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Ahead of the Curve blog series authored by HB Lanarc and sponsored by BasicGov explores trends in municipal management, including a move to adopt sustainable practices. Leading communities are taking on all of these trends and leveraging opportunities to improve services to citizens and productivity.

Trend: Development Review and Approvals

The development review and approvals process is a key part of how local governments manage land use, buildings, infrastructure, transportation and economic development in support of community objectives. These processes are complex, with local government as the centre or ‘hub’ of development approval information needs and expectations, so they require thorough internal and external agency reviews, as well as careful housing and organization of extensive information. Good review and approvals processes must meet the following needs:

• Local government staff need to communicate effectively with each other (between departments and with other nearby jurisdictions) on the application reviews.
• Development applicants need to know what stage their application review is in, and how long it will take to get approval.
• Referral agencies require compliance with regulatory conditions and measures.
• Citizens want to know that community values are retained, well managed and that good decisions are being made.

Accordingly, a land development application must be reviewed for many considerations, each of which requires tracking and documentation. While the specifics of reviews vary greatly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, the chart shows in more detail the central role of the permitting process in managing requirements.

Previous Ahead of the Curve blog posts Trend 1, Trend 2, Trend 3, Trend 4, Trend 5, Trend 6.

Click to read Ahead of the Curve white paper

This is the 3rd trend as part of our Ahead of the Curve white paper and blog series authored by HB Lanarc and sponsored by BasicGov. Click to read previous Trend 1 and Trend 2.

Trend 3: Public Demands for Accountability

Trust in the government is at an all-time low by some measures. As a result, citizens are demanding more clarity about what local governments are doing, and how well elected officials are delivering on their promises. For example, Chicago recently adopted a performance management program as a means of ensuring accountability to its citizens.

Furthermore, some senior governments are starting to require cities, towns and counties to regularly report “up” on performance. These demands are beginning to extend to details of development applications, with many local governments providing citizens and businesses access with web portals to apply and check status of permits and licenses. A few are even engaging in participatory budgeting processes, involving citizens directly with priority-setting and the resulting fiscal decisions.

What are you seeing as trends in public demands and local government?

Next trend is “Competition to reduce red tape“.

To read full white paper, click here.