DALLAS — This article was originally published in the Dallas Business Journal. You can read the original piece here.
The City of Dallas could combine the departments overseeing permitting and urban planning under a proposal outlined by Kimberly Tolbert, the interim city manager. The idea is to improve a process that many developers have complained is time consuming and convoluted.
The new Planning and Development Department would combine zoning implementation and interpretation teams, house land use and permitting services and create a new team focused on customer and team excellence, according to a June 21 city memo.
Permitting delays have been a common source of complaints among real estate professionals in Dallas in recent years. At their worst, backlogs could mean months to secure commercial and residential permits, the Dallas Morning News reported. Those challenges were compounded by malfunctioning computer software, permit application tracking issues and staff shortages.
Dallas City Council is set to vote June 26 on whether to combine the budgets of the two existing departments to fund the new one, a change that could take effect June 27.
The new division aims to improve efficiency in permitting, ensure consistency, reduce confusion and create a single point of contact for developers and the public to make it easier to navigate the regulatory process. Tolbert said in the June 21 memo that the reorganization could lead to future budget savings, and the city will likely look to downsize and combine positions.
Emily Liu, who was recently hired as the director of planning and urban design, would lead the new department. Liu became a Dallas city staff member on May 20 after serving as the director of Metro Planning and Design Services in Louisville, Kentucky for a little more than a decade.
The department would also be divided into four core functions led by deputy directors. Andrea Gilles would lead the planning division, Andreea Udrea would focus on zoning, Sam Eskander would get permitting and Vernon Young would oversee customer experience.
In her memo, Tolbert said Director of Development Services Andrew Espinoza, who was tasked with improving the city’s permitting process, will leave his position with the city on Aug. 5. He will work under Assistant City Manager Donzell Gipson until then.
Tolbert took over as the interim chief executive on May 2 following the departure of T.C. Broadnax, who took the same job in Austin. Since entering the leadership role, she’s created a 100-day strategic plan, promoted city leaders such as Gipson and Robin Bentley to assistant city manager roles and was credited with quickly coming up with the incentives package to bring professional women’s soccer Dallas Trinity FC to the Cotton Bowl.
Dallas City Council Member Gay Donnell Willis told DMN the restructuring will elevate the city’s permitting process to the next level.
"There are those who are anxious to build in Dallas, and this is going to help bring this process together so that it’s not disjointed," Willis said, according to the newspaper.
