Agenda Item No. 15
CITY OF YUCAIPA
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Fermin Preciado, Director of Development Services/City En 'veer Benjamin Matlock, Planning Manager/City Planner
Landon Kern, Assistant City Engineer 1-1l
FOR: City Council Meeting of April 25, 2022
SUBJECT: Development Services Department Update
RECOMMENDATION:
That City Council receive and file the April 2022 Development Services Department Update.
BACKGROUND:
Under the direction of the Director of Development Services/City Engineer, the Development Services Department is comprised of five (5) divisions; Public Works, Engineering, Building & Safety, Planning and Code Enforcement. The individual functions of each division are as follows:
Building & Safety: Ensure compliance with all Uniform Building Code requirements by providing plan check and inspection services for all public and private building construction, including Fire Marshall and Building Official services.
Public Works: Responsible for the maintenance of all public streets, traffic signals/signage, drainage systems, open space, parks and trails, and City public facilities.
Engineering: Responsible for reviewing all private and public land development activities; administering all private and public right of way related activities; the preparation and administration of the City's Capital Improvement Program (CIP); engineering design, inspection and construction administration of all public infrastructure projects; flood plain administration; and inspection of all private and public (other agency) civil engineering construction projects; and all stormwater quality management activities.
Planning: Assists the public with all aspects of land use entitlements including conformance with the City's General Plan, Development Code, and the Development Impact Fee Program.
Responsible for administering the entitlement process for all private and public land development activities, including the conduct of hearings, environmental review, and any other statutory requirements. Responsible for long range planning for the City, including the preparation and implementation of Specific Plans, Master Plans, General Plan Updates, and all related reporting.
Code Enforcement: Seeks to correct violations of the Municipal Code as it applies to Public's health, safety and general welfare.
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Development Services Department Update
Currently the Development Services Department has 30 full time positions (2 of which are currently vacant) with additional staff from the City's professional services consultant, Charles Abbott Associates (CAA), serving as an extension of City staff as required by workload in the Public Works, Engineering and Planning divisions. CAA also provides full time services and staff for the Building & Safety Division within the Department. The following graphic represents the current organization of the Development Services Department by position, excluding CAA consultant staff.
Director of
Development
Services/City Engineer
Administrative
Assistant
Public Works Assistant
Manager City Engineer
"c'Z 'J � Associate Engineer
Works RangeI H��t r (Vacant)
Assistant/Associate
Maintenance Engineer (2)
Worker I H
Maintenance Senior Developmen
Worker 1/11 Services Technician
Parks (5)
Public Works Ana
Maintenance
Worker 1/Il —
Streets {3} Construction
Engineer
Manager/City
Planner
Administrative
Assistant
(Vacant)
Assistant/Associate
Planner (2)
Building & Safety
(CAA Contract)
Senior Code
Enforcement
Officer
Enforcement
Officer (2)
Office Assistant
1/11
The purpose of this report is to provide City Council, City of Yucaipa residents and the general public an update on the functions and services provided to the public by the Development Services Department over a 12-month period (April 2021 — March 2022).
DISCUSSION
In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, over the last two years Council took several actions to mitigate its impacts on the community and the City's ability to provide continuous services to the public. On March 18, 2020, Council adopted Resolution No. 2020-16, declaring a local emergency regarding the COVID-19 Pandemic. At that time, City Council also approved certain modifications and restrictions to public access to City Hall, approved the Telecommuting Under the Pandemic Flu Policy for City employees, approved personnel policy revisions allowing sick time use -216-
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Development Services Department Update
consistent with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and approved the staggering of shifts for City employees and consultant staff at City Hall. These required actions taken by Council in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic as well as the public health guidelines issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the State of California and San Bernardino County Health Department required the Development Services Department, and the City as a whole, to adjust the way in which staff provided typical/normal services to the public.
For a period of approximately 2 months, public access to City Hall was allowed "by appointment only." Members of the public wishing to conduct business with the Development Services Department or other departments at City Hall would call or email to request an appointment with the appropriate staff member or department. Due to these modifications and restriction of public access to City Hall, all departments at City Hall, including the Development Services Department, adjusted their "normal" way of conducting business in an effort to reduce the impacts to customer service and increase safety measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On March 14, 2022, Council adopted Resolution No. 2022-13 proclaiming the termination of the COVID-19 local emergency. Staff has realized that many of the adjustments made during the COVID-19 pandemic were beneficial and to a certain extent, made it more efficient for the Development Services Department to provide services to the public. The implementation of these adjustments on a permanent basis will benefit the community for years to come.
The most common service provided to the public by the Development Services Department at City Hall is the processing of a building permit application by the Building & Safety Division.
Depending on the type of construction being proposed, this process may also require a review or plan check by the Planning and Engineering divisions.
The plan check process by the three divisions includes verification that the building/construction plans being submitted meet the Uniform Building Code requirements, Development Code Requirements and/or the City of Yucaipa General Plan requirements. If the plans do not meet all the applicable requirements, they are returned to the applicant or their engineer/architect for corrections and resubmittal for another plan check.
For the period beginning April 2021 through March 2022, over 1,450 plan checks were processed by the Building & Safety Division, compared to 1,116 plan checks during the previous 12 month period. In July of 2021, the City initiated a same day over the counter plan check and permitting program for certain types ofbuilding & safety permit applications one day per week on Wednesday afternoons from 1:OOpm to 4:30pm. As part of this process, engineering and planning division staff provided same day over the counter reviews for certain applications to support the building & safety divisions' over the counter and same day permitting process. For the eight (8) month period that this program has been in place, a total of 86 building & safety permits have been issued same day over the counter. In addition, many over the counter plan checks were able to be completed as part of the program that did not result in an over the counter permit. These plan checks were beneficial to the applicant because they were able to have their plans checked the same day and did not have to process them through the typical process that may take up to 10 business days.
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Development Services Department Update
The application submittal process for building & safety permits was also improved in the last year by adding a checklist to help applicants determine if their application is complete prior to submittal.
This reduces the "back and forth" process between the applicant and City staff to determine if the application submittal is complete and includes all of the information required to complete the application process. In total, over 2,010 permits building & safety permits were issued between April 2021 through March 2022, compared to approximately 1,660 during the previous 12 month period.
The Public Works Division has been very active over the last 12 months. Staff logged 1,838 concerns reported by the public through the City's web based app, emails, phone and in person visits at City Hall. The concerns received included maintenance issues in public parks/facilities or the public right of way, graffiti/vandalism issues, traffic related issues, and others. The majority of these concerns were able to be addressed and those that were not able to be addressed due to the requirement of larger equipment or materials that are not readily available to Public Works staff, were referred to other broader City programs such as the Pavement Management Program, Capital Improvement Program or the Code Enforcement Division for concerns reported on private properties. In addressing these concerns such as pothole repairs, replacing damaged signs, and other maintenance items, there is an immediate and positive impact on the quality of life within the City of Yucaipa.
In addition to the routine maintenance activities, Public Works staff has also completed other "special projects" that include the building and/or construction of public infrastructure beneficial to the community. This includes a significant portion of the construction and development of the Five Winds Ranch/El Dorado Ranch Park facility. Public Works staff has also helped promote the City's Keep Yucaipa Clean Program by completing additional weed abatement and litter removal along many collector and arterial streets, including the on/off ramps at the Oak Glen Road /Live Oak Canyon and Yucaipa Boulevard and I-10 Freeway Interchanges which is normally a Caltrans responsibility.
In response to the 2020 El Dorado Fire and subsequent rain events that resulted in flooding and mud/debris flows in the northeast part of the City, Public Works staff also provided roadway clearing and cleanup for impacted areas, addressed special maintenance issues within areas of El Dorado Ranch Park, provided inspection and maintenance of recently installed debris flow mitigation measures, and provided additional staffing for overnight patrols during storm events.
These additional efforts, in response to the El Dorado fire, helped to ensure roadways and drainage systems remained clear of any hazards, and supported the planning and implementation of emergency evacuations that took place during recent storm events. In addition, these efforts also ensured debris flows from the burn area stayed within the drainage courses, minimizing impacts to private properties.
As part of the Engineering Division's review of all private land development engineering, construction and inspection efforts, this division reviews and plan checks all civil engineering plans prepared for public and private infrastructure. The plan check and review of these civil engineering plans is completed off site by CAA consultant staff at their office in Orange County.
Once the plans are received by staff at City Hall, they are routed via courier to the CAA office for plan check. The standard plan check processing time for these more complex plans is 15 business -218-
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days. For the period beginning March 2021 through February 2022, a total of 76 plans for 38 different private land development projects were submitted to the Engineering Division for review.
The plans submitted included grading plans, street improvement plans, storm drain/hydrology plans and water quality management plans. 61 of the 76 plans submitted were returned to the applicant's engineer/architect for plan revisions and resubmitted for subsequent plan checks. A total of 175 plan checks were completed by the Engineering Division during the specified time period.
For the period beginning April 2021 through March 2022, engineering division staff administered a total of 21 construction contracts awarded by Council with a cumulative value of over $14.3 million for projects included in the City's adopted FY2021/2022 CIP. These projects include drainage improvement projects, trail/park improvements, public facility improvements, pavement rehabilitation and street/sidewalk improvements. These important infrastructure projects that have been prioritized by City Council represent significant enhancements to the City's overall traffic circulation, flood protection, and park amenities throughout the community.
The Planning Division processes and serves as the primary manager for all land use entitlement applications. For the period beginning April 2021 through March 2022, the Planning Division received and processed 205 entitlement applications, which includes Land Use Compliance Review, Conditional Use Permit, Temporary Use Permit, Special Use Permit and Tentative Map applications. This number is higher than the previous 12-month period where 155 applications were processed. This activity is also the highest annual number since the City implemented its CityView Permit software in 2008, and is the fourth highest number of entitlements received in a single year since the City's incorporation. As a snapshot, staff is currently processing 14 different private land use entitlements that are subject to the California Environmental Quality Act process and require the preparation of environmental review documents, including Mitigated Negative Declarations, which require specific resources to prepare. Staff has been preparing many of these environmental documents in-house in an effort to reduce costs to developers and further facilitate housing development as required by State law. On July 13, 2020, the City Council approved on - call agreements for Professional Environmental Review Services for Public and Private Development Projects with several environmental consulting firms. Staff has assigned several larger more complex environmental review efforts to these consultants. Currently the Planning Division staff consists of 4.5 full time staff members (one staff member is shared 50% with the Public Works Division) and has been using one part-time consultant staff member to help support the high number of applications being received. Staff is also looking into using additional consultant staff members and resources as required to process the high number of applications being received and continue to provide timely and effective customer service to the development community.
In addition to these current planning project entitlements, the Planning Division is also managing a variety of key advanced planning initiatives, many of which are important to the development and delivery of new housing and/or economic development growth. This includes the 61h Cycle Housing Element Update, which is currently incorporating comments received from HCD and will be provided to City Council for review at a subsequent meeting, the preparation of the Yucaipa Valley Wine Country Specific Plan and the preparation of the Freeway Corridor Specific Plan update. Along with these efforts, the Division is supporting the required Environmental Review -219-
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process needed for adoption of these advanced planning initiatives, and will also be developing subsequent programs to support the implementation of each respective plan. Beyond these efforts, the Planning Division also supports the building permit review process, which has also experienced a significant increase in building permit submittals since 2019.
Like the other Development Services Divisions, the City's Code Enforcement Division has also seen an increase in activity over the past several years. For example, the number of code enforcement cases reported to the City in 2019 was 1,328, and has risen steadily since with a total of 1,605 cases in 2021. Further, Code Enforcement plays an integral part in other community - wide activities, such as maintaining the City's status as a Local Enforcement Agency for mobile home parks, and supporting the rollout of the state's organic food waste mandates. In addition to the higher number of code violation complaints received, a variety of code cases have remained open, with 211 cases from 2021. The City is currently finalizing the scope to use a third -party collections agency to collect the outstanding fines, following Council direction near the end of 2021, which will help serve as the deterrent intended by the administrative citation process, but allows City Code Enforcement staff to focus on efforts to achieve compliance.
In closing, the Department has continued to provide unparalleled customer service to our residents and commercial/residential developers during this difficult time in terms of average building & safety and engineering plan check turnaround times, planning review times, permit processing, and with its maintenance efforts. In addition, the Department has completed a number of construction projects, including some "in-house" work and improved quality of life for residents and visitors alike through the City's Keep Yucaipa Clean Program.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with staff s recommendation.
Approved by:
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