Mayor sees progress in effort to cut red tape
Mayor Naheed Nenshi says the city has made strides in addressing concerns of Calgary builders — and there’s more to come in 2012.
Nenshi will be speaking to the Canadian Home Builders Association - Calgary Region at its economic forecast and dinner meeting next Wednesday.
Red tape and challenges in the approval process are obstacles Nenshi says were brought to his attention by Calgary builders at the 2011 meeting.
“This year has much been about making changes that have a real impact,” he says.
Phase 1 of the city’s Cut Red Tape initiative, a program rolled out to tackle stumbling blocks faced by Calgarians in dealing with City Hall, is one program Nenshi points to as having made a positive impact.
As part of the program, permits for trades can now be issued through an electronic system. The first week this option was offered, 97 per cent of applications were taken online.
“This means that people didn’t need to go to city hall anymore and stand in line on the third floor,” Nenshi says. “It makes a huge difference.” Another example of the city’s efforts in accelerating the process was the introduction of guidelines for contextual semi-detached developments, Nenshi says.
This allows builders to move toward a building permit, if within the guidelines, rather than the lengthier development permit process.
As a result, those looking to build semi-detached homes have seen the approval process drop from a 100-day average to about 20 days, Nenshi says.
But the development permit process continues to be a point of frustration for some industry members.
“Things are much worse than they were a year ago in terms of the development permit process,” says Mike Borkristl, president of Tricor Designs Ltd.
The bulk of the design firm’s work is done in inner city and infill homes, all of which require development permits.
“There are way too many people involved in the process and not enough of them have the authority or the knowledge to process them.
“Simple revisions turn into nightmares as the revisions have to go back through the whole process when the planner should be in a position to render a decision.”
The city’s timelines are unclear and frustrating, Borkristl added.
Going forward, Nenshi has his sights set on more ways to improve the process for Calgary builders.
“What we are going to be looking at in 2012 is even more substantive changes to the planning and development process in conjunction with industry,” he said.
This includes the city’s new growth management framework which provides clarity for suburban developers in terms of how the development of new communities in Calgary is prioritized based on the criteria in the municipal development plan, Nenshi adds.
Cut Red Tape Phase 2, which launched in December, should also have a positive impact on relations between the city and the building industry, he says.
“Phase 1 of Cut Red Tape, which was employee-focused, led to a lot of small changes that I think a lot of people have appreciated,” Nenshi says. “Phase 2 is in conjunction with industry.”
Industry representatives sit on the program’s advisory panel, providing valuable insight, Nenshi says.
“(This has) been really helpful in helping us understand the real nuts and bolts of the friction between the city and the industry at the very grassroots level,” he adds. “I am really confident that we will see good results from that.”