COMMISSIONER RANDY LEONARD'S BLOG

Oregonian Op Ed highlights improvements at BDS

Jeff Fish is a developer and one of the largest builders of affordable homes in Portland.

  By Guest Columnist The Oregonian

By Keith Skille and Jeff Fish

As Portland's mayoral and City Council campaigns have heated up, a recurring theme for the candidates has been Portland's development review process and its impact on economic development and job creation. Candidates have particularly focused on the city's Bureau of Development Services, characterizing it as unwelcoming and obstructionist to developers and builders, providing cumbersome and inconsistent services, having high fees and in general being an impediment to development.

As members of the development community and customers of BDS, we wholeheartedly disagree with these assessments of BDS. Like any organization, BDS has room for improvement. But in the past several years BDS has undergone a remarkable transformation that has resulted in a development review process that is streamlined, effective, innovative and (regarding permit fees) reasonably priced.

For example:

In response to developers' need for help in shepherding large, complex projects through the development review process, BDS created the Major Projects Group. Each large project has its own process manager, who acts as a liaison between the development team and BDS, attends project meetings and provides a single point of contact for all issues related to the project.

BDS created the Facilities Permit and Field Issuance Remodel programs to better meet customers' needs on commercial tenant improvements and residential remodels and additions. Both programs provide on-call, on-site plan review and inspection services for an hourly fee. The programs are very popular because they save building owners and contractors time and money.

Through its Information Technology Advancement Project, BDS is pursuing an online permitting and inspection system to streamline development review and make current and historical permit drawings viewable online. BDS estimates that the system will go live in the winter of 2014-15.

Developers, builders, architects and neighborhood representatives actively advise city staff on development review issues via the Development Review Advisory Committee. The DRAC gives input into the strategic planning, decision-making and budgeting of BDS and other development bureaus to help ensure that services are delivered effectively and efficiently. Over the past several years, the DRAC has endorsed BDS budget requests and fee increases because they have been consistently tied to relevant, measurable improvements in services.

In 2009, the city streamlined development review processes and improved communication between BDS and other city public works bureaus involved in development review (Transportation, Environmental Services, Water, Parks & Recreation) by moving more than 40 staff members from those bureaus into office space with BDS staff. Together with these bureaus, BDS has worked to establish predictable plan-review timelines and fees and a public appeals process.

While bashing city bureaucrats makes for good press and points with voters in a campaign season, the reality is that BDS has made significant strides in streamlining development review and working collaboratively to facilitate development. We encourage mayoral and council candidates to attend a DRAC meeting and see for themselves what we and other customers have found: BDS is responsive, flexible and an effective partner in the development process.

Keith Skille, of GBD Architects, and Jeff Fish, of Fish Construction, are members of the Development Review Advisory Committee for Portland's Bureau of Development Services.  

© 2012 OregonLive.com. All rights reserved.

Oregon's Food Code is Under Review

  
Food Handlers Beware

 

The State of Oregon’s food industry has been operating under food codes that have not been updated since 1999.

 

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA), the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) and food service stakeholders are working to update the statewide food code for Oregon.  Whether you are a food processor, grocery store or restaurant, everyone will be held to the same food safety standards and criteria, including food carts.

  

Given the proliferation of food carts, the parties are focused on regulations that promote health and safety for food cart owners and patrons alike.

  

For more information on Oregon’s food code review, click here.

Professor Samdhog Rinposche Visits Commissioner Leonard

 
The Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, Professor Samdhog Rinpoche dropped by Commissioner Leonard’s Office yesterday afternoon to express his humble gratitude to the Commissioner for the City’s support on Tibet Awareness Day this past March. 

 

The announcement of the City's Proclamation on March 10, 2010 in support of Tibet, generated a strong response from the Chinese government as many Tibetan-Portlanders colorfully dressed in ceremonial Tibetan garments gathered peacefully at the front steps of City Hall.

Earth Day: Flashback to the 5th Dimension

 

Earth Day and EPA Turns 40

The 5th Dimension won 2 Grammy Awards in 1970 for Record of the Year and Best Contemporary Vocal Performance by a group.  The song was “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” a medley of two songs from the musical Hair.  It was truly a dawning of the Age of Aquarius and time to let the sunshine in, a time for the nation to wake up and take action to protect our environment.

 

It is hard to believe that until the seventies there were no regulatory means to protect the environment.  Factories were free to produce their toxic waste and release the pollutants into the air and streams.  Environmental concerns were a non-political issue for our government.  Senator Gaylord Nelson, from Wisconsin beginning in 1962 strived to change that by pushing the environment into the political arena.  Senator Nelson spoke on environmental issues in appearances across the country.  While touring he learned that the people were concerned about the environment but not their elected leaders. 

 

It was 1969 and the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations called “teach-ins” had spread through the nation’s college campuses.  The “teach-ins” inspired Senator Nelson to form a grassroots protest and put the environment onto the national agenda.

 

November 30, 1969, 5 months before the first Earth Day, The New York Times reported on the current environmental events:

 

"Rising concern about the environmental crisis is sweeping the nation's campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam...a national day of observance of environmental problems...is being planned for next spring...when a nationwide environmental 'teach-in'...coordinated from the office of Senator Gaylord Nelson is planned...."

 

 

 

On April 22, 1970, 20 million people participated in the inaugural Earth Day activities around the United States.  Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment.

 

 

Senator Gaylord later commented on the success of Earth Day, “Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.”

 

 

In the months following Earth Day, President Richard Nixon and Congress established the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in response to the growing public demand for cleaner water, air and land.  On December 2, 1970, the EPA opened its doors in downtown Washington, D.C.  The EPA’s goal is to repair the damage already done to the environment and to establish guidelines for a cleaner and safer environment for all future generations.

 

 

Let the sunshine in!

 

SDC fee waiver on accessory dwelling units takes effect this week

In early March, the City Council voted to eliminate Systems Development Charges (SDCs) on Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), more commonly known as "Mother in Law Apartments."  These units are key components of the City's affordable housing and density goals, and the relatively high cost of $8,000-$12,000 in SDCs per unit have proven to be a barrier to the desired proliferation of this type of housing.

The resolution directed Transportation, Parks, Water, and Environmental Services to return with the Council with the necessary code changes to implement the Council's direction by April 15.  As a result, each bureau has filed the necessary ordinances for Council approval on this week's City Council agenda (Items #500, 504, 508, and 514).  If approved, the new rules go into effect immediately, and the Bureau of Development Services will begin processing permits for new ADUs and legalized ADUs without the expensive SDC charges.  The waiver of SDC fees on ADUs will continue until July 2013.

For more information on the new ADU policy and a copy of the resolution, click here.

Council votes to suspend SDCs on Accessory Dwelling Units

In an effort to promote an increase in the construction of accessory dwelling units (ADUs)--an important component of the City's affordable housing and density goals--the Portland City Council voted unanimously on a resolution to suspend systems development charges (SDCs) on the construction of these units.

Currently, SDCs on ADUs range from $7,000 to $12,000, which is a very high proportion of the total cost of construction, and a barrier to the proliferation of ADUs throughout the City.  With the passage of today's resolution, the Bureau of Parks and Recreation, the Water Bureau, the Bureau of Environmental Services, and the Bureau of Transportation will bring back the necessary code changes to implement the suspension of SDCs on ADUs by April 15, 2010.

Members of the Council spoke to the utility of these units as an affordable housing option, a thoughtful way to maximize the use of available land within the Urban Growth Boundary, a housing option for elderly citizens who want to remain close to family, and an opportunity to create jobs in a struggling construction industry. 

Commissioner Leonard also encouraged those who may have constructed ADUs illegally, particularly in basement ADUs, to use the suspension of these fees as an opportunity to come forward and have their living units legalized through the permitting process, which will improve the fire safety of those structures and avoid preventable injuries and deaths.

The resolution was co-sponsored by Mayor Adams, Commissioner Leonard, and Commissioner Fish, and the policy will take effect following the passage of the necessary code changes on or before April 15, 2010.

Bureau of Development Services Proposes Technology Update

On February 9th, the City Council considered a proposal from the Bureau of Development Services to upgrade their technology systems, including permitting, inspections, and code enforcement. During the staffing reductions brought about by an unprecedented drop in revenue, Commissioner Leonard recognized that in order to minimize future impacts of construction industry fluctuations, the Bureau needed to become more efficient and nimble. With a modernized system in place, the bureau will increase productivity dramatically by eliminating tedious and time consuming tasks, while enhancing service to customers. The system should allow BDS to function at it's peak with fewer staff than before, which will reduce the need for layoffs in future economic downturns.

Commissioner Leonard asked staff at the Bureau of Development Services to examine the Bureau for opportunities for improvement and efficiencies. It became readily apparent that the largest barriers to improved efficiencies was outdated or absent technology. Surrounding jurisdictions, including the State of Oregon and Washington County, have some level of electronic permitting, whereas Portland, the biggest permitting jurisdiction in the State, does not. For example, plans brought in for review are actually still moved around the bureau in a shopping cart, pushed from floor to floor for the the different reviews needed.

A team of staff from BDS and the Bureau of Technology Services was formed to study options and come up with a proposal that would help BDS take advantage of existing technology to improve service to our customers. The team conducted extensive research that included phone and email contacts with vendors and users, and culminated in two site visits to see the technology working. Commissioner Leonard emphasized choosing a system that could be seen working today, as opposed to one with promises to work someday soon. Components of improved technology include:

• Convert all existing records to digital electronic format
• Create a web portal for customers to view all historic and currently active records in real time
• Create a web portal for customers to apply for and submit all plans electronically for any permit issued by BDS
• Create an electronic and automated system for plan review and permit issuance
• Automate field inspection system
• Install automated customer queuing system in the Development Services Center

For those unfamiliar with the functions of the Bureau of Development Services, all of those components essentially mean increased accessibility to records (many of which are currently in the form of microfiche, which some say is so outdated that it should be considered an absence of technology), increased ease and accessibility to submitting plans for building and remodeling, and increased ability for inspectors to provide real time results during field inspections.

Each of these areas provide work flow improvements, and in many cases, cost savings over time, such as the savings realized by eliminating the roughly $200,000-400,000 spent each year to maintain the microfiche system.

The technology package recommended to Council will cost roughly $5 million dollars, which includes a two-year implementation process. BDS, members of Council, and the Office of Management and Finance are looking at ways to finance the project that will allow BDS to purchase the technology. BDS and BTS staff will continue to work with stakeholders of the current system, including other bureaus, the Development Review Advisory Committee, and the Small Business Advisory Committee to achieve a smooth transition into the new system.

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Posted by: SP

Council to hear resolution suspending SDCs on Accessory Dwelling Units

On March 3, 2010, the City Council will consider a resolution sponsored by Mayor Adams, Commissioner Fish, and Commissioner Leonard that will suspend burdensome Systems Development Charges (SDCs) that have been a barrier to the construction of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs).  ADUs, which are commonly referred to as "mother-in-law apartments" are typically small, self contained living areas either contiguous with or separate from a main residence that have a separate entrance, kitchen facilities, sleeping areas and a bathroom.  ADUs are an important component of the City's effort to achieve its affordable housing and density goals, but the current fees assessed have proven to be a barrier to the proliferation of these living units.

Currently, the City assesses SDCs that range from $7,000 - $12,000 on each ADU, a very high proportion of the total cost of constructing an ADU, which are otherwise very affordable to construct.  The proposed resolution will set in motion code changes that will suspend SDCs until July, 2013.

The effort is designed to make financing for these types of investment more attainable for homeowners and builders, which will have the effect of increasing the number of affordable housing units while maximizing the efficient use of available space.  Further, as people take advantage of this opportunity, the construction of these units will generate jobs for the struggling construction industry.

The resolution will be heard at the March 3 City Council meeting, which begins at 9:30 AM in City Hall.

Read the Willamette Week's blurb about it.

Posted by: TK