Development Services Review. Final Report. Zucker July 2016

The following are important perspectives we received during our interviews with the Mayor and City Council members. There was not unanimous opinion on all topics.

Building Division Some Members expressed concern that Building Inspection services are too slow (e.g., sometimes a week before a customer can receive an inspection). In addition, at least one case, occupancy of the first phase of one market rate development was allowed before the developer had completed improvement to provide for internet, telephone and mail service.

Customer Service Customer service was generally reported as being good, however, some staff don’t return phone calls or emails in a timely manner.

Development Review Process

A general concern about the development community’s perception that the Development Review Process is too slow, inefficient and ineffective and the Community Development Department needs to take a more proactive oversight role in the Process. Some Members felt that it seemed as though some of the new staff did not fully understand the City’s procedures and that the developers are being asked to produce too much detail in the early stages of project conception. Developer resources should be put into projects and facilities rather than in producing costly, detailed plans at the conceptual stage in the process. General Plan The City is concurrently updating its General Plan, RDCS and Zoning Code, Development and Infrastructure Master Plans for water, sewer, storm drain and telecommunications, which is collectively called the Morgan Hill 2035 Project. Council does not anticipate any major philosophical shifts in the General Plan and RDCS updates. Planning Commission Council members indicated that the City relies heavily on the Planning Commission (PC) as considerable responsibility has been delegated to the PC. Council members generally expressed that the PC is doing their job, however, some members believed that the Planning Commission should be strengthened to improve their effectiveness (e.g., agenda management, concise decision-making, professionalism.). In addition, some members had received occasional feedback that the PC has been confrontational with members of the development community and planning staff during public hearing proceedings, which was not acceptable. Although the PC sometimes has

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