City of Lawrence

Planning and Development Services Department

TO:         David L. Corliss, City Manager

THRU:     Debbie Van Saun, Assistant City Manager                       

FROM:     Sheila M. Stogsdill, Interim Planning Director and

Victor Q. Torres, Director, Neighborhood Resources

DATE:     April 13, 2007

RE:         2008 Budget –transmittal letter

As per the recommendation of the Matrix consultant and the subsequent City Commission approval to combine the Planning Department and the Neighborhood Resources Department into a single department, this submittal includes the 2008 budget request.  Our objective is to provide the development community and our citizens the highest level of customer service by an ongoing commitment to evaluating our systems and programs.  We anticipate that with the One-Stop Shop intended to open in 2008 we will be strategically located as a department to better serve the community.

The Planning and Development Services Department includes seven divisions:   Current Planning, Specialty Planning, Transportation Planning, Building Safety, Code Enforcement, and Plan Review and Contractor Licensing and Community Development.  Community Development Division expenditures are not included in the annual budget due to all funds to operate the division are received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  The Community Development Division administers the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and the HOME Investment Partnerships Program Grant (HOME).

The Planning section divisions are currently organized around five primary program focuses: 1) development review of projects and plans [primarily a current planning focus]; 2) regulatory code enforcement [zoning and subdivision regulations for the City and County, in addition to the lesser known State and Federal regulations the City is required to meet to retain their Certified Local Government (CLG), Metropolitan Planning (MPO), and Community Rating System (CRS) status for federally-designated floodplain areas.]; 3) Public Education & Outreach [addressed in the past through a ‘Planner of the Day’ approach that makes a professional planner available five days a week, and that also results in planners assisting numerous ad hoc and task committees]; 4) Professional Development and Training for both staff and commissions; and 5) Long-range planning covering a multitude of different activities [comprehensive plan updates, historic preservation reviews, specific small plans development, in-depth studies of development standards, and tracking trends and growth patterns for empirical data for long-range planning]. 

The Building Safety division is responsible for the inspection of construction projects for compliance with the adopted codes and standards and approved plans, and to assure all newly constructed buildings and structures are safe before use or occupancy by the public.  Other responsibilities of the BSD include assisting with review of building plans for approval, investigating complaints of work without permits or licenses, providing staff support for the Building, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Contractor Licensing Boards, assisting the public with construction related questions or complaints, and providing technical support to other departments and divisions.

The Code Enforcement Division oversees the rental inspection program, site plan inspections, environmental code, development code, housing code, weed ordinance and the sign code.  Staff investigates environmental and structural blight, excessive weed/grass growth, zoning/land use violations, housing code violations and sign code violations.   Other assignments of interest include the snow removal ordinance, graffiti ordinance and managing the disorderly nuisance house ordinance. 

The Plan Review and Licensing Division reviews all building plans submitted for commercial and residential construction.  The division also oversees the Contractor Licensing program and  currently licenses over 1850 building, framing, concrete, electrical, plumbing, mechanical contractors and journeymen and master certificate holders.  Along with the licensing of contractors and journeymen this division also monitors all continuing education required of all license and certificate holders.    

Items of interest in the 2008 budget request:

Development Services Section:

• New line items are created to better account for specific costs tracked in our annual revenue and expense reports.  These items include office equipment maintenance, janitorial services, office and cell phone use and our water filtration lease.  Funds in the amount of $5,550 were redistributed to these new line items from existing.

• A new line item is created to better account for software maintenance costs.  Funds in the amount of $5,200 were redistributed to this new line item.  A budget increase of $7,000 is included to cover new software maintenance costs for the Inspection Hotline (Selectron IVR system).  Total amount budgeted for this item is $12,200.

• The existing line item for “other contractual services” is now dedicated to tracking contractor education costs.  Lawrence has an agreement with Johnson County Licensing to provide continuing education training to contractors at a reduced rate.  The cost of this continuing education training is included in annual license fees collected by the City.

• Funds have been redistributed to the “computer equipment < $5,000” to allow for purchase of 6 new PC’s and a new high-volume scanner to replace aging equipment. 

Planning Section:

• Personal Services increases over the 2007 budget reflect the implementation of the Matrix report to create Senior Planner positions within this section of the department.

• Additional funds have been allocated to Professional Development training for staff and commissioners, and include Supervisory Training for new management positions within this section of the department.  Additional training is also anticipated as the Planning Section begins to utilize a computerized tracking system in the development review process as recommended in the Matrix report.

• Funds in the computer equipment category include replacement of the large plotter used for much of the GIS mapping which was purchased in 2000.  A new plotter/large format scanner is needed due to the age of the existing equipment and relocation to the One-Stop Shop which will reduce the ability to utilize the large format scanner currently located in the Public Works department.

Program Improvement Decision Packages

The Development Services division budget request includes one Program Improvement Decision Package to provide inspection services for all rental units in Lawrence.  This package is in part due to a request for information from the Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods.  Staff research indicates this proposal would add over 12,000 rental units requiring inspection to the existing program.  A staff report dated January 31, 2007 is attached to this budget submittal that includes specific details on the program. 

The Planning division budget request includes two additional Program Improvements.  The first request is the funding of one full-time equivalent position to provide a general planning intern and a historic resources intern.  The historic resources intern position currently exists and is partially-funded through a Historic Preservation Fund grant from the State.  Staff has been notified that grant funds will not likely be available in 2008 for the continued funding of this intern position.  This program improvement is a necessary step in achieving an efficient, streamlined, modern development process.

The second Planning division Program Improvement provides for the transition to a web-based agenda format for Planning Commission meetings.  This package will improve the dissemination of information to the public and development community and result in a more transparent development process.  Staff suggests that the cost of this improvement be shared between both the City and County Commissions since the Planning Commission is a joint board.

The Department values the quality of life that citizens of Lawrence enjoy and each staff member takes pride in enforcing the above mentioned codes and ordinances to preserve the integrity of the neighborhoods in which we live in. 

Thank you for consideration of these requests.