HomeMy WebLinkAboutagenda.council.worksession.20250317AGENDA
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
March 17, 2025
4:00 PM, City Council Chambers
427 Rio Grande Place, Aspen
I.Work Session
I.A Development Review Update
I.B APCHA Updates (led by Councilors Hauenstein and Doyle)
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Development Services Memo FrameworkFinal.pdf
Exhibit A INFO ONLY - Development Review.pdf
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MEMORANDUM
TO: Aspen City Council
FROM: Sydney Fallon, Development Services Supervisor
Bonnie Muhigirwa, Chief Building Official
Ben Anderson, Community Development Director
MEMO DATE: March 10, 2025
MEETING DATE: March 17, 2025
RE: Work Session; Development Review Update
_____________________________________________________________________
REQUEST OF COUNCIL: In a Work Session format, ComDev staff will provide an
update to Council on the efforts and successes that have been made to date and the
improvements that remain in progress as staff responds to Council’s Customer Focused
Government goal – in relationship to the development review function. Included in this
discussion will be a presentation of data sets that are informing staff’s work in targeting
necessary changes within the processes of ComDev and review agencies across City
departments.
Council is encouraged to bring questions and comments in support of this discussion.
Ultimately, staff will request Council feedback on the direction that staff is taking in
response to this issue and in helping to identify any topics that have not yet been
addressed.
SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND: In February of 2024, staff provided an Information
Only memo to Council in response to requests for reporting on the current state of
permit/development review (Attached as Exhibit A). The 2024 memo focused on data
sets that were early examples of the improved reporting that was being produced out of
the Salesforce system. Additionally, the memo described efforts that were being made
within our staffing and processes to improve efficiency, customer experience, and review
timelines. This memo and the Work Session discussion on March 17 will show the
progress made in both of these areas over the last year and will further discuss the
challenges that remain.
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What do we mean by “Development Review”?
Broadly, development review includes all of the staff reviews for many different kinds of
physical development that take place within Aspen’s built environment. Within ComDev,
this certainly includes land use cases and a multitude of permit types that are often
grouped under the generic term - building permits. Development Review also includes
the reviews conducted by Engineering, Utilities, Parks, APCHA, Aspen Sanitary District,
and Aspen Fire Protection District – either as part of a building permit review or for other
permits that are specific to these review agencies.
While there are items to discuss and updates to provide within the land use arena and in
the permits that are specific to individual review agencies, this memo is focused on the
building permit process and the role of ComDev and others in the organization who are
responsible for seeing a building permit move through the process from intake to permit
issuance to Certificate of Occupancy.
DISCUSSION:
Staffing Organization and Collaboration
Development Services Team
In the last year, as a result of collaboration between the leadership of ComDev,
Public Works, and SIO and with the support of the City Manager and City Council
(budget approval for an FTE), the Development Services team has been fully in
place for just more than six months. This team is comprised of three members.
Two staff are under the ComDev umbrella. One position is within Engineering’s
team. These three positions are responsible for permit intake and completeness
review. They ensure that the permit is set up for review in Salesforce and
Bluebeam. Once in review, they keep track of review queues and work to identify
permits that are not moving forward as expected. They coordinate across referral
agencies to reduce lag times. While this team is not engaged in permit review,
they are ultimately tasked with setting up the review team (and ultimately the
permit) for success and with keeping permits on track through the review process.
With this direct understanding of the review process, of Salesforce, and of our
customers, this team is also responsible for continuing to develop data reporting
capacity and to use this data to direct process improvements across the
development review. These positions report to the Community Development
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Director and City Engineer and have been given the authority to work with
colleagues across City agencies to identify issues and implement solutions. In
staff’s view, the establishment of this team is the biggest success in the effort to
improve development review. While we have already seen tangible results, much
of the opportunity and capacity of this team is just now being realized.
Permit Advisory Group
This group is comprised of managers and other key staff across development
review agencies. It is led by the Development Services Supervisor and is now
convened on an as needed basis when a particular issue or proposed solution
warrants comprehensive discussion and alignment across agencies.
Talking Permits
This group meets every two weeks and is comprised of all staff across agencies
who are involved in building permit review. It is a place to discuss issues and
process improvements, but more importantly it gives time to identify and discuss
challenges with particular permits and find paths toward resolution.
Code Alignment Group
While not directly responsive to specific permits, this group is working to better
coordinate regulations across Aspen’s municipal code (Land Use, Building,
Engineering, Environmental Health, etc.) and avoid conflict as new code is being
considered.
Tactical Improvements
So far, the specific process improvements that have been implemented have been
somewhat narrow and targeted – but they were initiated following review of specific data
points and the identification of unnecessary bottlenecks by the Development Services
Team. It should be noted that while these changes may appear simple, because of the
intersection with Salesforce, even simple changes can require new process flows and
programming upgrades to implement and ensure continued functionality.
Like for Like Window/Door Replacement – “Over the Counter” Permit.
While currently limited to a narrow type of work, the process for this permit type
has initiated some major changes in thinking that could be applied to other types
of development and required reviews. Utilizing an applicant affidavit, this new
permit places code compliance responsibility firmly with the applicant. While
ComDev staff will still inspect the finished work, permit review staff relies on the
applicant rather than evidence provided in the permit to issue the permit. This
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change translates to a much faster issuance of these types of permits (previously
four – five weeks, now as quick as one week). Staff is currently working to utilize
this same process for interior-only condominium remodels and like-for-like water
fixture replacements. So far, this has been a very successful improvement.
Utility and Water Review Processes
In reviewing permit data, it became evident that review timelines for Utilities and
Water requirements were often a cause of extended permit issuance. To be clear,
this was not a consequence of staff shortfalls but instead was a reflection of a
complex intersection of permit submittal requirements, review timing with other
elements of the permit review, and the timing of the establishment and collection
of tap fees. In the last year, targeted process changes during permit submittal and
permit review have fundamentally improved the timelines of this part of the review
and ultimately on some projects, a significantly improved issuance timeline.
Because of the tangible impact of these changes, it is this type of technical
improvement that the Development Services Team is working to identify and
implement in other areas of the review process.
Construction Mitigation Plan (CMP) Requirements
While not a standalone permit, CMP requirements are an essential component of
all building permits. For major projects, the review and approval of a CMP will
remain an extensive review to ensure that impacts of the project to neighbors and
the larger community are mitigated to the degree possible. However, for smaller
projects with less impacts, staff has created a boilerplate form with standard
requirements that is signed by applicants. The inclusion of this form within a permit
application will remove the CMP review for qualifying projects, removing a potential
bottleneck. Similar to the like-for-like affidavit described above, staff is identifying
areas that are appropriate to shift appropriate responsibility to the applicant with
reduced review times as the desired outcome.
Website and Information Upgrades
This has been an area of focus and is something that staff has full agency in
implementing that can significantly improve the customer experience. In the past,
a very legitimate complaint from customers regularly emerged – that the
information that was necessary to apply for a permit was incomplete, confusing,
and was only available if one was willing to navigate the separate pages of
ComDev, Engineering and other review agencies. In a concerted effort, staff has
worked to significantly improve on these past shortcomings. While there will
always be areas for continued upgrades and offerings, the customer experience
on our website has been much improved over the last year.
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• Document Resource Library
https://www.aspen.gov/1391/Building-Document-and-Resource-Library
This page is becoming a one-stop location for submittal requirements for all
of the permits that run through ComDev and provides links to other essential
information necessary to other functions within development review.
• Building Permit Timelines
https://www.aspen.gov/244/Building-Permit-Timelines
This page has been on ComDev’s site for several years. Two recent
developments have improved this information for our customers. First, the
data coming out of Salesforce allows for these timelines to be more
accurate and representative than in the past. And secondly, this same data
allows staff to better differentiate between distinct permit types in an effort
to improve information to customers. To be clear, the published numbers
are honestly reported. Staff is not attempting to game these numbers as
they are meant to help our customers have a realistic expectation of the
timelines they are facing.
• Building Permit Process and Payment
https://www.aspen.gov/236/Building-Permit-Process-Payment
This page has also been improved dramatically in helping our customers
navigate the steps of what is admittedly a complex process with many steps.
As described above, any changes to either the staff and customer process
require coordination within the Salesforce system to make sure that
functionality continues.
Coming Improvements
The following enhancements are planned to be up and running within the next few
months:
Spring of 2025
• Like-for-like Water Affidavit
• Construction Waste Diversion – Review and Inspection procedures
Summer of 2025
• New Salesforce Applicant Portal
• Interior-only condo remodel affidavit
• Construction related parking permits – new process
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Data
For decades there has been a desire for ComDev to provide better data about the
development review process. This data rightfully is seen as a mechanism to bring
transparency and accountability to the permitting processes for an industry that is at the
center of Aspen’s local economy. Unfortunately, until very recently, staff did not have the
tools to provide data beyond the most cursory of measures – and even those data points
were difficult to arrive at with consistency and confidence. Salesforce has fundamentally
changed the capacity to provide this data. Due to the complexity of the program and the
need for program enhancements to provide more consistent reporting, it took staff a
couple of years to fully understand the reporting capabilities and best practices to ensure
consistent data. While this will be a process of continual learning, staff is now confident
in the data that is being produced and the data that is reported is more useful than ever
before.
In staff’s view, data from Salesforce has two purposes: First, it allows staff to provide a
window into our process for our customers and the community toward outcomes of
transparency and accountability. ComDev staff is working internally and with
Communications staff to identify the most relevant data and the format and intervals for
community reporting. Secondly, this improved data provides staff with information that
shapes management decisions and identifies areas for process improvements.
Figures 1, 2, and 3. Number of permits issued; Numbers of reviews completed by departments in
2024; and Valuation trends from 2022-2024. Valuations include standard permits, repairs, roofing,
changes orders and temp structures. Taken together, these data points speak to the volume and
complexity of projects within Aspen.
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Figures 4 and 5 are examples of the new quality of data that we are now able to pull out
of Salesforce – that provides more a granular understanding of what is happening in the
times lines of individual permits and in aggregate. Ultimately, staff are working to get more
permits to issuance in less rounds of review. Being able to identify specific permits that
are taking more time and analyzing the factors that are causing these timelines are at the
heart of staff’s efforts in making process improvements. Staff is currently focused on
reducing Completeness Review and Round 1 Review timelines.
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Ongoing Challenges
Staff is fully aware that many individuals in our local development and real estate
community remain frustrated by the timelines (both perceived and real) associated with
permitting development within Aspen. This is a concern that has been present for
decades and is a concern that arises in many communities across the nation.
It is hoped that the discussion above provides confidence that staff takes these concerns
seriously and is working in a thoughtful and systemic approach to improve the permitting
process. It is also hoped that these efforts will continue to improve review efficiencies
and permit timelines in tangible ways.
However, while staff efforts are sincere and we are confident that improvements are and
will continue to be observed, elements of Aspen’s development and regulatory context
will never be overcome by tactical and technical changes within the review process. It is
important to identify these elements for Council’s (and the community’s) consideration.
Figure 6 is a screen shot
from ComDev’s webpage
that shows Permit Review
timelines with data as of
January 2025. The data
now available from
Salesforce allows this
information to be
differentiated in more useful
ways and more reliable and
consistent over time.
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1. Permit Volumes and Complexity
2. Prevalence of significant change orders to issued permits
3. Layers of community expectations over time – that have translated into complex
and overlapping regulations across the Municipal Code
4. Aspen-specific development dynamics
- Nearly every project is designed to the absolute maximum of development
right.
- Luxury amenity demands.
- Complex and cutting-edge mechanical and construction systems.
- Development processes from start to finish that can extend to a decade or
more.
- Scale and value of even the most “basic” of projects.
- Out-of-state architects and other project representatives who are unfamiliar
with Aspen requirements.
- Economic dynamics that cause incentives and disincentives to be understood
differently than in other contexts.
Identifying these challenges is not for the purposes of rationalizing sub-optimal outcomes
in the review process. Instead, it is meant to acknowledge that there are local dynamics
that make this challenge even more significant and that there are realities that can’t simply
be waived away.
CONCLUSION: Improving the permit process is a top priority for Community
Development staff and for staff in other agencies responsible for development review. It
is a complex undertaking that requires consideration of complex regulations, the
capabilities and limitations of Salesforce, human behavior (both staff and applicant), and
the dynamics of one of the most valuable real estate contexts in the world. As staff looks
to implement improvements, our focus is on the things that we have most control over:
• The information we provide to applicants via the web and in-person.
• Communication of expectations for the quality of permit applications.
• Staff responsiveness and effectiveness.
• Internal process flows in support of development review.
• Identification of unnecessary bottlenecks and delay.
• Reducing timelines for permit intake and for first round of review.
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Questions for Council:
1) Does Council support staff’s general and specific work on improvements to
development review?
2) Are there other topics that Council wishes staff to include in our thinking about
this issue?
EXHIBIT A – Information Only Memo, February 22, 2024
11
INFORMATION ONLY
TO: Aspen City Council
FROM: Ben Anderson, Community Development Director
THRU: Sara Ott, City Manager
MEMO DATE: February 22, 2024
RE: Development Review: Comparative Data and Summary of
Process and Customer Experience Improvements
REQUEST OF COUNCIL:
This memo serves to update Council on the current status of development review, with a
specific lens on Community Development, but also in relationship to other City agencies
that play important roles as referral agencies to building permits and in the granting of
their own distinct permits. This memo serves to provide information and there is no
specific request of Council from staff. Should Council desire additional information, please
discuss further with the City Manager.
The memo contains two categories of information. First, as our reporting capacities within
Salesforce have improved dramatically in the last 18 months or so, we are able to provide
more reliable and better framed data that captures important metrics across the review
process. The data provided within this memo illustrates this reporting progress and serves
as a place holder as we continue to work on more regular, more useful, and better
depicted updates on the volume, scale, and timeliness of permit and development review.
Secondly, this memo provides a qualitative summary of the myriad process improvements
and customer experience upgrades that are either in progress or have been completed
since the Spring of 2023. Some of these items are specific and tactical. Others are
strategic, systemic, and more significant. All are having tangible effects in building trust
and collaboration across review agencies, in making processes more efficient internally,
and in improving the experience for our customers.
SUMMARY AND STAFF DISCUSSION:
The data provided below is a snapshot derived from permit and review data produced by
improved reporting functionality from the Salesforce permitting platform. The summary
data is a work in progress and staff welcomes inquiries or suggestions for the framing of
this data that would be helpful. Working with the City Manager’s office, staff intends to
arrive at a quarterly reported data set that can show trends over time in permit volume,
permit type, complexity, and the success of our efforts to improve the development review
process.
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Permit and Review Data – 2023
SUBMITTED Permit Volume Summary; Comparing 2022 and 2023
Building Permits – Residential and Commercial
2023 2022 Difference % Change
535 448 +87 19.4% Increase
All Permits (*Engineering, ComDev, Utilities, Parks)
2023 2022 Difference % Change
2,102 1,974 +128 6.5% Increase
*Includes: building, mechanical, electric, EPIC, IFFR, repairs, plumbing, fences, signs, temp.
structures/tents, right-of-way, encroachments, landscaping, trees, utilities.
Table 1.
ISSUED Permit Volume Summary; Comparing 2022 and 2023
Building Permits – Residential and Commercial
2023 2022 Difference % Change
491 405 +86 21.2% Increase
All Permits (*Engineering, ComDev, Utilities, Parks)
2023 2022 Difference % Change
1,986 1,863 +123 6.6% Increase
*Includes: building, mechanical, electric, EPIC, IFFR, repairs, plumbing, fences, signs, temp.
structures/tents, right-of-way, encroachments, landscaping, trees, utilities.
Table 2.
SUBMITTED Permit Valuation Summary; Comparing 2022 and 2023
Building Permits – Residential and Commercial
2023 2022 Difference % Change
$612,722,805 $249,012,450 $363,710,355 146% Increase
Lift One Lodge was submitted in 2023 and distorts these numbers – less L1L below
$413,223,088 $249,012,450 $164,210,638 66% Increase
Table 3.
ISSUED Permit Valuation Summary; Comparing 2022 and 2023
Building Permits – Residential and Commercial
2023 2022 Difference % Change
$302,767,506 $276,819,772 $25,947,734 9.4% Increase
Table 4.
Submitted and Issued permit data provide similar results but do offer an important
snapshot differentiating when permits come into our system and when permits are issued
following review. The Volume Summaries above (Tables 1 and 2) are probably the best
measure of the permit pressures on staff from year to year across review agencies.
Valuation (Tables 3 and 4) is an interesting measure that provides a view into permit
complexity but has issues in comparing this quality year over year. Staff is evaluating new
ways to understand and measure permit complexity.
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The following tables are the beginning efforts of staff to report review data out of
Salesforce – in terms of timeliness across different types of permits and reviews. The
first table shows review volume across all review agencies year over year.
Total Reviews across all referral agencies; Comparing 2022 and 2023
2023 2022 Difference % Change
4,963 4,438 +525 11.8% Increase
*ComDev, Engineering, Parks, Utilities
A review is any formal touch that a referral agency has on a permit following submittal, but before issuance.
Table 5.
The table below (Table 6.) has important information related to building permit volume by
type – year over year. Additionally, the second column in each year shows the total time
that a permit once in review – sits in the hands of City staff and in the hands of the
applicant as City staff are waiting for response to comments. In most categories of
permits there has been an improvement in the number of days that permits are sitting
with City staff prior to issuance. While there is more to do, these improvements can be
attributed to specific improvements that have been made within the process.
Building
Permits by
Type
Number
Issued
2022
Avg Days City /
Avg Days w/ Appl.
2022*
Number
Issued
2023
Avg Days City /
Avg Days w/ Appl.
2023*
RESIDENTIAL Major Permits 34 206 / 64 29 184 / 50
Minor Permits 87 92 / 17 57 76 / 22
Mini Permits 22 28 / 1 55 21 / 3
Repairs/Roofs/IFFR 118 13 / 1 151 9 / 1
Change Orders 54 64 / 10 98 59 / 11
COMMERCIAL Major Permits 4 227 / 34 9 164 / 71
Minor Permits 16 69 / 7 16 60 / 10
Mini/EPIC 23 35 / 1 26 26 / 8
Repair/Roof/IFFR 23 18 / 2 35 16 / 3
Change Orders 16 56 / 4 10 58 / 3
*Note: the important data on this shows the average number of days prior to issuance that a permit is in
City staff queues versus average number of days in it takes for the applicant to respond to comments.
Table 6.
Table 7, on the following page differentiates Round 1 reviews (the first round of review
following submission) across review agencies between Q1 and Q4 of 2023. Staff is
continuing to build out the best way to report and display the data in this area. Like the
data in Table 6, this data shows quantifiable improvement that seem attributable to
specific improvements described below.
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Table 7.
Anticipated Review Timelines (aspen.gov/244/Building-Permit-Timelines):
"…turnaround times begin once a permit
application is deemed complete and are subject
to change based on queue volume. Additional
review rounds are dependent upon number of
departments requiring rereview and compliance,
see Response to Comments. “
Q1 Vs. Q4 Round 1 Building Permit Review Times 2023
Source: Salesforce
These two clips from ComDev’s
webpage give guidance to applicants
about anticipated wait times for the
completion of the first round of reviews
(across all review agencies) for different
types of permits. ComDev is striving to
update this quarterly.
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Land Use – Total Pre-Applications, Applications, POD Inquiries, RDS Review Requests ; 2021 - 2023
Pre-Application Summaries
2023 2022 2021 Pre-Application Summaries provide the basis for an
eventual land use application - Free 149 140 154
Land Use Applications
2023 2022 2021 These are full applications that translate into an
Administrative or Board Review 98 121 136
Planner of the Day (POD) Inquiries and Reponses
2023 2022 2021 Formal inquiries via phone, email, or walk-ins to our
planner of the day service 381 375 582
Residential Design Standards Reviews (RDS)
2023 2022 2021 Reviews for new construction and any external
changes to existing residences 95 85 107
Table 8.
Table 8, above, describes volume related to the Planning function, while related and
intersecting, it is distinct from the permit process described above. Volumes for key
services remain relatively constant, year-to -year.
Process and Customer Experience Improvements
Following direction from the City Manager’s Office in the Spring of 2023, Community
Development, in full partnership with City Engineering, Utilities, Parks, and other referral
agencies, has initiated several formal projects to work on improving processes, reducing
silos between agencies, and in finding alignment in efforts to make development more
efficient and effective. It should be noted that these kinds of efforts across City agencies
have not happened consistently in the City’s past and are a direct outcome of improved
communication and trust between those responsible for development review. In this new
context, opportunities abound for collaboration and creative problem solving.
New Working Groups and Strategic Initiatives
Permit Advisory Group – This group has been meeting regularly to identify points of
friction and inefficiencies within the flow of permit review. The group has identified
several necessary improvements (described specifically below) and has helped to
refine the reporting needs evolving from Salesforce.
Code Alignment Group – Similar representation as the Permit Advisory Group, but
with a different purpose. This group has created space and a process to do two things:
1) Communicate with other agencies when proposed changes are emerging to
adopted regulatory codes and standards, and
2) Identify areas across the City codes that may be in conflict, or work against each
other, or prevent better coordination with customers.
This group meets quarterly and has implemented formal communication and
documentation methodologies as new code is considered.
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Staff Reorganization for Permit Process Oversight and Enhancements – ComDev
leadership has been working with the Public Works Director and Deputy Director, the
SIO team, Finance, and HR to build a new concept for a more centralized permit
intake, coordination, and analysis function that would wield influence and provide
analysis across the entirety of the development review context. We are currently
finalizing proposed job descriptions and aligning proposed functionality across the
review agencies. This reconfigured permit intake and analysis function would be
primarily housed under ComDev but will result in increased coordination across review
agencies.
Talking Permits – This is a meeting that has informally happened for some time but
has recently become more regular and better structured. This is a large and fluid group
that meets twice a month and includes all front-line staff that are involved in any type
of development review. It is a time to talk about challenges and successes broadly
and to troubleshoot and provide status updates on significant or complex permits.
Consultant Review of Planning Process and Code – ComDev should have a contract
in place within the next month with a private planning firm to review our processes as
they relate to the Land Use Code and to provide recommendations for optimizing the
use of our current staff and in proposing both code and non-code related
improvements to our processes and review effectiveness.
Specific Process and Customer Experience Improvements
The following are descriptions of specific, often tactical changes that have been made
or will soon be implemented by the individual agencies that are most involved in our
review processes. Some of these changes have risen independently within review
agencies as they have internally identified areas for improvement, others have
emerged directly from the work of the Permit Advisory Group.
City Website and Department Webpages
A common and significant improvement across agencies that has happened in
coordination with the larger City effort to bring the website into conformance with
accessibility requirements – are fundamentally redesigned webpages for the review
agencies. Required processes are described more clearly, necessary documents and
checklists are re-designed and more easily and centrally available. Staff has received
feedback from customers that these improvements are noticeable and much
appreciated.
Salesforce
Since its inception as the database for our permitting and development review
function, Salesforce (permitting software platform) has been a continual work-in-
progress. Across the board, reporting ability and case tracking have improved
significantly. Two recent improvements are likely to provide the most impact. First,
over the last year, several new fields have been added to the permit pages to bring
more powerful reporting capacity in differentiating between permit types. Once fully
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implemented, these changes will allow for more granular analysis than has previously
been available. Second, a full redesign of the customer portal will significantly improve
the customer experience when interacting with Salesforce. The new portal is
scheduled to be implemented by early summer.
Community Development
Building
• Creation of “over-the-counter” permits for like-for-like window replacements.
This process which will be implemented by the end of February will serve
as a test case for other possible permit types that could be handled similarly
– with the purposes of streamlining application process and reducing permit
issuance times for less complex and less impactful development.
• Work on the website brought web administrators across review agencies
together in an organized way to create shared SOPs and customer facing
consistency.
• Expedited permits for projects pursuing 100% electric.
• Worked in partnership with City GIS staff to create a new, interactive
permitting map – allowing for public access to all permits in review or
recently issued.
• Leadership across referral agencies to identify and implement process
efficiencies and improved channels of communication.
Planning and Zoning
• Creation of affidavits from owner/contractors to eliminate the need for
zoning review and inspection on certain types of permits – like-for-like
fenestration replacement, interior remodels that do not impact floor area,
and ground mounted mechanical equipment. This removes steps
throughout the permitting and inspection process.
• Cross training between inspectors so that different kinds of inspections can
be combined when appropriate. This is particularly impactful on mechanical
permits.
• Development of outdoor lighting compliance calculator to ease permit
submission requirements for customers and improve consistency and
efficiency of lighting review under new regulations.
• New process in development for differentiating administrative PD
amendments between changes that just need to be memorialized in
approval documents and changes that are more substantial and require
review and potentially conditions of approval.
• Significant improvement to internal processes to ensure that inquiries to
planner of the day or requests for Pre-Application Summaries are
responded to in a timely manner.
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Engineering
Construction Management
• New Salesforce fields that allow review staff to better differentiate and
prioritize reviews and inspections.
• Internal process improvements to “triage” and provide reviews and
inspections.
Development Review/URMP
• Focused improvements to the website to clarify process and submittal
requirements.
• Staff are building a library of standardized review comments and templates
to more efficiently respond to common scenarios.
• Restructured staff meetings to give more time to coordination on
development reviews.
• Development of a training program in support of on-boarding new
development review staff.
Utilities
The items described below may seem very technical, but combined are probably the
most immediately impactful improvements to date in reducing overall review times and
improving the customer experience. They have required significant coordination
between ComDev, Utilities, Engineering, and SIO staff to implement. These not only
required changes to the permit process – but also significant modifications within
Salesforce to facilitate.
• A major victory has been the removal of a separate UTWC sub-permit
when a master permit includes “adding, changing, or removal of plumbing
fixtures.” Finding compliance is now simply part of the Utilities/Engineering
reviews under the master permit. Eliminating this sub-permit brings
numerous staff efficiencies and reduces overall permit issuance times.
• Connected to the elimination of the UTWC sub-permit, necessary Utilities
documentation is now included as part of the total permit submission and
is now reviewed for completeness by ComDev intake staff with the whole
of the permit materials, rather than separately by Utilities/Engineering staff.
• Coordination with ComDev staff to include any necessary tap fees within
the total permit fees at permit issuance. Tap fees have historically been
collected separately by Utilities and at times served to unnecessarily delay
permit issuance.
• Tactical changes to more readily facilitate “like for like” fixture replacements
and reviews of Change Orders to reduce review queues in process.
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Parks
In 2023, Parks hired a new Permit Coordinator following the retirement of a
longtime staffer. This transition offered an opportunity to rethink this role and bring
improvements to longstanding processes.
• Better training and onboarding – including intentional cross training with
other referral agencies and the development of SOPs.
• Focusing on internal and external communication and building efficiencies
in the use of Salesforce and Bluebeam – staff worked to reduce building
permit review queue times and stand-alone Parks’ permit review times.
• Implemented a new fee-structure to simplify and clarify Parks’ permit fees.
Continuing Challenges:
Staff turnover within review agencies – In the last year, review agencies have had
more than ten (10) new, front line staff members with a direct role in development
review. Engineering has had recent success in the hiring of three, new staff
engineers in filling vacancies that opened following staff departures – but in
general, vacancies and challenging hiring processes have been the norm.
Inconsistent capacity with third-party permit review support – ComDev has long
relied on the occasional contracted support of third-party plans examination
review. Building staff have engaged these services for particularly complex
projects or when there are concerns about staff capacity and review turn-around
times. For building review, ComDev continues to have contracts with firms that
we have long-standing relationships with – but have found recently that their
capacity to take on reviews at different times or of differing complexities is also
limited and cannot be assumed to be relied on at any given moment. Additionally,
adoption of the new 2021 Building Code and specific standards related to
demolition allotments have created hesitancy in bringing on third party reviews for
some projects.
Role of Salesforce – Changing long-standing processes is a difficult task in itself,
but the implementation of changes can at times be paced entirely by the
complexity of the programming work required in Salesforce to implement the
process change. Both our staff and consultant capacity to implement these
changes has dramatically improved, but the inherent challenge remains.
Salesforce (and particularly Aspen’s platform) is incredibly powerful and complex
but is often not as nimble as staff would hope or assume and at times can delay
or preclude even minor process improvements.
Risk Assessment – Development review staff take their jobs very seriously. They
know the stakes of their work are very high – whether through a life-safety lens,
an environmental stewardship lens, a development impact lens, or any other of a
number of community expectations through which their work is evaluated. With
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stakes this high, staff are often reluctant to eliminate steps or processes which
allow them to carefully verify that a project is compliant with Aspen’s numerous
regulatory documents.
However, we also know that “streamlining” or “efficiency creation” requires some
loosening of the grip. Finding the right balance requires careful evaluation and
developing trust – most importantly with those submitting permit applications.
Some staff are more comfortable with this type of work than others – and
managers need to do better at setting the parameters of the risk the organization
should take on in pursuit of efficiency. This is a particularly difficult challenge to
navigate with less experienced staffers. When turnover is high, new staff is much
less likely to apply discretion, take agency, or find efficiency while meeting the
intent of a particular regulation.
Conclusion:
While new dynamics are continually being introduced and evaluated within Aspen’s
development context, two things have not changed. First, Aspen’s regulatory
environment remains complex with locally implemented rules on land use, development
impacts, building efficiency and performance, historic preservation, community character,
water quality and efficiency, and tree protection. This regulatory environment requires
numerous touches on every permit across development review staff to ensure compliance
with these community implemented standards. Second, permit volumes and complexity
continue to increase.
The intersection of these distinct factors contributes to long-standing concerns from the
development community that permit issuance times are unacceptably long and the
process overly cumbersome. Staff is well aware of these concerns and has over the
years been in a continual state of searching for areas of improvement, processes that
could be eliminated or made more efficient, and more targeted allocation of staff
resources and focus. In past years, improvements have been made and tangible
modifications to process efficiency and customer experience have been implemented.
And yet, there is consensus that we can and should do better.
The memo provides numerous examples of current and near future actions in this area.
While these specific improvements are significant, perhaps more important is a sea
change in the attitudes that development review staff are bringing to these efforts to
improve. Previously established silos are eroding, staff cooperation across agencies to
improve Salesforce and the information available to customers on our website has been
notable, and the trust necessary to pursue doing things differently is building. While all
of this will take time to fully implement and realize the benefits of these efforts, the entire
context around process improvement and enhancing the customer experience feels very
different in this moment.
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City Manager Comments:
The Administration has put in considerable efforts on the permitting process
improvements over several years. More progress has been made in the past year due to
heavy emphasis on a collaborative culture between staff.
Moving forward, I anticipate making resource requests in the 2025 budget to further this
work even more. These requests will be a combination of additional staffing for
coordination and oversight of permitting, along with resources for third party vendors in
plan review, drafting proposed code amendments, and process enhancements in
Salesforce and within staff activities. - SGO
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