During their meeting on July 8th, Council endorsed the proposed recommended changes to the Development Application Review Process (DAPR). In early 2023, the City officially launched the Development Application Process Review (DAPR), engaging a consultant to review their approvals process, from initial enquiry to building occupancy, to identify any outstanding improvements.
Based on the outcomes of the DAPR process, staff has identified three key next steps to improve the City’s development application review process:
1. Continue to Accelerate Digitalization
2. Improve Documentation
3. Create a Planning and Development Systems Team
As part of the DAPR process, on July 8th, Council endorsed the recommendation that staff develop the digital tools necessary to provide a simple and automated summary of fees as part of the E-apply Digital Permit Project. One goal of the E-apply Digital Permitting project is that a complete summary of all estimated fees and charges could be automatically generated and provided to applicants very early in the process, as well as included in Council reports related to development applications. This would improve overall transparency for applicants and the public in general, and improve customer service. As such, staff consider that the creation of a financial summary of estimated fees and charges is currently in progress.
