One aspect of the planning process that often takes a back seat is the time and effort it takes to coordinate your school project with the City that has jurisdiction in your district. It can often be a long process to work the plans through the many layers of the city government that is tasked with checking and reviewing compliance with the building code and city ordinances that are in place.
Unfortunately, when an architect completes the drawings and sends them over to the city for review, they can sit there for months while each city department goes through their review of the documents. You, as the owner, keep looking to see why the ground has not been broken and construction work has not started. What can be done to expidite this process?
Sometimes not much can be done, the City is going to go through their process and you must simply wait. There are a few things that you can do to be proactive however. The first is to establish a good working relationship with the city staff members in the building and inspection department. Knowing who to call when you have an issue is very important, and knowing who that persons immediate supervisor is, can also be of value. Second, start the process of review early on in the planning stage. As soon as you have a schematic floor plan and site plan ready, take it to the city and review it with them. Let the city know what is going on and what your schedule is so that they can coordinate it with their review schedule. Third, realize that the city is viewing you as a developer and that you will most likely have to pay for utility and roadway upgrades around your site. Also there will be impact fees, permit fees, etc that you will be responsible for. It can be helpful if you can establish some interlocal agreements regarding fees before hand so that all are aware of the cost implications to your project.
The city may also require you to have an environmental impact study, a traffic study, or special drainage studies done. Knowing what will be required before you start the planning process will go a long way to making the road smoother in the approval process.
It is interesting that, even though the school district is required by law to provide for the interests of students and parents living in the community, it can still find itself at odds with others apparently charged with the same assignment. One would think that two groups working toward the same end could work collaboratively to make the work of the other as easy as possible. Isn't theory great?
ReplyDeleteThis shows that not always a goal can be attained by joining groups. Also, it highlights how same role assignments have different ends.
ReplyDeleteAs an individual who has a degree in city management, I think this article is interesting. There are definitely communication gaps and while in theory the two would work together, it is surprising that they do not.
ReplyDeleteAs an architect and planner who has been in practice over two decades, I have to mention that not many architects or planners develop any projects without the collaboration of the City Governments any more. Most jurisdictions have processes in place where the planning and design teams for owners start communications and dialogues with many layers of the City's review and approval officials early in the projects. While city officials prefer to engage in the development of design and documentation as early as possible, the design team also benefits, since their engagement reduces inefficiencies of extraneous revisions and undesirable resubmittals.
ReplyDeleteTToros-KSU
I am in agreement with the article about needing to have a good working relationship with the city. I was in a small district last year and the district did major rennovaitons to the elementray and junior high and working with the city was a smooth running machine. We worked together to absorbe certain costs associated with the rennovations. On the other hand I can see in a large city where it could take a long time to get certain things cleared and approved.
ReplyDeleteAs an elected councilwoman in my city, whom is also an administrator for the ISD, I can see where this can be an issue. We have tried very hard to work closely together on mutually beneficial activities. My town is so small, we have an understanding that the community does not survive without the school, and the school does not survive without the community. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLindsay Morgan, TSU