TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council FROM: Scot - PDF document

AGENDA REPORT Meeting Date: June 2, 2009 Agenda Item # ______ City Manager Approval: TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council FROM: Scot Timboe Planning Director SUBJECT: PLANNING DEPARTMENT BRIEFING RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION: That the City Council receives the presentation of the Planning Department. A. Department Mission: To promote a positive community image through open and honest communication with other departments, agencies and the public, while effectively and efficiently guiding community policies and procedures for healthy sustainable growth, along with the goal of providing a high quality of life as Red Bluff is a great place to live (play), we (I) am committed to long range planning, effective management of resources and openness toward innovative ideas.

The Planning Department accomplish this task by working as a member of a team with other City Departments to facilitating and guide the activities and operations of the Cities future orderly build out through growth Management, Research & Analyses, Building Permits, GIS Systems, Public Services/outreach, Technical Assistance, Development Applications, City policies, and procedures. Specifically the Planning Department coordinates various activities with other City departments and outside agencies and provides professional advice to the City Council, Planning Commission and other groups and individuals often through the Technical Advisory Committee of whom the Planning Department is the lead position. B. STAFFING: (1) C. ISSUES FACING THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT: 1. Code Enforcement has become responsive where as it was approached prior to becoming an issue. 2. Personnel work load

3. Land Use Element, Greenways Element, Safety Element, Noise Element, Circulation Element update after Draft preparation. While these Elements could use some tweaking here and there, they are not mandatory to update. With the Economy, Significant loss of funds, the Planning Department believes it would be difficult to justify the hundreds of thousands of dollars to prepare special studies and an EIR process. At this point and time, the Planning Department is focusing on updating the required Housing Element for approximately $40,000. The Draft Housing Element will be out this month. D. DISCUSSION: Please see the Power Point Presentation.

CITY OF RED BLUFF A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE The Planning Departm ent guides the activities and operations of � the City’s future orderly build out through grow th Managem ent, y y g g g Research & Analyses, Building Perm its, GI S System s, Public Services/ outreach, Technical Assistance, Developm ent Applications, City policies, and procedures. The Planning Departm ent coordinates various activities w ith other The Planning Departm ent coordinates various activities w ith other � � City departm ents and outside agencies and provides professional advice to the City Council, Planning Com m ission and other groups and individuals often through the Technical Advisory Com m ittee of w hom the Planning Departm ent is the lead position. Exciting things continue to happen in the City of Red Bluff. The City � is continuously grow ing although, som etim es the grow th rate is faster w hile other tim es it is slow er, but the city is alw ays grow ing. Manages and participate in the developm ent and adm inistration of � the Planning Departm ent budget; I n the current econom ic clim ate, the Planning Departm ent w ho is a m em ber of a larger organization and a specialized team has had to let the City Planner go recently. W ith this in m ind the Planning Departm ent is estim ating end of the W ith this in m ind, the Planning Departm ent is estim ating end of the 2 0 0 8 / 2 0 0 9 budget year expenditure not to exceed approxim ately $ 1 7 0 ,0 0 0 and foresees a further reduction of expenditure for the 2 0 0 9 / 2 0 1 0 Budget year due to an annual realized personnel cost reduction.

PLANNING DEPARTMENT MISSION STATEMENT To prom ote a positive com m unity im age through open and To prom ote a positive com m unity im age through open and honest com m unication w ith other departm ents, agencies and the public, w hile effectively and efficiently guiding com m unity policies and procedures for healthy sustainable grow th, along w ith the goal of providing a high quality of life as Red Bluff is a great place to live ( play) w e ( I ) am life as Red Bluff is a great place to live ( play) , w e ( I ) am com m itted to long range planning, effective m anagem ent of resources and openness tow ard innovative ideas.

PLANNING DEPARTMENT Planning Director Growth Management Research & Analysis BuildingPermits GIS Systems Public Services Technical Assistance

Growth Management � Assists in the developm ent and im plem entation of: grow th p p g m anagem ent, land use, developm ent, utility, housing, transportation facilities, solid w aste or other plans and codes to m eet the City's needs and any inter- governm ental agreem ents or requirem ents. g g q � Evaluates and Monitors land use and developm ent proposals for conform ity w ith established plans and ordinances; evaluates proposals, developm ent im pacts as they relate to the adopted plans of the City and m akes recom m endations.

RESEARCH & ANALYSIS RESEARCH & ANALYSIS Prepares and oversees a variety of studies, and reports p y , p � related to the general plan, disaster response, dem ographics, annexations, environm ental assessm ents, transportation and other subjects; coordinates the publication of statistics and inform ation for other agencies Analyze problem s, identify alternative solutions, project � consequences of proposed actions and im plem ent recom m endations in support of Com m unity goals, objective, policies and other City Standards as they apply

BUILDING PERMITS The Building Departm ent as a key m em ber of our City � o gani ation team ecei es and adm iniste s B ilding pe m its organization team receives and adm inisters Building perm its, Grading perm its, Electrical perm its, Plum bing perm its, and Mechanical Perm its. W hile Planning, Public W orks, and the Fire Departm ents concurrently review and approve, conditionally, approve or reject through their ow n Plan Check, process Building and Grading Perm its for the m ost part som e exception Building and Grading Perm its for the m ost part, som e exception w ith Fire m ay include com m ercial plum bing and electrical perm its. W ith this in m ind, the Planning Departm ent is currently W ith this in m ind, the Planning Departm ent is currently � � review ing about 5 0 to 6 0 percent of all Perm its issued by the Building Departm ent and m any of them are for rem odels, tenant im provem ents and or garage conversions. These perm its typically start w ith phone calls to Building and These perm its typically start w ith phone calls to Building and � � Planning and result in perm it approvals, conditional approvals and ultim ately trips to the field for review and finaling by the Planning Departm ent as w ell as other approving Departm ents.

GIS SYSTEMS The City of Red Bluff Planning Departm ent w as w orking w ith The City of Red Bluff Planning Departm ent w as w orking w ith � � scissors and glue to create m aps, and Diagram s for research that provides required data for State and Federal agencies as w ell public and interagency or other departm ent inquires future assessm ents. As of the m iddle of 2 0 0 7 the Planning Departm ent has received parcel inform ation and a base Departm ent has received parcel inform ation and a base im age or color picture of the City of Red Bluff along w ith 1 ft. Contour lines. Planning Staff has w orked w ith Public W orks and Fire to integrate and provide Sew er, w ater, fire hydrants, streets and traffic inform ation, along w ith new FEMA Flood Hazard inform ation that creates a com plete FEMA Flood Hazard inform ation that creates a com plete system w hich is utilized for its presentation and analyses purposes. GI S gives the City the able to utilize the Visual g � representation of land Use I nform ation for data archiving, i f l d f i f d hi i and reports ( State Federal, Local; Staff Reports) Staff routinely updates another data base as required by � state law w hich is used for addressing and property state law w hich is used for addressing and property ow nership.