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County planning consultants outline permitting improvements and preliminary recommendations to speed ag-worker housing
Summary
Consultants presented a preliminary findings-and-recommendations report on permitting process improvements, including 34 recommended initiatives spanning people, process, policy and technology aimed at improving pre-application guidance, Accela workflows, document management and support for ag-worker housing.
County planning staff and consultants from Barry Dunn Associates presented preliminary recommendations on Aug. 21 to streamline permitting, improve customer service and accelerate agricultural-worker housing in unincorporated Santa Clara County.
Consultants Kevin Price and Kara (Kara/Kara) Dobbs (Barry Dunn team) said their assessment identified gaps in pre-application services, inconsistent terminology across divisions, fragmented document management and opportunities to use the county's Accela permitting system for greater transparency and efficiency.
Why it matters: The county has a large unincorporated area with rural constraints such as on-site wastewater, water availability and environmental constraints, which consultants said make rural permitting more complex and time-consuming than in many cities. The consultant team recommended a combination of people, process, policy and technology changes'12including a clearer pre-application program, standardized terminology and an online "one-stop" dashboard to help applicants find permit requirements and track reviews.
Specific recommendations included: a consolidated development code (to reduce the need to search multiple documents for specific standards); a published list of consultants familiar with ag-worker housing to assist property owners; updated Accela workflows to match consistent internal procedures; a document-management system to centralize historical permits and records; and performance dashboards and key performance indicators to measure review times and staff workload.
The consultants described 34 total recommended initiatives and said the next steps will be a final findings-and-recommendations report with implementation steps and then support for the county on execution. The director of Planning and Development, Jacqueline Ociano, said staff will refine recommendations and return in the fall.
Committee reaction: Vice Chair Sylvia Arenas and Chair Margaret Abe Koga thanked staff and consultants and asked for a comparative table showing how peer jurisdictions address ag-worker housing and for a list of outreach participants, including how many developers working on ag-worker housing were interviewed. Consultants agreed to follow up with that information.
Ending: The committee voted to receive the consultants' presentation and asked staff to return with a detailed report and implementation steps in the fall.
