South Gate planning staff outline 2024 workload, staffing challenges and code work; interim director pledges customer-service focus

John Signall, planning manager for the City of South Gate, presented the planning division’s 2024 year-in-review to the Planning Commission, describing caseload, staffing changes, procedural improvements and planned code work.

Signall told commissioners the division handled about 2,600 customers at the planning counter in 2024, an average of 12 to 13 customers per day, and that roughly 92.4 percent of those visitors proceeded with an appointment or application. He said planning staff reviewed about 763 residential project applications last year, including 233 accessory dwelling unit applications and four Senate Bill 9 projects. Staff also logged 57 commercial projects, 18 miscellaneous projects such as zoning verifications, and 13 entitlement projects that require hearings before the commission.

Signall said building permits issued in 2024 totaled 105 residential units: 86 ADUs, 15 junior ADUs, three multifamily units and one SB 9 unit. He described the division as “young” in tenure after turnover during early 2024 and said the city now has four planners on staff, including Joshua Valdez as an associate planner who returned from contract work to a full-time position.

Signall outlined process improvements designed to reduce back-and-forth and improve tracking. In July 2024 staff began issuing PL case numbers (for example PL-24-XXX) to improve tracking, and the department has tightened internal review of staff reports, resolutions and conditions before publishing agendas to minimize last-minute corrections.

On code work, Signall said the city is preparing amendments to warehousing and industrial requirements that are scheduled to go to the City Council on Feb. 11 for further consideration. He also noted several projects considered by the commission in 2024, including a drive-through Starbucks at 9501 Atlantic Avenue; a banquet restaurant at 9849 Atlantic Avenue; a storage building at 8040 Quartz Avenue; a commercial solar installation at 5720 Imperial Highway; and two ABC licensing items, one for a SoFi restaurant at South Gate Park that has been appealed to city council and another for a Target store on Firestone Boulevard.

Interim Community Development Director David Crabtree, introduced at the meeting, said he was brought in to support staff while the city recruits a permanent director. “Job one is to get back to customer care, get back to responsiveness to not only the development community, but to your residents,” Crabtree said, adding that the city manager directed the emphasis on a systems “reboot” to improve responsiveness.

Commissioners asked about staff retention and whether exit interviews or other measures were being used to address turnover. Signall said the department hoped to improve retention and pointed to Valdez’s transition from contract to full time as a positive sign. He also identified coordination with other departments, such as public works for issues involving sewer lines, as an area for better interdepartmental communication.

Commissioners and staff discussed fees and the city budget; one commissioner recommended staff research comparable fees in neighboring cities and report those findings back to the city manager and council. Crabtree and Signall agreed to raise the matter with the city manager’s office for potential follow-up.

The presentation closed with staff noting that the planning commission’s calendar may vary month to month depending on the number of discretionary items in the queue.

Key figures and next steps: staff said they will continue to refine internal review procedures, keep working on the proposed warehousing code amendments, and proceed with recruitment for a permanent community development director.