Improvements Afoot in Department of Planning & Zoning

Calvert County Department Implements Changes Aimed at Improving Efficiency and Review Times in the Commercial Permitting Process

PRINCE FREDERICK, Md., -- April 18, 2006 - Staff at the Calvert County, Md. Department of Planning & Zoning understands the troubles that builders and developers have experienced with their commercial permitting process. Some problems were caused by incomplete paperwork; some were caused by communication difficulties among the County, permit applicants and agents; and, frankly, some of the problems were caused by staff shortages at the Department itself.

All that is about to change.

Greg Bowen, director of the Department since 2005, and deputy director before that for 20 years, recently implemented a number of changes and improvements to modernize, streamline and automate the County’s commercial development review process.

In a typical year, the Department processes about 120 commercial building permits, and this number has been steadily increasing since 2002. “In fact,” Bowen said, “in 2005, we processed 162 permits which was a record for the Department.” The increase in permits, coupled with the increased complexity in processing them, has made it difficult to improve the process or even maintain standard review times.

Bowen admits he is grateful to the Calvert County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) for recognizing his Department’s challenges and having the foresight to provide staffing and technological upgrades to improve his ability to serve the community. David Hale, president of the BOCC, is confident that these improvements will help both the Planning & Zoning staff and the business community realize a much more efficient path toward permit approval. “It’s no secret that Calvert County’s commercial base is growing, and with that growth comes an increased need for government services to ensure that people can conduct business in a way that is efficient, effective and successful,” he said. “Planning & Zoning has been feeling the pinch of our County’s success and growth for many years and these departmental improvements are sure to help streamline the process.”

One of the main improvements to be implemented is the addition of a public advocate whose job involves troubleshooting and tracking individual permits, providing status reports to permit submitters and tracking permit review times. By process mapping the tasks of a typical review, a new method was developed to allow more concurrent permit reviews by authorizing agencies, as opposed to the previous method of consecutive review. These reviews will be tracked and posted online so permit submitters will know the exact status of their permit at all times. Bowen said, “Communication with agents in all approving agencies will be improved at all stages of the review process.”

Bowen is confident that the technological and staffing changes that have been made thus far in his Department will be extremely helpful in streamlining the County’s commercial permitting process. “The complexity and detail of most commercial plans have become extremely complicated over the years,” he said. “Numerous State and local agencies are required to approve and sign off on just about every stage of the construction process and, as expected, even a small bottleneck can result in a series of costly scheduling delays. I expect our new public advocate position, in addition to the online status of site plans, submission checklist and standard architectural submission requirements, will help to eliminate a number of the bottlenecks and problems we typically experience.”

For more information on the Calvert County, Md. Department of Planning and Zoning, call 410.535.1600 or 301.855.1243, e-mail pz@co.cal.md.us or visit online at www.co.cal.md.us/business/planning.

For more information on the Calvert County, Maryland Department of Economic Development, our visitor sites and attractions and the services available to assist County businesses, call 410.535.4583, 800.331.9771 or 301.855.1880; or send an e-mail to info@ecalvert.com