I have the privilege of serving on the Development Committee for the Greater Vancouver Home Builders Association. This is a committee that advocates on issues that impact the housing market . In 2014, one of our key accomplishments was the establishment of an annual survey of municipal governments and the development community called “Getting to Groundbreaking”. The survey looks at various aspects of development planning and approvals from both a government and developer’s perspective. While it is interesting to see how developer’s and the municipal government’s perception of the same process differs, the more interesting outcome of the survey is the identification of some best practices that are turning up in some municipalities. These include: Pre-application meetings, Concurrent processing of applications and Municipal Staff empowerment . Here’s hoping that these types of practices will be adopted by others now that they are coming to light! As this is an annual survey, we expect more creative ideas will emerge to improve efficiencies and results. Here is a link to the 2014 survey summary report and key findings:
Links: Report and Key Findings