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City outlines plan to modernize development review: Acela upgrades, PermitPal, and a book‑of‑fees update
Summary
Community Development Director Andrea Auss presented the council with a multi‑year plan to modernize permitting and development review, including expanded use of Acela, integration with PermitPal, an organizational review, and a comprehensive update to development fees and the Transportation Impact Fee program.
At a July 16 workshop the Community Development Department presented a strategic plan to modernize permitting and development review intended to make development more predictable and efficient.
Andrea Auss, the director of Community Development, told the council that the program of work includes several concurrent initiatives: a phased upgrade and fuller deployment of the city’s Acela permitting system (including a late‑summer user interface update), deeper integration with PermitPal (PermitPal has been acquired by the Acela vendor), public‑facing self‑service tools, an organizational and operational evaluation of the department, and a comprehensive update to the city’s book of fees for planning, building, engineering, code enforcement and fire prevention.
Auss said the last full fee study was more than a decade ago and that some current fees recover less than half the actual cost of service. She said Matrix Consulting used a bottom‑up methodology to calculate full direct and indirect costs and proposed rightsizing many fees, moving some from deposit‑based structures to flat fees for predictability, and creating a recurring general plan maintenance fee to fund future plan updates.
The city will also issue a request for proposals to update the Transportation Impact Fee program and will standardize engineering plan‑check and inspection fees. Auss said these technical and procedural improvements will be paired with customer service changes such as a permit center kiosk, expanded online permitting for simple building work, and faster business license processing.
Auss asked for council feedback and said a draft of proposed fee changes would return to council on Aug. 20 with a proposed effective date of Nov. 1 if adopted. The presentation was informational; no vote was required.
Ending: Council members asked for clearer published timelines for expected review times, for continued engagement with industry groups and the Chamber, and for a plan to measure success using Acela reporting after the technical improvements are implemented.
