Note: this was originally posted on NextDoor.

Yesterday evening I attended a Code Review workshop at our Village Hall, and I wanted to post a brief update. Despite the fact that 94% of applications that go in front of the APRB are approved without requiring modifications*, many of us have have seen and and observed that the process for permit approval can be made more expeditious and transparent for applicants. In response to this, a huge amount of effort has been put into process improvement in our village government over the last couple of years. The presentation and discussion yesterday between the Trustees and the Village ZBA members, which was lead by Peggy C. Brizee (as she has had a primary role in pushing forward this new process) was related to a big change that is being finalized to the flow of permit applications through our municipal process.

Code review workshop diagram of new process

The new proposed flow is intended to go hand-in-hand with the ongoing Comprehensive Plan and Village Code updates that you have probably been hearing a lot about in recent months. While there is still more to do, everyone at the meeting yesterday did seem enthusiastic about the progress and participating in the conversation so that the new flow can be finalized and implemented.

In starting and growing a company over the last decade, I have seen countless times how easy it can be to complain about inefficiencies in process, and how much harder it is to be part of constructive change. I believe it is even more difficult in government because of a variety of factors. In our Village we have lots of people who volunteer time on the various boards and committees that keep our Village government running while at the same time supporting a huge overhaul of our Code, and I would suspect that some of the same characteristics that compel them to serve their communities may also lead them to not publicize their own achievements and efforts often enough.

If you have a chance, talk to some of the folks involved in these changes and ask them about what is happening, and please, thank them for their hard work!

  • I heard that this number came from a recent study of APRB applications, but I do not have the exact source. If anyone does, please post!