FY18-19 and 19-20 RECOMMENDED OPERATING AND CIP BUDGET - FIN

Development Services

Introduction to Department

The operations of the Development Services Department include activities of the City related to the built environment: Building, Building Inspection, Current and Long Range Planning, Code Compliance, Economic Development and Affordable Housing, as well as related Administrative Support Services. The Assistant City Manager, Development Services Director, Building Manager, Economic Development Director, and Housing Manager comprise the Development Services management team. In FY 16-17, creating an Economic Development Director position and including the Building and Housing Managers as central figures within the management team augmented and strengthened the department, providing a solid platform to deliver the City’s broader goals, policies, and priorities. Proposed reclassification of the Building Manager to Building Official positively reinforces this change. Together, Development Services provides collaborative leadership on such City Council “Strategic Priorities” of Economic Development and Telecommunications and Regional Initiatives, as well as “Ongoing Priorities”; Enhancing Public Safety, Protecting the Environment; and Supporting our Youth, Seniors and Entire Community. Development Services also provides the comprehensive long range planning required to accommodate specific transportation enhancements, economic development attraction, retention, tourism and Placemaking activities to increase jobs and expand the City's tax base, as well as affordable housing preservation and development. The 2016-17 and 2017-18 fiscal years witnessed an increasingly high demand for land development planning, building, and engineering activity as the strong housing development- oriented local economy continued. The residential development market remains vigorous, but the commercial/ industrial market accounted for only 15% of building permit activity. For Morgan Hill, the health in the economy led to the completion of development of many residential projects that in previous years had been awarded allocations through the Residential Development Control System (RDCS). In the FY 16-17 and FY 17-18 timeframes, the surge of activity was mitigated in some cases by contract and part-time services facilitating more than 9,777 building inspections in FY 16-17 and 9,841 building inspections for the first three quarters of FY 17-18. Contract and part-time planning services were used to assist private development activities as well as Economic Development planning initiatives such as the completion of the Telecommunications Master Plan and 2017 MH Economic Blueprint, as well as the completion of the Zoning Code, the Station Area Master Plan (SAMP), Measure “S” RDCS Competition Handbook, and the Mixed Use-Flex Zoning Economic Capacity Assessment. Grants assisted with key work efforts as well, as the Development Services Department collaborated with Community Services, and others throughout the City team to receive $810,000 in parks grants based upon the City’s affordable housing production record and received $350,000 from VTA for the preparation of the Station Area Masterplan (SAMP).

DEVELOPMENT SERVICES 231