Kingman development staff unveil faster review timeline, new 'due diligence' step

Development Services Director Jason Moquin told the Economic development advisory commission that his department has restructured its permitting and plan-review workflow and will shorten some staff review timelines in an effort to cut multi‑month delays for applicants. Moquin said the city reduced its administrative completeness check from 10 working days to five and aims to shorten the first substantive plan check so that “first plan check” review occurs within roughly 10–30 days where appropriate. He said those reductions are possible only if applicants submit more complete plans and use registered design professionals for commercial projects. The change is part of a larger rebranding of the development review process that replaces an optional “pre‑application” with a more formal “due diligence” meeting aimed at helping small businesses and large projects identify issues early. Moquin said the city will ask applicants at the due‑diligence stage to provide a checklist of about 59 standard items — maps, north arrow, utility and access locations, fire hydrant locations and the like — so staff can provide meaningful, consolidated comments at a single meeting and follow up with written guidance one week afterward. Why it matters: Moquin said the department found many projects stalled because of incomplete submissions and repeated, multi‑round reviews. Under the previous practice, first reviews sometimes took 75–90 days; Moquin said his goal is 10–30 days for first review once applicants meet submission expectations. Between 2020 and 2024 the building division issued an estimated 773–1,082 residential permits and 91–117 commercial permits while conducting roughly 5,187–7,484 inspections, Moquin said. Planned follow‑up and legal context: Moquin said staff are rewriting and reorganizing the city’s development zoning code and the subdivision ordinance to make them easier to use; he said the rewrite will be presented in workshops to planning and zoning and the council and is intended to be effective Jan. 1. He also described new policies the city must adopt under recent state direction, including an expedited review and an at‑risk grading policy that lets developers grade at their own risk prior to final plat approval. Moquin said he recommended against creating a self‑certification program in which a design professional could certify plans and bypass city review, citing public‑safety concerns. How the changes will operate: Staff will run standing internal review meetings to coordinate fire, engineering and building comments before applicant meetings, and will review site plan and building plan check concurrently to eliminate duplicative steps. If applicants provide the more complete plans asked for at the due‑diligence stage, staff said they expect many routine projects to reach permit readiness by the second review, cutting two to three months from typical schedules. Concerns and next steps: Commissioners asked about staff turnover and training; Moquin said much of the staffing churn predated his hiring but that he has added standard operating procedures, review guidelines and a training plan for staff who regularly post and review plans. He said the department will roll out updated public guidance and that staff will continue developer outreach and quarterly workshops. The proposed zoning and subdivision ordinance updates, an expedited permitting/waiver policy, and at‑risk grading procedures will return through workshops, planning and zoning and council review before taking effect.