Considerations for improvement

• 1. Implement Paperless Application Submissions and Processing
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• Observation: While the Planning and Development Department Services utilizes AMANDA to log and track key phases for Site Plan and Minor Variance applications, all other applications are tracked and processed manually.
• In addition to this, the department does not track the status of each application in terms of its current phase (under review by planner, draft report, consultation required from external agencies/other departments, under review by approver, etc) in one centralized location that allows reporting to be accessible and reviewed by the managers within the department.
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• Consideration
• Management should consider implementing application submission and processing phases including collection and retention of documents, collecting comments from other departments and external agencies, documenting approvals and comments/discussions regarding each application (as applicable) within the upcoming Evolve system for all types of applications that are processed by the Planning and Development Department Services. Additionally, considerations should be made to implement a status tracking and reporting functionalities within the system that provide updated status on each application based on its phase in the entire process and reporting on trends and issues (i.e. due to date) for monitoring purposes.
• This may enable more efficiencies and enhance oversight in the application processing as all relevant information and documents for each application will be in one location in electronic form, allowing it to be accessed and reviewed anytime and anywhere.

• 2. Develop Coordination with other Departments
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• Observation: While the Planning and Development Services Department is able to identify capital projects undertaken by other departments through discussions during the Development Triage Team meetings, it is currently not able to detect/be notified of smaller operations projects (streets, parks, and other public realm projects etc,) such as renovations/modifications to buildings undertaken by the other departments which could potentially require one or more planning and development application and result in a permit for the said project.
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• Consideration
• Planning and Development Services Department should explore options including tools/databases that can be leveraged for earlier detection of projects (that are operating in nature) for timely detection/response/notification of potential follow up or consultations required.