Planning Department Works to Catch Up

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

January 10 -- A year and a half after an outside audit outlined a series of inefficiencies in City planning, the department responsible for Santa Monica's development is still short-staffed and slow in granting permits, according planning officials.

The department remains short-staffed, with seven of 22 positions unfilled -- the same number as a year and a half ago. And it still takes longer to receive the proper permits in Santa Monica than it does in comparable cities.

In addition, the top planing position has not been permanently filled and the City recently lost its urban designer, a key liaison between developers and the City's design board.

Still, although it will take much work to turn things around, the department is making progress, said Andy Agle, the City's interim planning director.

Agle pointed to a series of changes he said shows his department is gaining ground since the audit report was released by Matrix and $500,000 was budgeted by the City Council to tackle the problems.

"Our biggest accomplishment has been to consistently hit timeline commitments," said Agle.

While not on par with other cities cited in the Matrix audit -- such as Pasadena, West Hollywood and Palo Alto -- the time it takes to process permits has been cut, Agle said.

According to Tim McCormick, who heads the department’s Building and Safety Division, a recent boom in construction delayed inspections, which normally take place about three days after they are requested.

Two months ago, the department was “running about one week behind” and “as much as three in the worst of times,” McCormick said.

But the delays have grown shorter during the past two months thanks to contract workers hired to help out while the division moves to fill two of the nine budgeted positions.

McCormick hopes the City Council will boost the number of building and safety inspectors from nine to 12 when it approves a new budget in May.

“We want to solve the problem,” he said.

The department, Agle said, has also stemmed the loss of experienced employees by promoting workers, instead of hiring staff from other municipalities.

"In the last few months, we've given several promotions within the department... and I think that's brought more stability," Agle said.

Three senior planners, a principal planner and an associate planner have all received promotions in recent months -- a change Angle says has led to a boost in moral.

"People now realize there are opportunities to move up in the department as a whole," Agle said.

But promoting from within has its downside, said Matrix consultant Gary Goelitz. "The promotions are good sign, but there may now be a vacuum on the bottom," he said.

The Department has also made other minor changes to cut back a developer's time spent waiting in plan check lines.

Retraining personnel to ensure consistency, making more information available on the Internet (including a standardized plan check list), and an automated queuing system are also among the changes undertaken since last year.

"I think we've made a lot of really great progress moving things along," Agle said of the changes.

Still, the department remains short staffed, with unfilled positions that include the two building and safety officers, two code compliance officers, a plan check supervisor and a senior planner who has been hired but has yet to start.

In addition, the search for a permanent replacement for Former Planning Director Suzanne Frick will likely remain on hold until incoming City Manager Lamont Ewell has had time to settle into his post, Agle said.

Another top position will have to be filled when Urban Designer Stephanie Reich leaves to join Frick in Long Beach's planning department only two years after she was hired.

"I don't know how long it will take to fill either post," said Agle. "The Urban designer position is very important to the entire design review function and is critical to fill."

The key vacancies come at a time when the City is in the midst of updating its General Plan, a document that will be used to dictate how Santa Monica looks decades from now, including building heights and density.

A formal review of the Planning Department's progress by Matrix will have to wait until a permanent planning director is hired, Agle said.

"The following year will certainly be looked at as a transition period," said Agle.

Jorge Casuso contributed to this report