Applying for a building permit in Fresno? You could get a refund for missed deadlines
A proposal to bring accountability to the city of Fresno’s planning processes forced city leaders to take steps Thursday to improve its business climate — and handle permits in a more timely manner.
The Money Back Guarantee Act returned to the the Fresno City Council, more than a year after District 6 Council Member Garry Bredefeld first proposed it.
This time, the act proposed refunding money to businesses from the Development and Resource Management (DARM) department budget when city staff fail to meet city deadlines on applications.
The ordinance also included dispute resolution guidelines, a customer services satisfaction survey and quarterly reports back to council.
But, the policy looked a lot different when the council finally approved it on a 7-0 vote.
In the end, council members added stipulations that the program begin as a six-month trial on May 1 and that refunds require council approval. The council also asked for a classification and compensation study of DARM that will evaluate workload and signing bonuses in an effort to fill job vacancies.
Those requests came from a lengthy discussion in which council members sought to understand the scope and root of the problem.
Bredefeld brought the proposal forward in response to developer and business owner complaints about the culture in the city’s planning and permitting processes.
“We get calls every week from businesses who are trying to do business with the city who are getting stopped in their tracks,” Bredefeld said. “This will send out to the entire country that Fresno is very serious about wanting their business and helping them with their business in Fresno.”
During Thursday’s meeting, the proposal received support from Mayor Lee Brand, Granville Homes developer Darius Assemi, Building Industry Association President Mike Prandini, Wathen Castanos Homes President Joshua Peterson and the Fresno Chamber of Commerce.
Peterson told the council the residential development climate has changed, and Fresno has competition now from Madera, Clovis and other nearby cities.
“If you don’t adapt what your business model is, you will become obsolete, and that’s already happened,” he said. “It’s more viable for me to go somewhere else. I’d love to build in Fresno. Fresno has a viable market, and there’s constituents who want to live here. But if given the opportunity, I’ll go build in Clovis because it’s more business friendly.”
The developers noted they didn’t want to receive refunds from city hall because that meant their projects would not be built.
Council members Miguel Arias and Paul Caprioglio noted the money back guarantee didn’t get to the root of the city’s business problem.
“I still don’t have an understanding of the scope of the issue,” Arias said.
When he asked city staff to explain how many applications were meeting deadlines and how many were behind, DARM Director Jennifer Clark said there was no easy way to evaluate that because of the volume of applications.
“By the dialogue, we have no idea what we’re doing,” Caprioglio said. “I haven’t heard a real solution because we haven’t identified what the problem is.”
District 1 Council Member Esmeralda Soria said the council should address staffing, including vacancies and pay to attract qualified candidates. She noted the council agreed to give signing bonuses to police officers during staffing struggles, so DARM should be treated the same way.
Brand noted that in the last few years, DARM has processed a record number of applications despite vacancies. Last year, the city launched a new software system to process applications, but not without glitches.
“The devil is in the details to get there,” he said. “But I’m committed to making the city move forward.”