PC 101415 - Laserfiche WebLink

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