Regulatory Process Inefficiencies - Development Projects

Fairfax County’s Department of Environmental Management (DEM)¹ needed a new approach to site plan regulation that would identify and resolve problems early in the process, thereby reducing the time and cost of development projects.

Project Management Approach

Requests from industry and Business Process Redesign initiatives resulted in the formation of a project management approach to site plan review. Now, a Project Manager serves as a coordinator throughout the plan review process.

A Project Manager shepherds multiple projects from project planning through the completion of site improvements (zoning through bond release) in order to produce high quality land development projects rapidly. The Project Manager monitors progress and runs interference for selected site plans; coordinates all of the agencies that must review the selected site plans; motivates others to act in a timely manner; and is a single point of contact for the customer to resolve problems anywhere in the process.

Most project management projects must be submitted under the Designated Plans Examiner (DPE) program² and meet the following criteria:

• Subdivisions with 50 or more lots;
• Commercial development with gross floor area of 400,000 square feet or more;
• Projects for profit organizations; or
• Other projects with special benefit to the County.

The Director of DEM and the Project Managers designate particular projects for this program. Since the project management plans require additional effort on the part of the developer, the developer must also agree to project management status and be prepared to cooperate by responding rapidly to reviewers’ comments. Representatives from the various review agencies meet early in the process to resolve issues up front and to facilitate an integrated review.

Pursuant to the Code of Virginia, Fairfax County established a separate processing procedure for the review of certain land development plans. The purpose is to expedite review of certain qualified preliminary and final subdivision and site plans. Plans are reviewed and recommended for submission by the County’s Designated Plans Examiners (DPEs) and are certified by an appropriately licensed professional engineer, architect, certified landscape architect, or land surveyor. DPEs have prescribed education and experience credentials in addition to successfully completing a formal, comprehensive, and detailed study of County ordinances and regulations relating to plans and how they are applied. DPEs are also required annually to complete certain continuing education courses. For more information on the DPE program, consult Model # 98-11, Expedited Plan Processing (an executive summary is enclosed).

At conception, most plans must go through a zoning process. The Office of Comprehensive Planning (OCP) is primarily responsible for the processing of development plans/plats associated with rezoning, special exceptions, and variances. During this stage, potential project management plans are identified. Project Managers then review development plans for:

• Minimum code compliance;
• Whether proposed clearing restrictions interfere with the proper installation of the engineering elements on the plan and erosion and sediment controls;
• Whether the engineering items shown conform to the general maintenance policies of the County and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT);
• Whether there are Resource Protection Areas (RPA);
• Potential outfall adequacy problems;
• Potential landscaping and utility conflicts; and
• Whether proffers/conditions are clear, relevant, and do not conflict with code requirements.

The Project Manager then assures that problems/concerns are coordinated with the OCP before any action is taken on the respective case.

The next step is to have the plans reviewed. Upon submission of a site or subdivision plan certified by a DPE, the Engineers and Surveyors Institute (ESI), which conducts pre-acceptance peer review, invites the Project Manager to participate in the evaluation. If the plan meets the criteria for the project management program, the plan is accepted into the program.

The plan is then entered into a database tracking program especially developed for project management plans. Critical dates for various events in the review process are entered. Reviewing agencies are alerted to the new project management plan’s existence, the name of the Project Manager, and the critical dates to be met. These are delivered by fax, email, hand delivery, etc., as may be appropriate. Similar notifications are also sent to the submitting engineer/project coordinator, and arrangements are made for necessary coordination meetings.

The Project Manager then reviews the plan for the need for waivers or modifications, areas of possible conflict in reviews between agencies, and critical areas for concern. Project Managers collect the review comments by the various agencies and determine the need for a team meeting to resolve any conflicts or concerns.

A post-submission conference (PSC) is held with the applicants to summarize the team member’s actions and recommendations, and to clarify any questions regarding the County’s position. The applicant is encouraged to have a pre-submission conference before the resubmission of the plan.

After the plan has been sent to bond, the project manager assists in facilitating the approval of all the conditions necessary for final plan approval. When the plan is finally approved, the Project Manager performs a "Lessons Learned" analysis and completes a report on the findings. The Project Manager also coordinates the review and approval of all revisions, preliminary updates, waivers, grading plans, and plats that might be required during the construction phase.

A bulleted list of especially beneficial program elements appears on pp. 3-4 of the submitting party’s report.

The establishment of a Project Management Approach and Designated Plan Examiner Program has resulted in earlier identification and resolution of issues in the development process, and has emphasized a solution oriented approach to problem solving. Moreover, while it is difficult to isolate the effect of individual initiatives recently implemented simultaneously in the site plan review arena, taken together, the results of the last several years are impressive. For example, for those plans that the developer opted to expedite through the review process by submitting as a DPE plan, the average time from submission to plan approval was 170 days. For those plans that did not use any plan review initiatives, the average time was 330 days, or almost twice as long. This may translate into almost $10 million of savings in interest costs paid by developers to finance projects during development.

• Single point of contact;
• Provides applicant with someone that will act as advocate through other agencies in the plan review process.

• Difficult to coordinate;
• Could increase costs and become burdensome for staff.

The Streamlining Committees designated this program as a streamlined tool with the following comments:

• This program should be paired with Model # 98-11, Expedited Plan Processing, as the two models work in conjunction with one another in Fairfax County;
• This program is also similar to the approach used in Model # 98-8, Process 2000.

This program was implemented by administrative action of Fairfax County government. Five Project Managers are employed at an average salary of $59,800, resulting in a total cost of $299,000 per year.

Carolyn Fitch
National Conference of States on Building Codes and Standards
505 Huntmar Park Drive, Suite 210
Herndon, VA 20170
Phone: (703) 437-0100
FAX: (703) 481-3596
Email: cfitch@ncsbcs.org