COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Department Overview
The Community & Economic Development department functions as the liaison to the City Manager, Mayor and City Council on land use, development, housing, and environmental issues, both locally and regionally. The department also manages the economic development functions of the city including business attraction, business retention and marketing the city’s assets. The department is comprised of six internally related divisions including Administration, Planning, Building and Safety, Housing, Economic Development, and Code Enforcement.
Divisions
What did Community & Economic Development accomplish in Fiscal Year 2021/2022?
- All four of Building and Safety’s Community Development Technician positions and one building inspector position that was staffed by consultant personnel (Willdan) have been or are in the process of being filled with permanent-hire city employees, thereby saving approximately $690,000.00 annually.
- Plan reviews of small to medium size projects that were previously performed by Willdan are now being performed in-house, saving approximately $20,000.00/month, or $240,000.00 annually. This change has not only saved money but has improved plan check turn-around times and increased customer satisfaction.
- The number of building permits issued to date this fiscal year are up 148% compared to last fiscal year, FY 20/21 - revenues received are following the same trend and will be retained as such by the steps taken above.
- Hired a new Code Enforcement Manager to lead the division in enhancing public safety and quality of life in the city’s neighborhoods through enforcement of laws and codes.
- Hiring of 4 new Code Enforcement Officers by April 4, 2022, to provide a more consistent approach to build trust, improve quality of life, timely responses, and visible reduction of blight for residents and businesses throughout the city.
- Hired a new Economic Development Project Manager to work in tandem with the Economic Development Specialist to implement business retention, expansion, and attraction strategies in order to enhance the economic vitality of the community.
- Executed the Exclusive Negotiation Agreement on September 1, 2021 to negotiate the terms of the Disposition and Development Agreement for the development of the Carousel Mall site.
- Creation of the City’s Marketing Brochure, Video, and Social Media Channels.
- Updated “Business Development” webpage to provide business community with more resources.
- Attended ICSC Symposium in participation with the San Bernardino County Economic Development Department to market the City to potential business and industries.
- Released and Closed the Arden Guthrie RFP for the development of 17-acre commercial site.
- Four (4) more Commercial Cannabis Retail locations are open and operating which increases the Cannabis Tax collected by the City of San Bernardino.
- Four homeowners within the City of San Bernardino received loans up to $40,000 to make necessary repairs and improvements to their homes.
- Two Infill Housing Units were completed and sold to qualified buyers.
- Seventy-Eight (78) multifamily affordable housing units have been inspected thus far during the fiscal year and the Department is collaborating with eight property management companies to ensure compliance with affordable housing regulatory agreements.
- Hired a new Planning Technician as the point of contact at the public counter in order to enhance our customer service to the community.
- Hired a new Assistant Planner to enhance our customer service to the business and construction community by assisting with the processing of zoning verifications applications for new business licenses (to date during this fiscal year 1,320 applications have been processed) and to review construction drawings for Accessory Dwelling Unit to ensure compliance with the City’s Ordinance (to date during this fiscal year over 500 permits have been processed/approved).