News

Council OKs merged department for development review

Sue Anderson.

By Bill Moss, Published: April 2, 2015

The Hendersonville City Council on Thursday approved a merger of two departments that review permits for development in a change that the city manager and council members said would streamline approvals.

The council unanimously ratified the recommendation from City Manager John Connet, who said the merger idea arose from a review of the city's development review processes and from the comments of council members. Assuming the Henderson County Board of Commissioners endorse a lease agreement later this month, the change would move the city planners to the Henderson County building at 100 N. King St.

"It creates a one-stop location for us to facilitate the process" for reviewing plans and issuing development permits, Connet said.

The merged department would be made up of director Susan Frady, who is now zoning administrator; planning director Sue Anderson, a newly hired planner, Dave Hazzard, who was with Luther Smith's landscape architecture firm; a city fire inspector, and administrative assistants Terry Swann and LuAnn Welter. Frady is already located in the county building.

“All land regulation and permitting would be in one location for 90 percent of all residents of the county,” Connet said.

“I think this is a very very positive development and one that is overdue,” Councilman Ron Stephens said. “I think the county is giving us a very good deal in leasing in that building.” The city is proposing to rent office space at the rate of $10 a square foot.

“I think the bottom line is it’s one more sign of continuing cooperation between the city and county,” Councilman Jeff Miller said. “Nothing but good. We took time to get it right.”

Comments from a focus group on service and from the City Council highlighted the need for the merger, Connet said. The planning department is in City Hall, the zoning department in the county building and the fire inspector at the main fire station.“So lots of locations for our citizens to go and get a  permit,” he said.

"Sue and Susan work so closely now we felt like it made sense to put them together," Connet said in an interview before the council meeting.
In evaluating the process of getting a certificate of occupancy, city officials identified fire inspections as a function that caused delays. Calls to the fire department to schedule a fire inspection went to voice mail. "In some cases it fell through the cracks," Connet said.
The recommendation for consolidation is the newest change on the development front in a pro-business turn for the City Council. The council has directed administrators to look for ways to clear hurdles to development and it created a Business Advisory Committee to examine the city's development approval process and recommended changes.
The merged department is "not just for big developments," Connet said. It should help everyone that needs the city's OK to do work, he said, whether it's a home renovation or a big development requiring a zoning change.