Naperville officials have revamped the development review process to reduce significantly the time it takes for projects to win approval and combat a growing reputation that the city is notoriously slow.
City leaders outlined on Wednesday a new development review team put into place this year that will streamline proposals, which previously would get stalled for months in the system.
Potential developers complained of obstacles in the process, and companies have said they will never again build in Naperville because the approval process is so long, said Peter Burchard, city manager.
“Two years ago, City Council said one of the No. 1 problems was our reputation in the development community for being slow–slow at processing engineering plans, plats. . . . It was just this bureaucratic maze,” Burchard said.
An average project, which would have taken about 22 months to gain approval from each necessary department, should now take about six months, said John Zediker, project team leader for the development review team.
Under the new design, all commercial and residential developers seeking city approval will meet with a core group of five team members. Additional planners, engineers and attorneys will be pulled into the team on an as-needed basis for engineering, plat, commercial architecture and annexation agreement review, city officials said.
Previously developers would have to gain approval from eight city divisions or departments, which often resulted in disjointed projects in which employees saw only pieces of the whole development proposal, they said.
The large volume of development projects submitted in recent years, coupled with Naperville’s unprecedented growth, caused the old review process to break down, said Chris Gukenberger, director of operational resources and effectiveness for the city.
“Hundreds of steps were eliminated that were redundant and caused breakdowns,” she said.
For example, final engineering plans could sit for about 35 days before an engineer had a chance to review them and note any changes necessary, officials said.
Under the new plan, that time period has been cut by more than half. Staff has designated three times a week when developers can submit plans for review to ensure the required information is complete and the city’s questions are answered, significantly reducing the wait time, officials said.
City officials hope the new system will open communication lines with developers eager to take advantage of Naperville’s lucrative market but leery of getting bogged down in long wait times for approval.
“Now developers can ask anyone on the team to find out where they are in the process,” Zediker said. “That was nearly impossible before without making nine different phone calls.”
