Cape implements pilot program to expedite review of commercial project plans

Cape Girardeau city officials implemented a six-month pilot program Monday to expedite the review of plans for commercial developments.

Development Services director Alex McElroy said it currently takes about four weeks to review a commercial project plan initially to determine whether it meets city codes.

Under this first-come, first-serve program, the city’s Inspection Services department “is committed to a maximum 15-day review time,” followed by a seven-day review for revisions, McElroy wrote in a memorandum.

McElroy said city staff will provide expedited review for a maximum of two new or building-addition projects or up to four renovation projects or a combination of such projects per month.

Once that limit is met in a month, the remaining projects requested for expedited review will be put in the queue for regular plan review, he said.

Developers will have to pay an additional $150 for expedited review of projects involving construction of new buildings or building additions, McElroy said.

Expedited review of renovation projects is subject to an extra $75 fee, he said.

Expedited review is available only for inspection-services reviews and not for engineering, fire-department or other city staff reviews, he said.

Developer Jason Coalter said while he welcomes the city’s effort to shorten the time it takes to secure approval for projects, he questions whether this program will make much of a difference.

Coalter said the city needs to focus on making the process more efficient.

“It might cram projects through for a month,” he said. But he added, “You can’t just Band-Aid stuff.”

If development plans go through expedited review and plans are still not code-compliant after two rounds of reviews, the project will be placed back in the regular queue for review, McElroy said.

The program will be reevaluated in March, he said.

“We wanted to provide some relief to developers,” McElroy said.

McElroy said the city has only one plan reviewer, which limits the number of projects that can be expedited in a month.

The added fees will allow the city to recover the costs associated with the quicker review process, he said.

If the city expanded the new program beyond the current monthly project limit, “we would be burning out” the review planner, McElroy said.

Adding another plan reviewer would require future budget changes, something that is not in the works, he said.

Coalter said the city needs to look at “what is the best return on investment.”

Coalter suggested the city and developers need to work together. If the two sides are not on the same page, “frustration builds on both sides,” he said.

Coalter and McElroy said the city is dealing with several development projects.

“The city gets slammed, and it backlogs everything,” Coalter said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641