Vista council pledges to revamp development review process
VISTA ---- City Council members agreed Tuesday in concept to overhaul Vista's development review process, following a frank analysis by an independent consulting firm.
Pat Comarell, a senior associate with Folsom-based Citygate Associates, told the council that employees in the engineering and community development departments are well qualified, but there are still customer complaints because of lackluster technology, staffing shortfalls and inadequate policy documents.
Last year, the council hired Citygate for roughly $92,000 to conduct a "performance audit" of the city's development review process. The final 182-page report included an "action plan" with more than 30 recommended changes, such as increasing staff and rewriting the city's "nearly unreadable" development code.
"We did not find that staff was the problem," but the tools necessary for them to do their jobs at the highest level were not there, Comarell said.
Several council members said they had been hearing criticisms of the development review process since they ran for office. They used words like "thorough" and "even-handed" to describe Citygate's analysis.
"The public out there (is) looking forward to seeing some changes," Councilwoman Judy Ritter said.
The plan recommended several technological upgrades, including an e-newsletter to the development community and a Web site that allows inspections to be scheduled and fees paid online.
"The expectations for computer information and Web site information is continuing to rise every day," Comarell said.
On the staffing front, Comarell recommended adding a technician to work the permit counter, a senior planner to focus on long-range planning, a part-time land development engineer and eventually, two staff members trained in Geographical Information Systems, a type of mapping software.
After the meeting, Deputy City Manager Patrick Johnson said combined salaries, including benefits, for the recommended positions could run between $297,000 and $351,000 a year.
City Manager Rita Geldert told the council she would prioritize items in the action plan and provide the council with quarterly progress reports.
"There are a number of these that are already being worked on," she said.
After the meeting, Geldert estimated that 90 percent of the recommendations were realistic and would be implemented.
While some staffing increases will likely take place, Geldert said, it's not yet clear how many new positions the city can afford. The council is slated to discuss the next two-year budget in June.
-- Contact staff writer Craig TenBroeck at (760) 631-6621 or ctenbroeck@nctimes.com.
Previous stories:
Audit critical of Vista's development review process
Vista to look at development review process