LOS ANGELES – Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa opened the Development Services Case Management Office, bringing together key department staff to simplify the development process and help businesses grow faster in Los Angeles.. The Mayor also announced the formation of the Development Services Cabinet to ensure the General Managers of these key departments cooperate on all levels of development reform for small and large businesses.
“The Development Services Case Management Office is a concrete example of how we’re rethinking and reforming LA’s development process to make development reform work for everyone,” said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. “We are remaking city government to operate more efficiently and effectively to serve the businesses who create jobs and generate revenue for Los Angeles.”
The new office is part of a Citywide strategy to streamline the review process and create jobs by making LA more attractive to developers. Development represents a critical source of employment in Los Angeles: the $3.3 billion in permit valuation approved annually represents 23,500 construction jobs.
The Development Services Case Management Office houses expert staff from the five key departments that oversee development: Planning (DCP), Building and Safety (LADBS), Bureau of Engineering (BOE), Water and Power (DWP) and Transportation (DOT). The office is located at 201 Figueroa Street, 10th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90012.
Every development project will be assigned a single case manager who will help navigate the process every step of the way, including entitlements, permitting, public/offsite improvements, and utility design. Case managers will also resolve any conflicts that arise. The result is a simpler process and better customer service.
Trammel Crow Company has been working with the Development Services Case Management Office for six months to test run the system.
“The case management approach has transformed our experience of working with the City,” said Brad Cox, Senior Managing Director at Trammel Crow Company. ”You go to one place, have one point person, and get answers quickly. We’re moving forward faster thanks to this change.”
The Case Management Office is part of the comprehensive Development Reform Strategic Plan spearheaded by Mayor Villaraigosa’s Office of Economic and Business Policy. Over six months, the Mayor’s Office worked with KH Consulting Group, its subcontractor, Woolpert, and hundreds of business leaders, community members and city staff involved in the development process to streamline and modernize LA’s development reform process.
The planned improvements will be implemented over several years and include the following:
· Update seven community plans, the first of which (Hollywood) will be completed this fall.
· Undertake comprehensive Zoning Code reform, which has not happened since 1946 in Los Angeles.
· Create a Development Services Cabinet under the Office of the Mayor. The Cabinet will be composed of the heads of seven city
departments: Planning (DCP), Bureau of Engineering (BOE), Building and Safety (LADBS), Water and Power (DWP),
Transportation (DOT), Fire (LAFD) and Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and ensure that development services
requiring inter-departmental cooperation are delivered with maximum efficiency.
· Implement innovative, technology-based solutions to common procedures to make application and review less costly and more
transparent.
External stakeholders such as developers, land use attorneys, architects, engineers, community foundations and neighborhood councils helped shape the strategic plan through public meetings and discussion. Business and community perspectives such as PlanCheckNC and the Development Industry Advisory Committee (DIAC) will continue to play an important role throughout the rollout of the strategic plan.
The full Development Reform Strategic Plan, including all planned improvements, will be available the week of July 18, 2011.
For more information, please visit www.losangelesworks.org.