SITE PLAN REVIEW SYSTEM

The City of Savannah’s Development Services Office (DSO) had a plan review system that was plagued by poor communication, misinformation, delays, and a lack of customer service by staff.

DSO instituted a streamlined site plan review system centered around an improved single-stop department, computerized systems, and customer service initiatives.

DSO modeled its streamlined system after the City of San Diego’s Process 2000 program (See Model # 98-8). In creating their own process, the following 5 objectives were established:

1. Single point of entry and information. 1. Single point of entry and information.
A potential customer should be able to obtain clear, reliable, and complete information about their project so that submittals are clear, reliable, and complete.

2. Early assistance. Once customers understand the city’s expectations, they are better able to predict feasibility, cost, and schedule for their project. They will therefore submit a better product, and the city will provide a better review.

3. Application quality. 3. Application quality. Plan submittal standards must be accepted by both customers and city departments so that an application completeness check will prevent substandard submittals as well as "boilerplate" reviews.

4. Review and support team. 4. Review and support team. Plan and document submittals should be reviewed in a timely and consistent manner by a multi-disciplinary team which meets twice per week to share individual review comments so as to forge a common point of review.

5. Technological support. 5. Technological support. A project tracking system, available to all users, must provide full project information on the Applicant, Project Scope, Schedules, Reviews and Revisions, Entries and Issues, Document and Fee Checks, as well as Reporting and Performance Standards. The tracking system must extend through the life of the project and all warranty periods.

The DSO serves as the contact or entry point for land owners and developers interested in new or existing site improvements. Publications, guidelines, applications, and forms are standardized for acceptance by the community and by city departments. Project assistance, plan review, and plan acceptance are the responsibility of a multi-disciplinary team composed of engineers and zoning experts that works closely with the customer’s design review team to ensure compliance. Review turnaround times are ten days or less, so time delays are minimized. Clients are kept aware of their projects, especially as to whether city staff or the design professionals are late in their submittals or reviews.

The automation component of the program, Project Flow, consists of a customized, user-friendly Lotus Notes database. The database is shared by all city departments and accessible by clients and their design professionals. Computer workstations throughout the city can access project, customer, design professional, and location information all on the same Notes system used for mailings, calendars, meetings, and filing. Task requests are automatically emailed to reviewers complete with due dates and attached documents, and reviewer comments can be emailed directly to customers. Project Flow is available on the City of Savannah’s website so that owners and design professionals may track their projects from initial contact through occupancy and warranty. Regulations and guidelines are also posted to the website to assist customers to minimize design revision costs.

A detailed savings summary has been provided by the submitting party in Attachment 4. The following cost savings were also reported:

	Money Saved	Time Saved
Government	$600 per project	19 days per project
Industry	$1000 per project (est.)	19 days per project
Consumers	$1000 per project (est.)	19 days per project

As mentioned above, the City of Savannah’s program is modeled after the City of San Diego’s Process 2000 streamlined program. Because the City of Savannah has customized San Diego’s model to fit their smaller jurisdiction at a much smaller cost, the Site Plan Review System is not a complete reproduction of the earlier Process 2000 model. Rather, it is an adaptation of Process 2000 that smaller jurisdictions can consider in selecting a one-stop shop model.

To reflect the relationship between the Site Plan Review System and Process 2000, the Streamlining Committees categorize the City of Savannah’s program as a variation of Process 2000, and designates Process 2000 as the parent model.

This program was adopted by administrative action of the Development Services Office and the City of Savannah following a site visit to observe the City of San Diego’s Process 2000 streamlined program. The submittor reports that buy-ins by the City Council, Planning Commission, and infrastructure departments were crucial to this program’s success as well as the early, complete, and ongoing support of the City Manager. Promotion of the system to the public and hands-on operation of the system by users were also important.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR ASSISTANCE IN CONSIDERING THE USE OF THIS MODEL, PLEASE CONTACT:

John Hutton
Development Services Administrator
Development Services Office
Metropolitan Planning Commission
110 E. State Street, P.O. Box 8246
Savannah, GA 31412
Phone: (912) 651-1455
FAX: (912) 651-1481
Email: jhutton@ci.savannah.ga.us