March E-ssentials from T&B Planning

T&B Planning Facilitates Riverside County Streamlining Strike Force Effort

Increasing Efficiency and Reducing Processing Times and Costs in Uncertain Economic Times

In 2007, in response to a projected unprecedented downtown in development activity, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors formed an ad hoc committee known as the Riverside County Streamlining Strike Force. The Board of Supervisors asked the Riverside County Chapter of the Building Industry Association (BIA), the Transportation and Land Management Agency (TLMA), and other affected County departments to make suggestions that would better streamline the County's development review process.

The Strike Force agreed that T&B Planning's knowledge of Riverside County's procedures as seen from both a private applicant's prospective and from a public agency's prospective with a duty to conduct complete and thorough review, made the firm uniquely suited to facilitate the effort to "streamline" processes in Riverside County. Drawing on the firm's 35 years of experience, T&B Planning offered the Strike Force real-world, practical solutions and advice.

Beginning in January of 2008, T&B Planning and the Strike Force worked with County departments to identify more effective operative procedures. The Strike Force also worked with the BIA to educate its members on the requirements of various County departments. On July 1, 2008, the Strike Force released the BIA/Riverside County Streaming Strike Force Report to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors.

T&B Planning assisted in preparing the Action Plan, which highlighted tactics to improve transparency, increase predictability, reduce processing times and costs, and improve customer service. Individual department action plans were also established; for example, the Riverside County Planning Department has instituted a triage process to identify major project issues and assign a project manager within one week of submittal. To assist in this streamlining effort, the BIA is reminding its members of the importance of submitting complete applications with all required information to reduce delays. These commitments on both the public and private side are intended reduce processing costs and increase transparency and predictability.

Spotlight on Barry Burnell, Senior Principal

T&B Planning Senior Principal Barry Burnell worked closely with the Strike Force to prepare an effective and feasible Action Plan. As a result of these efforts, Barry received two awards from the BIA. The Southern California Chapter of the BIA presented Barry with the Individual Achievement Award for Leadership in Government Affairs. Barry was also given the Presidential Award by the Riverside County Chapter for outstanding and dedicated service to the chapter.

Barry joined T&B Planning in 1986 and continues to serve the firm as Senior Principal. He is widely respected in the industry for his wealth of knowledge in governmental affairs and ability to present complex issues to a variety of audiences, including clients, government officials, and the general public.

Is the Srikeforce Effort Working?

In these uncertain economic times, everyone is aware that efficient processing of permit applications is of utmost importance. Saving time means saving money. T&B Planning has seen some improvements in processing procedures at the County, a greater commitment by County staff to be timely and efficient, and efforts being made by private industry to better communicate and work in partnership with County departments. Although streamlining has begun, the efforts to streamline are far from complete. Relying on a person or consulting firm such as T&B Planning that knows the County's system and can work closely with its staff to more quickly move a project through the approval process is always recommended.