CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH
CITY COUNCIL MEETING – COUNCIL MEMBER ITEM REPORT
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Erik Peterson, City Council Member
DATE: October 4, 2022
SUBJECT: Establishing a One-Stop Development Services Center
The City of Huntington Beach is continuously experiencing investment in buildings and properties in both in the residential and commercial markets. All have to work through the City to get a variety of approvals and permits required by Federal, State and/or local laws and policies.
The goal of the City team should be to minimize the difficulty in navigating these regulations and policies for those who want to invest in buildings and properties within Huntington Beach.
As economic development is one of the City Council’s strategic priorities, the City should strive to provide first class customer service and the most efficient, business-friendly experiences possible. A next step in the evolution of the City’s efforts to continuously innovate and improve, is to build upon the City’s permit center by developing and implementing a customer- centric, all-on-one-floor inter-departmental one-stop-shop system for private development projects. It should include all practices, procedures, fees, data collection, and an in-person facility that facilitates investment in Huntington Beach with increased consistency, certainty, and efficiency for all.
There is no fiscal impact with this request; however, it is anticipated that components of this request will have fiscal impacts that require city council consideration at a later time.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Request the City Manager to evaluate best practices and implement a customer-centric, inter- departmental one stop shop system as described above. If deemed appropriate by the City Manager, the development of a position to lead the one stop shop with demonstrated experience establishing, leading and managing an effective inter-departmental one stop shop program could be considered.
At a minimum, the City Council should receive updates in open session from the City Manager every three months beginning January 2023 until the one stop shop is fully implemented or City Council directs otherwise.