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Planning division reports higher preapplications and customer contacts; commissioners raise accessibility concerns after elevator outage
Summary
Planning & Inspections staff reported increased customer contacts, pre-application meetings and digital-archive work in 2024. Commissioners raised that elevator outages had prevented some residents and a commissioner from attending meetings; staff said building maintenance is handled separately but will pass concerns to facilities.
Raul Garcia of Planning & Inspections presented the division’s 2024 activity report to the City Planning Commission on Jan. 16, reporting increased public contacts, pre-application meetings and archival digitization work, and reviewed case activity that informs the commission’s caseload.
Garcia said the department served roughly 29,000 face-to-face customers in 2024 and handled more than 77,000 phone calls. The division held 193 pre-application meetings last year to identify issues before formal filings, and it extended public-facing hours to 5:30 p.m. to increase accessibility. Garcia said staff tracked a rise in address-assignment work (a new tracking metric), and cited routine permit volumes: 48 small-cell permits, about 199 special-event permits, 23 temporary-placement permits and 53 sidewalk-vending permits during 2024. Archive staff processed 2,308 open-records requests and converted 423 records to digital format during the year.
Garcia told the commission that 32 zoning cases came before the commission in the prior calendar year.
Several commissioners then raised accessibility concerns after Commissioner Gorski said a building elevator was inoperable for multiple weeks and prevented people with mobility limitations (including himself) from participating in some meetings. Gorski described his difficulty accessing meeting locations and the one‑stop-shop complex and said the problem persisted for three commission meetings. Commissioner Brandon Carrillo and others asked for follow-up and accountability. Kevin Smith (Planning Inspections staff) said the department does not oversee building maintenance but would pass the issue to facilities and maintenance staff and noted the department would communicate the operational impact of such outages.
No formal action was taken on the accessibility concerns at the Jan. 16 meeting; staff said they would pass the complaint to building-maintenance staff and follow up.
