2011 APA Conference

Positioning Big City Planning Departments

Barbara Sporlein, Planning DirectorCity of Minneapolis

April 10, 2011

Why Are We Here?People will only pay for what they value

Political – is leadership aligned behind an objective Economic – is business included and aligned Environmental – this is about ecological and social justice Cultural -- is it inclusive of other cultures, belief systems, and

cultural resources Social -- Is the public involved in the process, does the idea

resonate in the community, is there community support

Planning work must be aligned, visible and valued by stakeholders

This is ongoing work – budget time if only time is too late and insufficient

City Goals:

Safe Place to Call HomeEconomic VitalityMany People, One MinneapolisLivable Communities - Healthy LivesEco-FocusedA City That Works

The mission of the Department of Community Planning and Economic Development is to grow a sustainable city.

We work to preserve and enhance our city - its neighborhoods and natural resources - as well as grow the city’s population, housing units, jobs and tax base.

Take Stock, Get Engaged• Develop Performance Management

System – planning, monitoring and recognizing the work

• Know your budget and revenue sources

• Develop relationships

• Build your organizational and staff capacity

• Tell the story – over and over again - communications

• All staff engaged in this work

2011 Planning Budget

$ 3.00 m General Fund$ 1.05 m CDBG$ .33 m Capital (public art)$ 4.38 m*

39 FTEs

*does not include grants

2011 Planning Revenue (est.)

Prorated Share of Dev. Fees 606,000

Land Use Applications 385,000

Sign permits 105,000

Preservation fees 34,000

Inspection fees 15,000

Misc. 5,000

$1,150,000**does not include fines, grants

Revenue Notes• Inventory all business lines

• Determine what you can charge a fee (and assess fine) for

• Determine appropriate fee – state law, fee revisit schedule, work performed, industry comparison, impacts on customers

• Conduct forensic analysis of overheard rate models – make your case

Looking under the revenue rock…

What other work do we perform for which others collect fees ?

Recent Revenue Development• 2005 landmark year – secured the prorated

share of development fees (with auto inflator)• Established fees for heritage preservation

applications• Established new land use application fees• Established fees for admin services• Received full credit for sign permit fees• Established property assessments for

uncollected enforcement fines/fees• Increased certain existing fees

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/results/index.asp

ALIGNMENT – Planning the work

• City Goals

• Comp Plan Policies, Adopted Plans

• Annual Department Business Plan

• Planning Division Work Plan

• Planning Section Work Plans

• Individual Contributors

Mandatory Planning Services• Review building and demolition permits, business license

applications for zoning compliance• Process land use applications and staff CPC and BOA under

60 day law• Process heritage preservation applications and staff HPC• Maintain Comprehensive Plan – required updates; policy

reviews for land sales/acquisition, bond sales (including location and design review), (re)development plans, financial assistance

• Administer Zoning Code – issue determinations, mandatory code revisions, reasonable accommodation requests, staff Administrative Law Judge processes

• Administer land subdivision regulations• Complete environmental reviews• Respond to data practices, FOIA and lawsuit data requests• Administer Shoreland/Floodplain/FEMA/Critical Area

regulations• Implement Airport lawsuit consent decree

Enhanced (discretionary)Planning Services

Development Support

• Provide development support for historic assets (grants, technical assistance) – scale back to focus on catalytic or TOD projects

• Provide development consultation (assist developers and property owners with planning due diligence, site plan development, review processes, stakeholder engagement) – scale back to focus on catalytic or TOD projects

• Participate in the build out of the regional transportation system – alignment, station location, place making and public realm improvements, design, public art, station area planning, pre-development work - focus on key decision making processes, scale back on other work

• Staff capital improvement process – local charter may have to be amended) – scale back to focus on development-related infrastructure

• Issue zoning letters – pause or increase response times• Issue heritage preservation letters – pause or increase response times

Enhanced (discretionary)Planning Services

Policy Refinement• Develop new small area or topical plans; update

of existing plans; assisting others (neighborhood groups, other public entities) with plan development – complete existing policy plan work and then pause until the required update of the Comprehensive Plan expected to begin in 2013

• Complete historic/heritage context studies – pause

Enhanced (discretionary)Planning Services

Development Review, Regulatory Refinement

• Enforce the Zoning Code – focus on higher priority complaints, then approved site plan compliance and scale back or pause on special projects or sweeps

• Complete rezoning studies – complete existing studies underway and then scale back – rezoning work can be completed on individual parcel basis by the property owner or developer

• Update the Zoning Code (text amendments) – scale back to focus on those that streamline the development review process or are key to assist development

• Minneapolis Development Review – staff both the zoning and preservation/design counters (may need to scale back coverage); Preliminary Development Review, Business Advisory Committee, process improvement work

• Update design guidelines for historic district – complete Saint Anthony Falls district update and then pause

Enhanced (discretionary)Planning Services

Misc. Implementation Services

• Public Art Program Administration – pause, eliminate• 3-1-1 service requests – service response times may be increased;

the update of scripts and agent training will be scaled back or paused

• Participate in non-lawsuit various airport-related issues – scale back• Complete designation studies – scale back to focus on catalytic,

TOD or key resources at risk of demolition – all those authorized to make nominations (Council, property owner, HPC and Planning Director) will be notified of impact

• Conduct survey of historic resources – the 10-year comprehensive survey of the entire city will be completed in 2011 – staff will pause on the next phase of using that information for designations and other proactive preservation work and focus on preservation applications and demolition permit reviews

2011 Planning Focus

• Transit improvements, transit oriented development and other catalytic development projects

• Regulatory refinements – streamlining the development review process for staff and applicants

• Development consultation - focus on catalytic and TOD projects

• Analyze new census data – prepare new projections – new Regional Development Framework, Policy Plans and System Statements leading to the mandatory update of the City’s Comprehensive Plan

Benefits/Uses• Able to tell the story to multiple audiences• Educate and hold decision makers accountable• Better able to plan the work – here is what we do

– now how are we going to do it• Needed to advance to monitoring and

recognition of work performance• Identify redundancy, gaps, assess value-

addedness of each business line• Cross training and professional development• Useful for “ramping up” and “ramping down”

commensurate with resources, priorities and conditions

Alignment – Monitoring the work

• Results Minneapolis

• Quarterly Department Progress Reports

• Minneapolis Development Review Performance Measures

• Planning Division Measures

• Planning Section Measures

• Individual Contributor Measures

Alignment – Recognizing the Work, Communications

• Published performance reports• Formal recognition programs• Informal recognition programs• Web presence• Media relations• Telling the story to stakeholders – partner

presentations• Other communications

Minneapolis 2009 APA Conference

April 25-29, 2009