Grand jury raps Woodside's building-review process

The town of Woodside’s building-permit process came in for criticism last week from the San Mateo County civil grand jury.

The process tends to be a series of fragmented activities that cause permit applicants to see the results as “random outcomes or favoritism,” the grand jury said in a report released July 18 that’s titled, “Summary of Trouble in Paradise.”

“Everyone is looking at the trees; nobody is surveying the forest,” said grand jury foreperson Ted Glasgow.

Mayor Deborah Gordon said the report is “pretty balanced” in laying out the problems Woodside faces. “These are problems we are working on,” she said. A staff report written by Town Manager Susan George agreed with most of the grand jury’s seven recommendations.

The Woodside Town Council is set to discuss the grand jury report, and the town’s response, at its Tuesday, July 25, meeting.

‘Clash of cultures’

The permit process, Mr. Glasgow said, “fosters a persistent clash of cultures.”

On the one hand, he said, “some applicants do not always respect and often question intentions of the staff.” On the other hand, “the staff does not always produce a level of customer service that precludes applicants’ questioning their motives.”

The town has commissioned studies to improve the process, though recommendations from studies are not always adopted, Mr. Glasgow said.

Town Manager Susan George noted that within six months the town instituted 15 of 22 recommendations from a 2001 study by Irwin Kaplan, and is currently putting into place 16 recommendations from a more recent Management Partners review of the engineering department.

To improve Woodside’s building-permit process, the grand jury recommended that the council:

• Place one building professional in charge of the entire building-review process, including long-range plans, staff training and customer satisfaction.

• Expand the number of building projects that are eligible for permits that can be issued quickly and inexpensively by creating a “fast track” permit process.

Town staff response

Although she questioned the details and the workability of some aspects of the grand jury’s recommendations, Ms. George, the town manager, generally agreed with them in her written report, and has already added several to the town’s work plan.

These include providing continuing training to planning staff, updating the official geological hazards map, and creating procedures to continually improve the development review process.

Ms. George also indicated that an overhaul of the town’s staffing would not be unwelcome. In her written report, she agreed that the pending retirement of Town Engineer Kent Dewell, and her own potential retirement next year, afforded “an excellent window of opportunity for restructuring the town’s organization.”

Choosing the types of permits that could be fast-tracked will require some review and possibly some minor changes in town regulations, she wrote.

Her report did highlight a few potential problems with the grand jury’s recommendations. For example, the creation of a “complaint board” would have to be done carefully because of Brown Act requirements for open public meetings.

Mayor’s comments

Mayor Gordon said she would like to hear directly from more people about their problems in dealing with the permit process. “I don’t have a lot of people calling and saying it’s terrible,” she said.

She said she understands that people may be afraid to complain for fear of retribution. “That’s a longstanding feeling,” she said. “In fact, I don’t know of any case where it (retribution) was proven to have occurred. I agree that perception is there for many people. We need to address that.”

Woodside has more problems than other towns because it has a goal to preserve a rural setting, and there are many restrictions involved with building in wooded areas with steep hillsides and narrow streets. Fire danger and landslides are also critical concerns, she said.

INFORMATION

• For the grand jury’s full report, go to sanmateocourt.org/grandjury/ and click on “Final Reports 2005-2006” on the right.

• For Woodside staff’s response to the grand jury report, go to woodsidetown.org and click on “Town Government,” then on “Town Council,” and select the agenda report for the July 25 meeting.

• To comment on this story, send an e-mail to editor@AlmanacNews.com and state whether it’s for publication.