Booming economy lowers boom on planners

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- The question Susan McCourt, the city’s senior permit

technician, keeps hearing when people call or come to the counter to

check the status of their building permits remains pretty much the same:

“Why is it taking so long?”

Councilwoman Norma Glover has received similar calls and finally

received an answer at a recent City Council study session.

Construction “activity has nearly tripled,” said Jay Elbettar, Newport

Beach’s Building Department director. “We’re working overtime every day

to try and accommodate customers. But sometimes we can’t go the distance

that [customers] were used to. It’s really a tough situation.”

Elbettar and other city officials said a booming economy has led to

the increase in building activity. In 1992, the value of new construction

came to $72 million, but the city processed projects worth $221 million

in 1999.

It remains unclear if the passage of the slow-growth Greenlight

Initiative will affect building activity in the city. But in March, the

likely annexations of Newport Coast, Santa Ana Heights and Bay Knolls

will add another 15% to Newport Beach’s existing building stock, city

officials said.

Although the county will supervise new construction in Newport Coast,

the city will begin to review maintenance and improvement projects soon

after annexation.

Combine that with staff layoffs as a result of the recession in the

mid-1990s, and it becomes clear why city officials have started to look

for solutions to the delays.

“Recently, [the processing of permits] has gone as long as seven

weeks,” said City Manager Homer Bludau, adding that it should take just

three to four weeks. “This isn’t adequate service. Customers deserve

better.”

While city officials have already made changes, such as allowing

residents to submit applications over the Internet, and have quickly

filled vacant positions, council members are expected to decide Tuesday

whether to add an extra assistant planner to the staff to cut down

waiting times.

Planning Department Director Patricia Temple has requested a change to

this year’s budget that would free up $37,370 for the position, as well

as office equipment. The council also will consider increasing fees to

cover the entire cost of checking proposed construction. The fees now

cover half the cost. The increase is expected to bring in about another

$34,000 for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends June 30.

“We have to say and admit, ‘The Planning Department has been lagging

behind,”’ Temple said at the Oct. 24 study session. “It shouldn’t be

acceptable to customers. We don’t consider it satisfactory ourselves.”

The surging economy has also prompted people to build the biggest

houses they can on a lot, Temple added.

Because residents want to make the most of their allowed floor space,

checking their plans has become more complicated, Temple said.

“In the past, projects were compliant [with zoning codes] without much

work,” she said. “Now there are not many projects like that.”

Waiting with eight other costumers for his turn to approach the

counter Thursday afternoon, Scot McAuley said he’d rather wait than end

up with a faulty home.

“The building on the bay is a good example that if they don’t do their

job right, there are potential consequences,” he said, referring to a

parking structure near Lido Village that collapsed Nov. 6. McAuley added

that he is living in an apartment while waiting for permits to remodel

his 1949 Cliff Haven home.

Beth Swift, who works for a company that builds boat docks, said the

staff members checking her applications were always “cheerful and

helpful.”

“It just seems like they are a bit short-handed,” she said, adding

that she hoped to get approval for a dock project on Via Lido Soud while

she waited.

Swift said occasionally she had spent two hours waiting for her turn,

adding that most applications for new docks had taken six weeks to get

approved.

Even her willingness to pay extra for a speedier service under the

city’s expedited review option hadn’t helped much, she said.

“They’re limiting the amount of requests they accept,” she said.

City officials said they did so because there wasn’t enough overtime

workers who could chip in to take on more requests.

FYI

The Newport Beach Building Department Web site can be found at

https://www.city.newport-beach.ca.us. Click on “On-line Permit Tracking.”