Jobs & Economic Development Committee Best Practices for Economic Development

Background In surveying its members in the summer of 2011, the ACC-OC was asked to focus on the primary issues that cities face. Of the many issues that the organization was asked to address, one topic central to local government success was Economic Development and Jobs Creation and advancing needed infrastructure projects at the local, regional and state level. In response, The ACC-OC Jobs & Economic Development Committee was formed. The committee includes city policy makers, city managers, and community stakeholders and regional partners. The committee is focused on the fact that a healthy city requires a healthy business community. Cities and their partners want to strive to do the best they possibly can to create an environment where their local businesses can thrive, both to improve the quality of life of their residents and to support the local tax base. In studying how cities can achieve this goal, the Jobs & Economic Development Committee heard from elected officials, city staff, business leaders, chamber representatives, developers and educators about city accomplishments and future initiatives to bring economic development and jobs to their communities. The committee also reviewed OCBC’s and SCAG’s Business Friendly Cities Resolution and survey results and incorporated some of those ideas into these best practices. New business stimulus ideas for cities were also examined and incorporated into the best practices. With the loss of redevelopment agencies in 2011, cities now more than ever must focus on becoming business friendly to stimulate their local economies. ACC-OC committee members recognize that each city has their own individual style and culture, which will affect how they approach economic stimulus, infrastructure investment and jobs creation. This document brings together months of work, collaboration and research to bring cities top shelf ideas that they can incorporate into their business friendly, economic stimulus practices. Focus Areas ACC-OC and its members are committed to the principal of local control. Our committee members recognize that each city will approach economic development differently; cities need customized solutions to meet their specific community needs and challenges. Keeping this in mind, the committee identified some general strategies from its research that provide focus for cities that seek to foster economic development, infrastructure investment and job growth:

1. Attitude a. Focus on “Getting to Yes” – Rather than focusing on all the reasons a project does not meet requirements, City Managers can lead by example and inspire staff to proactively suggest ways to help businesses get a project done that meets requirements. ACC-OC will engage the Economic and Jobs Development Committee, and private sector partners to develop customer service training for cities. Cities can provide direct access to staff when necessary and appropriate. b. Define Roles – Cities are responsible for providing public benefits and developers are responsible to provide a product that their customer wants that is compatible with the community. Commit to a tight nexus between development fees or other municipal fees and the projects under consideration, rather than expanding requirements to include extraneous infrastructure investment that is not related to the project. c. Project Acceleration – Cities can identify areas where they receive repeated approval requests and create clear “acceleration” standards in those areas that allow businesses to receive rapid administrative approvals so long as their requests fit pre-established criteria. i. Wireless Sites – Create accelerated project protocols that allow providers to place infrastructure in public right-of-ways with only administrative approvals when infrastructure meets pre-established design standards. ii. Sign Programs – Develop standards that are compatible with common business practices that allow for rapid administrative approvals and minimal costs for specific categories of approvals. d. “Shop Local” – Cities can establish a “shop local” program to promote the value of supporting local businesses and driving economic growth within the city. This includes local development projects making an effort to hire subcontractors and support services within the city’s boundaries, which could also mean providing information to developers about the resources available within the city. 2. Consistency a. Code Enforcement – Code enforcement officers can be trained to interpret rules consistently and cities can adopt a policy for uniform application of its Municipal Code.

i. Cities can commit their staff to consistent training for inspectors, code enforcement officers, public works officials and planning/building officials. ii. Cities can ensure that the knowledge gained at various training sessions is disseminated amongst the department, not simply reported to the department head. iii. Cities can work with regional certification groups like the ICCOEC (International Code Council, Orange Empire Chapter) to promote regional collaboration on code enforcement. iv. Cities can ensure that ethics and quality control training be a regular occurrence for inspectors and code enforcers. b. Permit Processing Times – Anticipated permit processing times for simple permits should be posted on a city’s website and timelines met whenever possible. These anticipated times should be based on benchmarks that are constantly monitored and updated. Cities can strive to expedite all permits, whenever possible. In special circumstances, offer an even further expedited permitting process, however this should not be the norm. c. Don’t move the goal posts – Commit to providing all comments or suggestions to a permit or application with the first round of feedback and avoid adding additional items later in the process whenever possible. d. Accountability - Utilize peer review bench marking (performance metrics) and merit-based pay to self-monitor accountability of cities implementing economic and job growth strategies. The results of these should be used to show how to improve performance, rather than used punitively. e. Regularly Renewed Commitment – Require an annually renewed commitment from the City Council and the city’s top executive staff to the implementation of economic and jobs growth strategies the city has adopted. 3. Communication a. Accessibility - City leaders can participate in local business and chamber events where business leaders can ask questions and provide feedback in a less formal setting. Another option is to develop and Economic Development Committee at the city level, to examine and discuss projects than impact the city’s economic growth. These committees can be developed at the regional level as well.

b. Business Walks – Create opportunities for direct communication between business owners, elected officials, public safety, planning department and public works staff to solicit input and feedback. c. Independent Surveys – Conduct truly independent and anonymous third party surveys of the consumers of city services so that customers can provide honest feedback of city performance. d. Avoid Surprises – Provide advance notice of public works projects that will impact traffic flow or customer accessibility, and use new technologies (email, Facebook, Twitter) to efficiently communicate with businesses and the public on ways to avoid delays or impacts. e. Chamber Involvement – Build relationships with local chambers of commerce by involving staff members (planning department, building department, code enforcement officers, inspectors etc.) to chamber meetings. These relationships can lead to opportunities to educate companies on how to conduct business in the city. f.

Engage Broker Agencies – If approached by the business community about available properties within city limits, cities can engage the broker agencies to provide maps and breakdowns of available properties.

g.

Maximize Partnerships – Cities can partner with as many groups as possible to promote economic at both the local and regional level. Examples of this include forming regional economic development partnerships with other cities, partnering with local and regional chambers, participating on the ACCOC Economic Development and Jobs Committee, as well as partnering with Workforce Investment Boards, Academic Institutions, and Trade Associations.

4. Costs a. Eliminate Barriers – Cities can actively consider whether all current licensing, permitting and reporting requirements are still necessary and/or relevant, and eliminate them when possible. Compliance with these rules costs money, distracts businesses from their core purposes and sometimes provides little residual value to the community. b. Reduce Fees – When possible, reduce permit fees and costs and identify functions which are primarily public in nature for which fees will not be passed through to businesses. c. Time is Money – Businesses are keenly focused on the time it takes to accomplish a purpose and delays cost money. Cities should remain sensitive

to permit processing times, inspection turnaround times and responses to inquiries. Long delays can kill businesses, slow economic development and cost jobs. In many cases, expedited time is more favorable to businesses than a fee holiday. d. Small Business Training – Cities can provide all small businesses with a short video or pamphlet explaining the planning and development process of the city. This educates the small business on what timeline they should expect. ACC-OC will work with cities to develop this short training tool. In addition, cities can strive to expand resources for small businesses such as providing access to no or low cost services and resources and assistance with business planning, hiring human resources, access to capital, permitting and regulations when possible. Orange County Success Stories 1. Concierge Program (San Juan Capistrano, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Dana Point) – Dedicate a staff member or intern to walk a business through each step of the permitting process to limit time and confusion. 2. “One Stop Shop”(San Juan Capistrano)- Modified the counters in City Hall so that all questions can be answered in one place, or the customer can be directed to the appropriate person making for a much more customer service oriented attitude. 3. Improve, Don’t Move (Mission Viejo) – Used surplus city finds to suspend building permit fees from Jan-July 2012. 4. Regulatory Relief Taskforce (Anaheim) – Developed a group of business leaders to tell the city where improvements needed to be made and what steps needed to be taken. 5. Leave Bank Program (Placentia) – Employees can convert unused leave hours above the cap into a contribution to a 457 plan at a discount rate of 20% of the hours converted. Based on $2 million in potential leave hours being converted, the estimated savings is $400,000. 6. Chamber Involvement (Los Alamitos) – Planning and/or building department staff regularly attend local chamber of commerce meetings to build relationships with local business. 7. Business Walks (Costa Mesa) – City CEO regularly makes trips to local business in order to create opportunities for direct communication between the two to solicit input and feedback.

8. Residential and Business Improvement Program (Los Alamitos) – Reimbursement of building, planning, and driveway permit fees. Fees are reimbursed in an amount equal to the construction materials purchased from local businesses within the Los Alamitos city limits, up to $3,000. 9. Home Improvement Holiday (Anaheim, Mission Viejo) – Fee waiver program for home improvements for a limited amount of time on building permits only. 10. On the House Permits (Orange) – Fee waiver program for single family homes built before 2000. The program waived fees for alterations and additions plus miscellaneous structures such as pools, fences, patio covers, etc. The program had two phases, the second of which ended on 2008. 11. Construction and Business License Fee Waiver Policy (Tustin) – Fee waiver program for permits and business licenses. The program began in July 2011 and will end when the budgeted amount expires. 12. Breaking Down Barriers (OCTA) – This was a federal initiative launched by OCTA in 2011 to streamline environmental review and limit restrictions on project commencement. This can serve as a model for county and local agencies and is another example of OCTA leading the way on fast tracking projects to encourage economic growth. 13. ACC-OC 2013 City Infrastructure Summit – will be hosted by the Economic and Jobs Development Committee with one of the special breakout sessions to be a stakeholder forum on consistent application of codes. ICCOEC would be a likely presenter on countywide standards and implementation. 14. Supporting Irvine’s Dynamic Businesses (Irvine Chamber) – The City of Irvine and the Irvine Chamber of Commerce recently joined to form the” Irvine MayorChamber Advisory Council on Business” to ensure that Irvine’s dynamic and diverse business environment supports future success and growth. The Advisory Council meets biannually and includes a robust group of Irvine’s top CEO’s. Conclusion ACC-OC is committed to the principal of local control. We recognize that not all of the above ideas will be suitable for all cities, but keeping the focus areas in mind will assist cities in generating more success stories and preserving and enhancing the businesses that make our communities special.

City Endorsements

City of Stanton

Legislator Endorsements Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva Partner Endorsements Orange County Transportation Authority “OCTA is pleased to endorse ACC-OC’s Best Practices for Economic Development as it is consistent with OCTA’s Strategic Plan that promotes customer satisfaction by understanding, connecting with and serving its diverse communities and partners; fiscal health through prudent financial management; and efficient business practices.” Parsons “Parsons is pleased to endorse the Economic Development principles of ACC OC. The tenets of the principles: Attitude, Consistency, Communication, and Cost are all excellent measures to foster innovative solutions to promote prosperity within the Orange County region and beyond.” Orange County Business Council “ACC-OC’s Best Practices for Economic Development is an excellent resource for Orange County cities to streamline processes, turning red tape into red carpet that allows businesses to grow, create jobs and hire. By working together, Orange County cities and the business community will create innovative strategies to promote mutually beneficial economic opportunities and maximize the standard of living for its residents. Thus, Orange County will remain a strong economic engine for the state and nation.” Southern California Edison CARE Ambulance Disneyland Resort Building Industry Association – OC Chapter Orange County Association of Realtors Irvine Ranch Water District Americare Ambulance Service AT&T

Chambers of Commerce Endorsements Irvine Chamber of Commerce