What Happened?
Cincinnati is reforming its development approval process to accelerate construction projects in key downtown regions.
Goal
Cincinnati officials want the permitting process to be simplified significantly so as to nurture new development projects that lay the foundation for short- and long-term economic growth. The Cincinnati City Council has passed ordinances and reorganized processes to make the development approval protocol faster and more efficient, which in turn will eliminate many obstacles that may deter economically beneficial projects from taking off, GovExec reported.
Cincinnati saw the need for reform as criticism arose in the midst of a construction boom arguing growth could be furthered strengthened and sustained with a more streamlined process for approval and oversight of developments. Criticism included:
- Too many processes that must be completed sequentially instead of concurrently – zoning, planning, permitting, financing
- Lack of resources and manpower creating a bottleneck effect preventing the city from keeping pace with developer projects and timelines
- Late stage obstacles that shut down developments after thousands have been spent on the projects
- Lack of consistency in permitting decisions
In response to the criticism, the city studied the organization of its permitting bureaucracy and developed strategies to improve five of its 18 main departments. The plan called for 130 city employees to move between five departments, each of which will adjust its chains of command. The Planning and Building Department will see an increase in staff and eventually divide into two separate departments to better handle increased demands, GovExec reported.
Furthermore, a review team is evaluating the various processes involving front-line inspectors and plan examiners to reduce waste and streamline protocol. The city is also adopting new software to facilitate online permitting, electronic recording and other functions to speed up projects.
The reformed permitting process is designed to encourage more developments in the future by eliminating barriers. In 2014 alone, the city reported $770 million invested in real estate development which created 5,000 new permanent jobs for local residents. Furthermore, Cincinnati is interested in attracted more young professionals to the downtown region, and wants to catalyze more walker-friendly residential and transit developments, GovExec reported.
Fiscal Implications of Development Patterns
Smart Growth America is developing a fiscal impact methodology that determines all public costs associated with new developments using Madison, Wisconsin, as a case study. Smart Growth America is testing five development scenarios for the Pioneer District in Madison that call for varying degrees of density development. The higher density scenarios result in unique mixes of development than a base scenario with respect to commercial and residential projects. This can significantly alter revenues and costs associated with the developments.
According to the study, as the density of development increases, the net financial impact per acre also rose. A more compact scenario would reduce estimated costs for Madison by 12 percent over a low density scenario. The net fiscal impact under the compact scenario is also 23 percent higher than the impact under the base scenario, and 53 percent higher than the low density scenario.
The researchers concluded that cities must be wary of high opportunity costs associated with sprawl, and focus on the net fiscal impact per acre metric when deciding how dense a development should be. Several metrics must be considered to determine the fiscal impact of different development scenarios such as tax revenues on vacant properties and the value of saved acreage for future growth and development.
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