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excellent measure of increased corporate and leisure travel, which is a good <br /> indicator of the overall economy. So too is the number of business licenses <br /> issued, and accompanying revenues received, annually. Over the last three <br /> years, office vacancy has decreased from approximately 18% to 12%; jobs have <br /> increased from approximately 52,400 to 53,500; hotel revenues have increased <br /> from $3 million to $3.9 million, and the number of business licenses issued has <br /> increased from approximately 8,530 to 9,100. Additionally, based on a recently <br /> completed survey of local companies, 91% of the respondents rated Pleasanton <br /> as good or excellent place to do business. This same survey identified <br /> opportunities to enhance communication, promote Pleasanton, and support local <br /> companies. Findings have been incorporated into Pleasanton's Economic <br /> Development Strategic Plan Update. <br /> 4. Community Development services allow for the orderly planning and <br /> development of the City through the following activities: building inspection, <br /> planning, and private development engineering. The volume of approvals <br /> issued annually coupled with the average number of days to receive permitting <br /> approval is considered a good indicator of performance and efficiency. <br /> Appropriate cost recovery models can also improve efficiency by ensuring the <br /> City is adequately staffed to address peaks in development activity, without <br /> significant reliance on funding from the General Fund. Conversely, as <br /> development activity slows, the City could decrease staffing to better correlate <br /> with fee revenue at various stages of permitting (early, middle, end). With an <br /> adequate revenue model in place, community development could begin to <br /> resemble an enterprise activity, similar to the City's water, sewer and golf <br /> enterprises. A Fee Study is currently underway and will be reviewed and <br /> considered by the City Council in the coming months to address future cost <br /> recovery. <br /> • Within the Building Inspection Division (end stage), the number of <br /> building permits issued last year increased by 6% over the previous year. <br /> The targets for issuance of building permits for new construction and <br /> remodels from the date of final submittal by the applicant are 35 days and <br /> 21 days, respectively. The Division generally met these standards in fiscal <br /> year 2012/13. The percentage of cost recovery for the Division was 135% <br /> in fiscal year 2012/13, meaning there was no General Fund subsidy for <br /> this activity. <br /> • Within the Planning Division (early stage), indicators are the same <br /> (volume versus turnaround). Unlike the Building Inspection Division, <br /> planning approvals can get significantly delayed by the public review <br /> process, community opposition and/or third party legal challenges, <br /> regardless of internal efficiencies. Examples of this include: Staples <br /> Ranch, Oak Grove and Lund Ranch II. Except for projects delayed for the <br /> aforementioned reasons, the Division met all of its performance targets <br /> Page 5 of 8 <br />