City reports stable permit volume but persistent entitlement workload; EnerGov usage rising

The Community Development Department reported to council on June 24 that Laguna Beach continues to process a heavy pipeline of planning and entitlement work while showing early productivity gains from the newly adopted EnerGov permitting system.

Interim Community Development Director Matt Schneider told council the department is tracking 291 active entitlement projects and typically processes 35–40 discretionary projects each month (administrative and full design‑review, planning commission items and staff reports). He said the department is meeting its 30‑day internal deadline most of the time but has logged four misses since an April performance push; three were minor, and one was clerical related to an un‑transitioned employee file.

Schneider said EnerGov has reduced face‑to‑face counter traffic and led to an increase in 24/7 online submittals. The system has decreased demand for scheduled in‑person appointments and freed planner time for report writing and processing. Staff recommended continued outreach to promote online submittals and encouraged applicants and architects to adopt the platform for complex projects.

Schneider and staff also briefed council on the city’s multi‑year effort to reduce the general‑fund subsidy for community development services to a target of 25% for FY 2025–26 and lower in later years. The goal is to reduce taxpayer subsidy by increasing fee recovery for discretionary reviews and plan checks.

Council members asked staff to bring a policy decision forward later in the year on whether to require EnerGov submittals for certain project types once the platform achieves sufficient takeup and reliability.