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difficult encounter with the City and, therefore, avoid making the improvements to the <br />home which ironically will maintain that home's integrity over time and bring value to the <br />community? He noted that it is a comment that is not necessarily on point with what is <br />being recommended this evening, but it certainly raises the issue of how this gets <br />implemented in the real world in the individual experience of people approaching the <br />City to make changes to one of the 88 structures. <br />Commissioner Nagler stated that he thinks the survey is terrific, and that he completely <br />supports the changes and would highly recommend it to the Council. He indicated that <br />the changes and the color are entirely appropriate and necessary, but asks, going <br />forward, how all this gets implemented in a way that strikes that balance. <br />Mr. Beaudin stated that in the community survey that was done this past summer, <br />people's perception and the survey results show that the satisfaction rate for the <br />permitting process is actually fairly high, that in general, people have had a fairly <br />positive experience with the Community Development Department and with the <br />Planning Division in particular, and that is statistically relevant survey results that were <br />done. He acknowledged that there are a lot of anecdotal stories and that there are <br />certainly realities to the situation. He noted that the City is always looking for ways to <br />improve the permitting process and will continue to do that. <br />Mr. Beaudin stated that a lot of what was done here tonight or in the survey itself was <br />an effort to identify the resource, to create a system that does streamline the review so <br />people do not have to do this themselves every time; there is a baseline for what this <br />structure is, there is an architectural style, and there are important details that have <br />been recognized so staff knows what to look for when reviewing the applications. He <br />noted that there is a time savings and a cost savings, considering that it takes about a <br />month or so and costs about $5,000 for a survey like this to be done on an <br />individualized parcel basis. He added that there will be a process efficiency with the <br />review of applications on the historic side of things because the report is so detailed; <br />people would have clear expectations about what is important for their house, and their <br />architect will know that when they come to the counter, it will be a better conversation <br />with the planner. <br />Mr. Beaudin stated that there is the in -house Design Review process which, as <br />mentioned earlier, the City is always looking for ways to make more efficient. He noted <br />that there is permitting software in place to keep things moving, and new technology will <br />be brought forward that will help in this regard as well. He pointed out that there are <br />some anecdotal issues and some history with the Planning Division, but there are also <br />some new ideas and new tools staff is using to do their job, all the way down to the <br />resource that is before the Commission tonight. <br />Commissioner Nagler clarified that something is obviously working because the integrity <br />of the Downtown area has been maintained, other than the degradation that this is <br />attempting to address; that he, for one, is not suggesting it is not. He stated that the <br />question only is — periodically a good one to ask and is not meant to be a criticism but a <br />reflective question going forward — is the City advocating the maintenance of these <br />buildings by being a partner to those who want to make improvements to make sure <br />they are within the guidelines and historical context? Are applicants asked to justify <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, October 14, 2015 Page 16 of 35 <br />