Economic Development Committee
TO: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE DATE: MAY 22, 2025 MEMBERS FROM: COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WARDS: ALL
DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: STREAMLINE RIVERSIDE REFRESH UPDATE
ISSUE:
Receive and file an update on the Streamline Riverside Refresh effort and its Implementation Plan.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the Economic Development Committee:
Receive and file an update on the Streamline Riverside Refresh effort and its Implementation Plan.
BACKGROUND:
Customer service excellence remains a top priority of the City Council for City staff to best serve our community.
The City’s development services teams have been hard at work fostering a culture of customer “centric” services and a philosophy of continuous improvement. A stellar example is the Streamline Riverside initiative, which created a more transparent, reliable, efficient and expedited experience for our customers.
The Streamline Riverside initiative is multi-faceted and consists of various development tools like expedited plan review and inspection services, comprehensive permit software updates and the use of helpful technology, development code changes to fast track reviews and approvals, the inception of the Development Review Committee, the award winning One Stop Shop, and the use of performance metrics that include customer satisfaction, all of which were initially implemented in May of 2017.
Since its onset, the Streamline Riverside Initiative and One Stop Shop have been recognized with 10 awards, been written about in numerous national publications, and often participate in statewide conferences.
The One Stop Shop has been recognized statewide and beyond as a best practice for development services. This is evident given the many tour requests from various cities, counties, utilities, universities and the State of California, among others. These best practice tours are requested so other agencies and organizations who wish to model themselves in a similar fashion can understand, study and take away ideas to implement in their own communities.
DISCUSSION:
The Streamline Riverside initiative is a collaboration of various departments that include Community & Economic Development, Fire, Public Works, Parks, Recreation and Community Services, Riverside Public Utilities, Innovation and Technology, Police, General Services and Finance, all who serve and support our development services. Another critical collaboration making the One Stop Shop and Streamline Riverside initiative meaningful is the critical stakeholder input provided by our local design professionals, developers, builders, the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce and our customers.
Like any great customer service model, continuous improvement is the key to success. To ensure efficiency, effectiveness, and data-driven service delivery for development customers to navigate the permitting process with predictability, speed and ease, the Streamline Riverside initiative is currently undergoing a refresh of its overall development services. After hearing from the development community, our customers, and the One Stop Shop team, many new tools, processes and resources have been implemented while other transformative improvements and programs are on the way.
A presentation on the latest efforts surrounding the Streamline Riverside Refresh, the One Stop Shop, and the future of our development services will be provided.
The following table depicts a roadmap of projects that have been delivered, or are underway, as a part of the Streamline Riverside Refresh effort:
The department head of each department that participates in the One Stop Shop and Streamline Riverside Initiative concurs with this report and presentation.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this update.
Prepared by: Chris Christopoulos, Community & Economic Development Deputy Director Approved by: Jennifer A. Lilley, Community & Economic Development Director Certified as to
availability of funds: Kristie Thomas, Finance Director/Assistant Chief Financial Officer Approved by: Rafael Guzman, Assistant City Manager Approved as to form: Rebecca McKee-Reimbold, Interim City Attorney Attachment: Presentation
Streamline Riverside Refresh · Page 2