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City staff to pursue lean review and clearer communications to speed permit reviews; Kaizen event planned for June
Summary
Community Development staff said they will improve clarity of plan-review comment matrices, front-load explanatory emails, copy owners on transmittals and pursue a free state auditor 'lean' Kaizen event in June to map processes and recommend improvements.
City Community Development staff told the Port Orchard City Council on April 22 that they will implement immediate changes to improve permit-review communications and will host a Kaizen-style lean process review in June, supported by a free program from the state auditor's office.
Department staff said they will improve the clarity and quality-control of internal comment matrices that accompany plan-review responses, create email templates to explain next steps for applicants, ensure project leads review and QC comment transmittals, and copy property owners on transmittals when appropriate so owners can see progress while maintaining a single applicant contact.
Staff also said they will work with the state auditor's Center for Business Innovation (a no-cost program) to run a Kaizen event in June focused on process mapping and identifying bottlenecks across Community Development, Public Works and Finance. The goal is to reduce delays and improve coordination between departments and with applicants.
Councilmembers welcomed the changes and asked staff to include code citations in review comments where relevant so applicants see the regulatory basis for staff requests. Staff said they will return to council with the outcome of the Kaizen event and implement communications templates quickly.
Council and staff discussed continuing education for design professionals and the importance of local outreach with the International Code Council and professional groups to reduce repeat corrections and speed approvals.
