Planning staff report: review times fall, variances drop; FY26 priorities set

At the Nov. 6 meeting the planning director summarized the department’s fiscal-year performance and set out goals for FY26.

Key takeaways from the report:
- Fewer variances: Planning staff reported a 38% reduction in variance requests following ordinance and subdivision regulation updates intended to clarify standards.

- Faster permit processing: The department reported a 54% reduction in average time-to-decision across permit categories after streamlining and consolidating permit intake with the building and highway departments into a single intake team.

- Volume trends: The number of preliminary plats and final plats approved rose modestly year-over-year; construction-plan reviews increased as the department implemented more thorough engineering and inspection processes.

- Transportation coordination: Staff noted several planned road and intersection improvement projects (extension of Pleasant Road/Larry Street and intersection improvements including turn lanes and traffic signals) that will be funded in part by developer fair-share payments. Staff said developers whose projects triggered traffic impacts will pay their share toward larger county projects rather than individual piecemeal improvements.

FY26 priorities the director identified:
- Complete the county master plan and create a long-range planning program (staff indicated a long-range planning unit is a future goal).
- Develop a natural-resources inventory and conservation plan for county-owned lands and pursue grant funding for habitat and stormwater projects.
- Implement a low-impact development (LID) review tool and continue hydraulic gauge integration for basin-level stormwater review.
- Strengthen construction-permit inspections and compliance to reduce post-construction problems.

Why it matters: Faster review times and clearer regulations reduce uncertainty for applicants and may accelerate development; natural-resource work and LID tools aim to balance growth with environmental protection.

Ending: The director invited commissioners to visit the centralized permit-intake office to see the new workflow; staff emphasized follow-up on pre-recording conditions for approved plats and on the master-plan schedule.