02-18-13 Special Meeting of La Porte City Council

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responsibility to the appropriate person for notifying the staff of their attendance requirement. iii. Publicize the availability and schedule of pre -development meetings on the web site and in the Planning Department lobby. Encourage staff to reinforce the preference for using the pre -development meeting format whenever possible in their interactions with the public. iv. Develop a pre -development meeting checklist that outlines all of the permits that may be necessary for a particular project, so that the applicant is made aware of the multiple steps that may be needed before they make their first submittal. Also, provide fee schedules associated with each of the applicable permits. v. Utilize the pre -development meeting to review the checklist and have staff available to elaborate and answer questions. Also, utilize this meeting to communicate lessons learned from similar projects, such as critical review items and long lead-time aspects of the permitting process, to assist the customer in planning their overall schedule. 2. Host periodic forums for the development/contractor/business community to open and maintain an opportunity for dialogue. These forums can be utilized to communicate such topics as new codes, frequently encountered problems, and to receive feedback and suggestions from developers and contractors. The goal is to establish and maintain open lines of communication between the department and customers to reduce the perception that involving management or council is required in order to achieve solutions. Establishing open rapport will facilitate a collaborative problem -solving environment between staff and customers. i. Initially a quarterly schedule is recommended; re-evaluate frequency after the first year. ii. Depending on the interest of participants, the city may want to break the forums into more focused topic sub -groups (for example, separate planning, engineering, and inspections forums). 3. Establish a centralized database of previous code interpretations accessible to the staff and public; or display in a FAQ format. 4. Ensure that the need for address verification and utility verification is communicated consistently; document the need on related forms and communicate early in the application process. 5. Ensure that all permit application forms and related information (that was provided to the consultants in the binder) are available on the website. At a minimum, provide 5 Planning Department Review Mueller Management/Ron Cox Consulting