Expectations for Development Services and Partner Departments

A Memo from the Office of Fort Worth City Manager

David Cooke

February 2020*

*Date not included in the original memo

City Manager’s Office Expectations for Development Services and Partner Departments

 All staff involved in development review and approval (including Law as applicable): o Provide an exceptional customer experience to all customers o View themselves as equal partners to customers and other staff in the development process o Prioritize development review to meet or exceed service and timeframe expectations and share responsibility for team performance o Support streamlining commercial* development review: 1) reduce number of departments and teams involved in day-to-day review, 2) conduct continuous Lean review on additional processes to shorten timeframes and simplify critical path, 3) proactively add and integrate all appropriate functions to Accela for tracking, 4) err on the side of being too flexible rather than too rigid or unreasonable when codes are not explicit, 5) reduce number of repeat reviews by proactively discussing options and solutions with applicants and ensuring customer understanding of holds/revisions, 6) readily provide a user-friendly administrative appeal option, etc. o Are committed to a culture of continuous innovation, problem-solving , and transparency in decisions and processes o Provide chapter and verse of codes causing holds or requiring revisions; apply codes consistently across teams; regularly review local codes for potential amendments based on effective practices o Are committed to stewardship of public resources and have special concern for the longrange consequences of present actions

 Development Services (DS) Director and DS leadership have lead responsibility for proactively facilitating and resolving development issues with support responsibility from partner departments. If there is internal disagreement, DS Director decides non-waiver/interpretation issues and partner departments may appeal decisions to CMO.

 Partner departments retain lead responsibility for content and interpretation of codes as follows: o Health, environ., solid waste codes Code Compliance and Water o Building/construction codes Development Services o CFA Ordinance Development Services o Subdivision Ordinance Development Services o Zoning Ordinance Development Services o Fire codes Fire o Park dedication policy Park and Recreation o Trees/planting in ROW standards Park and Recreation o Floodplain standards TPW o Stormwater design standards TPW o Street/ROW design standards TPW o Water/sewer policies, regulations, Water design standards

 DS staff and managers responsible for applying any of the codes above must be qualified to do so and must comply with legal and ethical standards for their profession. Partner departments participate in hiring and evaluation of and provide code training to DS staff and managers.

 DS staff responsible for applying codes above must consult with their DS manager on any recommended waivers/alternatives/interpretations to the codes. Qualified DS managers have authority to approve minor ones, and pertinent partner departments approve major ones.

* Commercial = Commercial, industrial, mixed-use, infill, and small business