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Morgan Hill, California
35
Zucker Systems
IV.
BUILDING DIVISION
A.
P
ROFILE
Overview
The Building Division is a portion of the Community Development Department
(CDD) and temporarily reports directly to the Assistant City Manager for Community
Development in order to provide additional leadership during a time of high project
volume. The Building Division serves the City of Morgan Hill by providing permit;
plan review and inspections service through the enforcement of local and State
Mandated Codes. All jurisdictions in California must enforce the minimum
construction standards adopted by the State but have the option of adopting additional
local amendments that are at least as restrictive as the State Codes. Additionally, the
Building Division is also responsible for investigating and resolving code
enforcement related violations of the various City adopted Codes.
Like most jurisdictions in the country, the City of Morgan Hill experienced
tremendous change since the collapse of the residential construction market after
2008. Though the City had established a program intended to pace the rate of
residential development to no more than 250 units per year, actual development
during the recovery period was substantially less than the anticipated 250 units per
year. In response to this significant reduction in permit activity the City was forced to
undertake the painful process of eliminating jobs. The most significant impact on the
building division was the loss of the Plans Examiner position. At this time the duties
of the former Plans Examiner are being performed by the Building Official and the
Supervising Building Inspector.
During the years when construction activity was substantially below the anticipated
level of 250 units per year, the developers of those previously approved projects
successfully obtained extensions of their projects and additional new projects
continued to be allocated. As the overall economy improved and construction activity
increased the City was faced with the challenge of not only providing services to
support the anticipated 250 residential units per year but also the backlog of units
previously approved. Staff reports that their permit volume has increased dramatically
to approximately 1,400 residential units per year and commercial/industrial activity
has also increased to represent approximately 20% of total permit activity. This
increase in demand for services has resulted in the City’s inability to provide plan
review and inspection services at the level consistent with best practices. For example,
the national standard is to provide next-day building inspections; Morgan Hill has had
periods during their heavy construction months when inspections have been delayed
by as much as two weeks. Similar delays have been experienced in plan review