In business, an economic downturn is no time to sit on your hands and hope that things get better. It's a time to streamline your system and develop initiatives that improve your relationships with your customers.
That approach is no less true for the city, which has instituted two high-level teams dedicated to improving the development review process, attracting new businesses, and retaining and expanding existing businesses. One group, the Development Review Team, has been very active in guiding projects through the city's process since May of 2008, and the other, the Business Assistance Team, has been meeting on an informal basis and will become a fixture beginning in 2011.
The purpose of the groups is to keep businesses in the city and help them expand here, and to attract new businesses interested in Carlsbad. The goal is to help improve the city's economy and improve the city's permit processes. One thing we've heard from members of the development community is they need timeliness and certainty as they're working their way through the application process. What they hate most is surprises and delays.
The Development Review Team consists of managers and high-level staff directly responsible for the permit process who meet monthly to monitor major projects and make sure they're progressing in a timely manner. This partially stems from a 2006 review of city processes that recommended streamlining development review. At that time the different staff members involved in development review were spread among different departments, planning, building and engineering, so it was not uncommon to have different managers make conflicting comments and give developers and business owners mixed signals.
During a recent realignment of city departments, most of the staff involved in the development review process were consolidated under a single department: Community & Economic Development. With the development functions combined under one umbrella, the city delivers a more unified message to developers, so they don't get bounced from counter to counter trying to reconcile differences.
The Development Review Team takes that concept to a higher level by watching over large and important projects and assuring consistent communication. The team meets monthly to address questions that arise during the review process, to solve issues early and eliminate doubt and confusion.
The benefit is that projects move ahead at a faster clip.
A project that benefited from the Development Review Team was Isis Pharmaceuticals, which broke ground on its new corporate headquarters and research and development complex in the Carlsbad Oaks North Business Park, about nine months after its initial contact with the city. That's an impressive timeframe for a state-of-the art two-story building that will add 172,000 square feet of corporate office and R&D space.
The approvals for the Palomar Commons project, at El Camino Real and Palomar Airport Road, were also processed in approximately nine months. Located on 16.65 acres at the site of the former Olympic Resort and Spa, that project will include a 153,974-square-foot Lowe's home improvement store, gas station, car wash, bank and four retail shop buildings totaling 31,270 square feet.
While the Development Review Team is focused on the city's internal process, the Business Assistance Team looks outward in an effort to lure new businesses to Carlsbad and help retain and expand existing businesses.
The team has been meeting informally in 2010 and will take final shape in 2011. Made up of high-level managers, its job will be to meet with all new and expanding business prospects and identify ways to assist them through the permitting process. The idea is to let new and expanding businesses know we're interested, help them understand how Carlsbad works and what they can expect.
One advantage Carlsbad has over other cities is our economic stability. While other cities have cut staff to balance their budgets, we have maintained ours. So when a business like Anchor Audio, which moved here in 2010, inquires about relocating, we can say without flinching, “We have the staff to guide you through the process. We're here to help you.”
That approach is no less true for the city, which has instituted two high-level teams dedicated to improving the development review process, attracting new businesses, and retaining and expanding existing businesses. One group, the Development Review Team, has been very active in guiding projects through the city's process since May of 2008, and the other, the Business Assistance Team, has been meeting on an informal basis and will become a fixture beginning in 2011.
The purpose of the groups is to keep businesses in the city and help them expand here, and to attract new businesses interested in Carlsbad. The goal is to help improve the city's economy and improve the city's permit processes. One thing we've heard from members of the development community is they need timeliness and certainty as they're working their way through the application process. What they hate most is surprises and delays.
The Development Review Team consists of managers and high-level staff directly responsible for the permit process who meet monthly to monitor major projects and make sure they're progressing in a timely manner. This partially stems from a 2006 review of city processes that recommended streamlining development review. At that time the different staff members involved in development review were spread among different departments, planning, building and engineering, so it was not uncommon to have different managers make conflicting comments and give developers and business owners mixed signals.
During a recent realignment of city departments, most of the staff involved in the development review process were consolidated under a single department: Community & Economic Development. With the development functions combined under one umbrella, the city delivers a more unified message to developers, so they don't get bounced from counter to counter trying to reconcile differences.
The Development Review Team takes that concept to a higher level by watching over large and important projects and assuring consistent communication. The team meets monthly to address questions that arise during the review process, to solve issues early and eliminate doubt and confusion.
The benefit is that projects move ahead at a faster clip.
A project that benefited from the Development Review Team was Isis Pharmaceuticals, which broke ground on its new corporate headquarters and research and development complex in the Carlsbad Oaks North Business Park, about nine months after its initial contact with the city. That's an impressive timeframe for a state-of-the art two-story building that will add 172,000 square feet of corporate office and R&D space.
The approvals for the Palomar Commons project, at El Camino Real and Palomar Airport Road, were also processed in approximately nine months. Located on 16.65 acres at the site of the former Olympic Resort and Spa, that project will include a 153,974-square-foot Lowe's home improvement store, gas station, car wash, bank and four retail shop buildings totaling 31,270 square feet.
While the Development Review Team is focused on the city's internal process, the Business Assistance Team looks outward in an effort to lure new businesses to Carlsbad and help retain and expand existing businesses.
The team has been meeting informally in 2010 and will take final shape in 2011. Made up of high-level managers, its job will be to meet with all new and expanding business prospects and identify ways to assist them through the permitting process. The idea is to let new and expanding businesses know we're interested, help them understand how Carlsbad works and what they can expect.
One advantage Carlsbad has over other cities is our economic stability. While other cities have cut staff to balance their budgets, we have maintained ours. So when a business like Anchor Audio, which moved here in 2010, inquires about relocating, we can say without flinching, “We have the staff to guide you through the process. We're here to help you.”