber luncheon Tuesday -- MBA students interviewed members of the four planning departments, as well as a cross section of business owners and entrepreneurs who opened restaurants and shops in the four cities.

Where the other cities often required administrative approvals that were granted the same day or in a matter of weeks, Santa Monica -- whose department has 27 staff members and a budget of more than $2.565 million -- often required a discretionary process that included hearings that could drag the process on for between three months and a year.

“Other cities emphasized administrative approval in an attempt to streamline the process,” the report found. “For example, Pasadena attempts to approve 80 percent of their projects over the counter, whereas in Santa Monica there is limited over-the-counter authorization.”

The study questions the value of leaving many decisions to the discretion of the Architectural Review Board and Planning Commission, which is costly to both applicants and the City. It suggests reducing hearings and setting clearer guidelines.

“The value of the review boards is unclear,” the report said. “Any individual has the ability to object to the business opening process, affecting numerous individuals and the opportunity for the greater good of the community on a subjective objection.”

“There’s a balancing of different constituencies in Santa Monica we didn’t see in other cities,” said David Devore, one of the students who worked on the report. “In general we found a significant number of businesses in the planning process for quite a significant time.”

Some of the delays were due to inconsistencies that resulted from frequent changes to the code, the students said. This required applicants to make changes “that led to delays and frustration,” DePaulo said.

Like many critics of the department, the students wondered whether Santa Monica genuinely wanted to help businesses open shop. The question, said DePaulo, is: “Is Santa Monica pro-business, or are they content with what they have?”

Or, put another way, “Is it good for everyone to spend a year to start a business in Santa Monica because this is a special place and it shouldn’t be easy?”

The question, DePaulo said, was raised during a presentation to Planning Department head Suzanne Frick.

“”We do want to facilitate business,’” he quoted Frick as saying. “But the problem was that it was a moving target. Laws were being changed. There was a real disconnect between the goals of the people doing the function and those in a position of power and authority.”

Santa Monica, the students said, could learn from the other cities, some of which conduct online surveys and focus groups in order to educate applicants and improve service.

“One of the fundamental issues that we discovered in Santa Monica was the lack of educational information available to potential business owners,” the report found. “Other cities in our study seemed to view education as a fundamental element of the planning department’s responsibilities.

“This contributes to the perceived discrepancies business owners experience in Santa Monica,” the report said. “A set of rules is not clearly delineated or provided, so naturally, new codes continually arise.”

Students also suggested creating a “point position station” or having a staff member serve as a liaison to entrepreneurs trying to start a business.

Members of the chamber who attended the presentation enthusiastically greeted the findings and shared their own stories of frustration and delay.

“It is a problem,” one chamber member concluded after sharing her story. The crowd broke into applause.

Although Planning Commission Chair Darrell Clarke attended the presentation, there were no members of City staff present.