July 31, 2023 • 11 mins
No other City department has more to do with our growth than the Development Services Department. Handling a long list of requirements and jobs, Development Services makes sure the City's ever-changing landscape is carefully planned to meet current and future needs. With Rick Greene, Development Services Department Director.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
Welcome to the City Center podcast.
I'm Jerry Marcello.
If you take a drive around the city of West Palm Beach,
one fact becomes immediately apparent the city is growing and redefining itself at every turn,
new buildings of all types are under construction and upgrades to roads and infrastructure can be seen everywhere.
(00:29):
What you can't see is a painstaking planning that goes into each building.
There are studies,
surveys and reviews required before the first shovel of dirt is turned.
The people at City Hall responsible for working with builders and developers is the Development Services Department and the jobs reformed by this team.
White literally keeps the city's growth in check and on track.
(00:53):
Joining me today is Rick Green Development Services director for the city of West Palm Beach.
Rick,
welcome.
Thank you,
Jerry.
Not a lot of people really know about what development Services really does,
tell us about the team and what you do.
Sure,
we are a department of about 85 persons today.
Um We're responsible for anything involving planning,
(01:14):
zoning,
building inspections and historic preservation.
So anything from a simple fence that a resident wants to put in their backyard to a new baseball stadium,
an outlet mall office building all runs through our department.
Uh There's a lot,
obviously,
there's a lot of building that's going on around the city right now.
Um has the rate of the projects that we are currently seeing develop.
(01:36):
Has it increased?
Are we seeing more building than we've seen before?
We are?
This is uh an unprecedented amount of growth that we've witnessed over the last couple of years.
Um really beginning with,
with the COVID pandemic.
Um Whereas most cities were struggling and slowing down.
Um when COVID hit in March of 2020 we witnessed six consecutive quarters of building permit growth in the city.
(01:59):
A lot of it has to do with the migration from the northeast,
particularly New York,
California and other areas.
Um But our,
our records are unbelievably uh incredible what we've experienced just in the past month alone,
June,
we had the biggest month in the history of the city collecting nearly $2 million and building permit revenues in one month.
That is amazing.
(02:19):
Now,
is it mostly office type of space or is it residential or a mix?
It's a little bit of everything.
Um We're seeing a lot of residential development activity um with the influx of persons and corporations from New York,
we're seeing a lot of new class,
a office construction.
We went from the period between 2008 and 2020.
We did not see any new class a office projects,
(02:42):
particularly in our downtown.
We currently have about 3.4 million square feet in the pipeline right now just within the past couple of years.
So it's,
it's truly been an incredible uh run of development we've seen,
as we said at the top,
just driving around the city,
you can see it changing before your very eyes.
Um What sort of input do residents current residents have as far as um the look and feel or whether projects are approved or not approved?
(03:07):
So certainly public um input is,
is very important component of what we do.
Um So typically any project of any significant size,
we have a series of public hearings that we go through.
Um certainly before a developer files a development application with us.
If it's something of any significance,
we always encourage them to reach,
(03:27):
reach out to the surrounding neighboring communities.
Um We let them know who those neighbors are,
who they should be meeting with.
And we try to encourage that before an a an actual application is submitted to us.
So we know that that dialogue has taken place.
Um Once uh an application or a project is submitted to us,
we do an internal staff review and then we have a series of public meetings.
(03:50):
Um typically in front of one of our boards,
either the planning board or we'll have a Downtown Action committee that handles the projects downtown.
And then if it reaches the City Commission,
we typically have two separate hearings with the city commission.
So there's um a lot of opportunity for people to comment.
We want to get that input,
we want to know what the uh what the issues are as we're reviewing the project with the developer and other departments in the city.
(04:12):
So even from the very beginning,
there is an outreach to residents nearby the project and then multiple opportunities for them to voice opinions and,
and stuff all along the process.
Absolutely yes.
As part of your outreach to the community,
you hold semi annual public meetings tailored to developers.
Now,
what sort of things do you talk about to developers?
(04:33):
So we,
we call it a developer outreach meeting and we typically try to do it around mid year of our fiscal year and we do one at the end of the fiscal year,
usually in October.
And while we call it a developer outreach meeting,
it's really open to anybody from the public.
So we have a lot of developers,
planners,
architects,
residents who attend those meetings and I liken it to a,
(04:55):
a mini state of the city address.
So we talk about statistics.
We'll we'll look at building permit activity planning activity um over the past year.
In comparison to what we've done over the previous decade,
we talk about some newer projects that are coming in and we like to show rendering.
So people have an idea of what's coming into the city.
All of that,
(05:15):
we also tie to a link on our website on a citywide projects map.
So people can scour the city and look at a particular dot on this GIS map on our website and they can click on it and it'll blow up a rendering and a description of what projects have come into the city.
So we try to update that on a periodic basis.
So the residents are informed as to what new projects have been submitted and could possibly be under review.
(05:38):
So while it's best to get the most information from the website,
which is W PB dot org,
um can you give us any sense of anything that's going on that you'd like to share with us?
Well,
we have a lot of activity and,
and certainly with the activity and the migration of corporations into the city,
you know,
first and foremost,
our priority is to try to um identify opportunities for workforce housing.
(06:02):
Um We don't want to get a residential market priced out of um what people can afford in the city.
A couple of years,
a couple of years ago,
we adopted a downtown workforce housing incentive um that allowed developers to get a little bit more height,
a little bit more floor area ratio.
It's a form of development in exchange,
they had to set aside a portion of that increase as,
(06:25):
as workforce housing in December of last year,
we adopted a citywide provision um that allowed developers to um seek more density,
more development rights if in fact,
they set aside 25% of the entire residential project as workforce.
So we're,
we're creating incentives in the curry mixed use district.
We have incentives that developers can get more height if they provide workforce housing.
(06:49):
So we're trying to do that city wide.
Um We have a new Senate bill that was adopted a Senate bill 102 called the Local Act um that went into effect on July 1.
It doesn't do as much for us as the resolution that we adopted in December.
The resolution 306 22.
So we are in the process now of amending our comprehensive plan to try to provide more incentives for developers to create more workforce housing opportunities throughout the entire city.
(07:18):
And that's something we hope to bring to the commission.
Um in November.
It's fantastic.
It's obvious that you guys are having a tremendous amount of work and the workload must be insane.
There's a tremendous amount of paperwork that must be going through the pipeline.
But from what I understand the time of the,
at the time of this podcast recording,
you're about to launch a new system that hopefully will facilitate easing that,
(07:38):
that burden.
Yes,
we're very excited about that.
It's called the EPL.
It stands for Enterprise Permitting and licensing.
We've had a permitting software system that's been in place now for about 25 to 30 years called Community Plus,
what EPL does?
And we've been working on this for over four years at a cost of more than $7 million which has come out of building permit revenue that we have collected over the years.
(08:02):
Um and it becomes an electronic permitting process.
So a resident,
a developer and architect can submit plans to the city electronically,
they can make the payments electronically um All without having to come into City Hall.
But what is,
what is probably the best feature is that when plans are submitted electronically,
we can now do a simultaneous review.
(08:23):
So our plumbing mechanical building zoning engineering,
public works functions can all happen simultaneously.
So at the end of the day,
um the hope is that the building permit gets issued in a much quicker time frame.
And then even more importantly,
we've looked at about 270 different workflow processes,
anything from pulling a building permit to getting an engineering right away permit.
(08:47):
We've taken that workflow and we've tried to streamline it.
So it maybe have has taken 25 30 steps.
In the past,
we've been able to compress that into a 12 step process.
So it'll make the city more efficient.
It'll make it a little bit easier for residents and people who want to submit for building permits.
Um The,
the go live date is July 31st.
(09:08):
So we're excited about that.
Can't tell you how much work has gone into getting us ready for this and we'll have,
I'm sure a few glitches,
but we think we've ironed out most of the issues.
Um,
but we're very excited about this process.
And then more importantly,
it's gonna make it easier for both residents and the city staff as well.
Right.
So it's new technology and it makes life easier for everybody.
Rick.
(09:28):
Thanks so much for being here.
Now,
this is our last opportunity to,
to think about a message that you'd want to share with the residents about what you do and what your team does.
What would you like to say to them?
Well,
first and foremost,
you know,
our,
our duty is to the residents.
We,
we want good projects to come in.
Um So we want to hear from residents,
we want to hear what they like,
what they don't like.
(09:49):
Um And,
and certainly we welcome every opportunity for the residents to voice their concerns about,
you know,
a project,
a zoning code change,
anything we may be doing.
Um I,
I can't say enough good things about my staff.
They work exceptionally hard.
Um We got a lot on the plate,
as you mentioned,
but it's an exciting time to be in the city.
Um Prior to last year,
(10:10):
I'll mention that,
you know,
we've averaged about a 6.4% growth in our tax base over the previous 10 years.
Last year,
we did over 17% this year.
We're hoping to do about 15 or 16%.
So the values within the city of West Palm Beach is increasing and with the level of activity we have,
we don't see it slowing down any time over the next couple of years.
(10:31):
Fantastic,
Rick.
Thank you for your time and thank you for sharing uh your perspective on all the things that are happening in the city and the and your department development services.
Thank you for having me.
The City Center podcast is produced by the City of West Palm Beach.
We hope you found today's discussion useful.
And if,
if you did,
please subscribe,
if you have any questions or comments,
please write us at podcast at W PB dot org.
(10:54):
If you wish to learn more about the city's development services department,
please visit the city's website at W PB dot org slash development.
This is Jerry Marcelo.
We'll see you next time.
Welcome to the City Center podcast.
I'm Jerry Marcello.
If you take a drive around the city of West Palm Beach,
one fact becomes immediately apparent the city is growing and redefining itself at every turn,
new buildings of all types are under construction and upgrades to roads and infrastructure can be seen everywhere.
(00:29):
What you can't see is a painstaking planning that goes into each building.
There are studies,
surveys and reviews required before the first shovel of dirt is turned.
The people at City Hall responsible for working with builders and developers is the Development Services Department and the jobs reformed by this team.
White literally keeps the city's growth in check and on track.
(00:53):
Joining me today is Rick Green Development Services director for the city of West Palm Beach.
Rick,
welcome.
Thank you,
Jerry.
Not a lot of people really know about what development Services really does,
tell us about the team and what you do.
Sure,
we are a department of about 85 persons today.
Um We're responsible for anything involving planning,
(01:14):
zoning,
building inspections and historic preservation.
So anything from a simple fence that a resident wants to put in their backyard to a new baseball stadium,
an outlet mall office building all runs through our department.
Uh There's a lot,
obviously,
there's a lot of building that's going on around the city right now.
Um has the rate of the projects that we are currently seeing develop.
(01:36):
Has it increased?
Are we seeing more building than we've seen before?
We are?
This is uh an unprecedented amount of growth that we've witnessed over the last couple of years.
Um really beginning with,
with the COVID pandemic.
Um Whereas most cities were struggling and slowing down.
Um when COVID hit in March of 2020 we witnessed six consecutive quarters of building permit growth in the city.
(01:59):
A lot of it has to do with the migration from the northeast,
particularly New York,
California and other areas.
Um But our,
our records are unbelievably uh incredible what we've experienced just in the past month alone,
June,
we had the biggest month in the history of the city collecting nearly $2 million and building permit revenues in one month.
That is amazing.
(02:19):
Now,
is it mostly office type of space or is it residential or a mix?
It's a little bit of everything.
Um We're seeing a lot of residential development activity um with the influx of persons and corporations from New York,
we're seeing a lot of new class,
a office construction.
We went from the period between 2008 and 2020.
We did not see any new class a office projects,
(02:42):
particularly in our downtown.
We currently have about 3.4 million square feet in the pipeline right now just within the past couple of years.
So it's,
it's truly been an incredible uh run of development we've seen,
as we said at the top,
just driving around the city,
you can see it changing before your very eyes.
Um What sort of input do residents current residents have as far as um the look and feel or whether projects are approved or not approved?
(03:07):
So certainly public um input is,
is very important component of what we do.
Um So typically any project of any significant size,
we have a series of public hearings that we go through.
Um certainly before a developer files a development application with us.
If it's something of any significance,
we always encourage them to reach,
(03:27):
reach out to the surrounding neighboring communities.
Um We let them know who those neighbors are,
who they should be meeting with.
And we try to encourage that before an a an actual application is submitted to us.
So we know that that dialogue has taken place.
Um Once uh an application or a project is submitted to us,
we do an internal staff review and then we have a series of public meetings.
(03:50):
Um typically in front of one of our boards,
either the planning board or we'll have a Downtown Action committee that handles the projects downtown.
And then if it reaches the City Commission,
we typically have two separate hearings with the city commission.
So there's um a lot of opportunity for people to comment.
We want to get that input,
we want to know what the uh what the issues are as we're reviewing the project with the developer and other departments in the city.
(04:12):
So even from the very beginning,
there is an outreach to residents nearby the project and then multiple opportunities for them to voice opinions and,
and stuff all along the process.
Absolutely yes.
As part of your outreach to the community,
you hold semi annual public meetings tailored to developers.
Now,
what sort of things do you talk about to developers?
(04:33):
So we,
we call it a developer outreach meeting and we typically try to do it around mid year of our fiscal year and we do one at the end of the fiscal year,
usually in October.
And while we call it a developer outreach meeting,
it's really open to anybody from the public.
So we have a lot of developers,
planners,
architects,
residents who attend those meetings and I liken it to a,
(04:55):
a mini state of the city address.
So we talk about statistics.
We'll we'll look at building permit activity planning activity um over the past year.
In comparison to what we've done over the previous decade,
we talk about some newer projects that are coming in and we like to show rendering.
So people have an idea of what's coming into the city.
All of that,
(05:15):
we also tie to a link on our website on a citywide projects map.
So people can scour the city and look at a particular dot on this GIS map on our website and they can click on it and it'll blow up a rendering and a description of what projects have come into the city.
So we try to update that on a periodic basis.
So the residents are informed as to what new projects have been submitted and could possibly be under review.
(05:38):
So while it's best to get the most information from the website,
which is W PB dot org,
um can you give us any sense of anything that's going on that you'd like to share with us?
Well,
we have a lot of activity and,
and certainly with the activity and the migration of corporations into the city,
you know,
first and foremost,
our priority is to try to um identify opportunities for workforce housing.
(06:02):
Um We don't want to get a residential market priced out of um what people can afford in the city.
A couple of years,
a couple of years ago,
we adopted a downtown workforce housing incentive um that allowed developers to get a little bit more height,
a little bit more floor area ratio.
It's a form of development in exchange,
they had to set aside a portion of that increase as,
(06:25):
as workforce housing in December of last year,
we adopted a citywide provision um that allowed developers to um seek more density,
more development rights if in fact,
they set aside 25% of the entire residential project as workforce.
So we're,
we're creating incentives in the curry mixed use district.
We have incentives that developers can get more height if they provide workforce housing.
(06:49):
So we're trying to do that city wide.
Um We have a new Senate bill that was adopted a Senate bill 102 called the Local Act um that went into effect on July 1.
It doesn't do as much for us as the resolution that we adopted in December.
The resolution 306 22.
So we are in the process now of amending our comprehensive plan to try to provide more incentives for developers to create more workforce housing opportunities throughout the entire city.
(07:18):
And that's something we hope to bring to the commission.
Um in November.
It's fantastic.
It's obvious that you guys are having a tremendous amount of work and the workload must be insane.
There's a tremendous amount of paperwork that must be going through the pipeline.
But from what I understand the time of the,
at the time of this podcast recording,
you're about to launch a new system that hopefully will facilitate easing that,
(07:38):
that burden.
Yes,
we're very excited about that.
It's called the EPL.
It stands for Enterprise Permitting and licensing.
We've had a permitting software system that's been in place now for about 25 to 30 years called Community Plus,
what EPL does?
And we've been working on this for over four years at a cost of more than $7 million which has come out of building permit revenue that we have collected over the years.
(08:02):
Um and it becomes an electronic permitting process.
So a resident,
a developer and architect can submit plans to the city electronically,
they can make the payments electronically um All without having to come into City Hall.
But what is,
what is probably the best feature is that when plans are submitted electronically,
we can now do a simultaneous review.
(08:23):
So our plumbing mechanical building zoning engineering,
public works functions can all happen simultaneously.
So at the end of the day,
um the hope is that the building permit gets issued in a much quicker time frame.
And then even more importantly,
we've looked at about 270 different workflow processes,
anything from pulling a building permit to getting an engineering right away permit.
(08:47):
We've taken that workflow and we've tried to streamline it.
So it maybe have has taken 25 30 steps.
In the past,
we've been able to compress that into a 12 step process.
So it'll make the city more efficient.
It'll make it a little bit easier for residents and people who want to submit for building permits.
Um The,
the go live date is July 31st.
(09:08):
So we're excited about that.
Can't tell you how much work has gone into getting us ready for this and we'll have,
I'm sure a few glitches,
but we think we've ironed out most of the issues.
Um,
but we're very excited about this process.
And then more importantly,
it's gonna make it easier for both residents and the city staff as well.
Right.
So it's new technology and it makes life easier for everybody.
Rick.
(09:28):
Thanks so much for being here.
Now,
this is our last opportunity to,
to think about a message that you'd want to share with the residents about what you do and what your team does.
What would you like to say to them?
Well,
first and foremost,
you know,
our,
our duty is to the residents.
We,
we want good projects to come in.
Um So we want to hear from residents,
we want to hear what they like,
what they don't like.
(09:49):
Um And,
and certainly we welcome every opportunity for the residents to voice their concerns about,
you know,
a project,
a zoning code change,
anything we may be doing.
Um I,
I can't say enough good things about my staff.
They work exceptionally hard.
Um We got a lot on the plate,
as you mentioned,
but it's an exciting time to be in the city.
Um Prior to last year,
(10:10):
I'll mention that,
you know,
we've averaged about a 6.4% growth in our tax base over the previous 10 years.
Last year,
we did over 17% this year.
We're hoping to do about 15 or 16%.
So the values within the city of West Palm Beach is increasing and with the level of activity we have,
we don't see it slowing down any time over the next couple of years.
(10:31):
Fantastic,
Rick.
Thank you for your time and thank you for sharing uh your perspective on all the things that are happening in the city and the and your department development services.
Thank you for having me.
The City Center podcast is produced by the City of West Palm Beach.
We hope you found today's discussion useful.
And if,
if you did,
please subscribe,
if you have any questions or comments,
please write us at podcast at W PB dot org.
(10:54):
If you wish to learn more about the city's development services department,
please visit the city's website at W PB dot org slash development.
This is Jerry Marcelo.
We'll see you next time.
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