Glenview’s Community Development Department is undergoing restructuring to improve the permit review and approval process, according to a presentation made to the Board of Trustees on July 23.
The front counter within the department has been renamed the Development Center, according to a staff report. The goal of the restructuring is to increase the functionality of the front counter, create an interactive building permit review process and enhance customer interactions, according to the report.
“The building permit process is quite complex . . . it is difficult to explain and then that means it is hard to understand,” said Jeff Brady, director of community development. “One of our main goals and opportunities with this development center concept is to simplify the process.”
The volume of building permits increases significantly from March through October, according to the report. The village’s traditional practice has been to process and review building permits on a “first-in, first-out” basis, according to the report.
But when a complex plan is reviewed, applications for small or medium work — like a shed, fence or remodeling of a kitchen — are held up in the process, according to the report. The only alternative applicants of those smaller projects have is to submit their projects through the same-day review process, which is offered on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, according to the report.
The village plans to increase same-day reviews to five days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and to prioritize the review of applications so that simpler projects are reviewed before more complex projects, according to the report.
To further improve the process for small and medium projects, the village plans to allow applicants to meet with building or engineering plan reviewers to answer questions and limit the current process of written communication between the applicant and plan reviewers, according to the report.
Village staff will research permit tracking and electronic plan review software to improve the management and transparency of the status of pending permits, according to the report.
To further improve the permit process, additional part-time staff will be hired and staff duties will be reorganized to provide administrative and technical support, according to the report.
The new center has also been restructured with the removal of the partition behind the front counter and the relocation of building and engineering plan reviewers to cubical offices near the front counter “to foster interaction with applicants,” according to the report.
Village staff has started making changes to the department this summer and full implementation should be completed by the fall, according to the report.
After the current construction season is over, staff will review the potential purchase of the permit tracking and electronic plan review software and evaluate the need for future office remodeling, according to the report. Both initiatives would require board approval, according to the report.
Trustees Deborah Karton and John Hinkamp asked follow up questions and voiced their support for the changes.
“I think this is great, and it makes all the sense in the world the way it is proposed,” Hinkamp said.
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