SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA (MPG) - At the Board of Supervisors Meeting on March 26, Dave Defanti, Deputy County Executive for Community Services, along with representatives from the County Departments of Water Resources, Transportation, and Community Development, gave a report back on progress made on the County’s Development Review Process (DRP) Improvement efforts over the last six months.

“I am so incredibly proud of the work County staff from all the Community Services Agency departments have put into these efforts,” said Dave Defanti. “We all know that we still have work to do but our staff have made incredible strides, and Sacramento County is well on its way to becoming the best place to build in the region for all of our customers.”

Goals of the DRP Improvements include addressing the housing supply and affordability crisis; investing in existing communities, particularly within aging commercial corridors and Environmental Justice communities; facilitating responsible development of new, complete communities to meet the needs of current and future generations while addressing State and local goals to address climate change; providing exceptional customer service and having processes in place that are efficient and easy to navigate while being a trusted and helpful partner to all of our customers.

Two primary themes from the report revolved around staffing and public-private partnerships.

Staffing:

The Department of Transportation (DOT) highlighted their collaboration with the Department of Personnel Services to host a career fair in fall 2023. The career fair resulted in the hiring of four associate engineers, three assistant engineers, two interns and one bridge operator, and has become a successful model for other County departments to follow for future hiring events.

Partnerships:

DOT also featured a few recent strategies that have been employed to understand the needs of the community and help address solutions for meeting those needs. ​Examples included utilizing updated data over older projections, where applicable, as well as partnering to design and construct roadway infrastructure projects where delivery and timing were critical.

The Department of Water Resources highlighted recent process streamlining improvements made in collaboration with industry partners, which included updates to submittal requirements for drainage plans and drainage studies.

The Community Development team, particularly the Building Permits and Inspection division, has stepped-up efforts to work closely with the Affordable Housing development community to understand the unique circumstances surrounding the construction of Affordable Housing projects. 

Our Chief Building Official shared some recent examples of specific efforts where partnership and understanding resulted in meaningful outcomes and new homes for Sacramento County residents.

In an effort to keep the Board of Supervisors and members of the public up to date on our Development Review Process efforts, these reports back to the Board of Supervisors will continue to occur on a semi-annual basis.