In this Issue:
- BuildSA News
- Philip M. Barshop Founder's Award
- Parking Lot Update
- SA Speak Up
- Mahncke Park NCD update
- Military Protection Areas
- Sign up for SABCA
- Online Resources
- Performance Measures
- Department News
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BuildSA Release 2 is Underway
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Release 2 is well underway! Thank you to the Development Community committee who participated in the Feb. 8 stakeholder meeting. The BuildSA team hosted this meeting to capture feedback and comments, ensuring we deliver a system that works best for our customers.
With Release 2, BuildSA will offer the remainder of Development Services’ operations, including: plan review, building and fire permitting and inspections; contractor licensing and registration; and code enforcement.
Starting this summer, customers seeking a garage sale permit will be able to purchase it online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Also this summer, customers currently using BuildSA will have the option to establish an escrow account to pay for Land Development Services. Once live with Building Development, customers will have the option
to use their escrow account to pay for plan review, permits, inspections and license registrations.
The timeline below outlines the Release 2 roll out, starting with City Council’s approval of the GCOM Software, Inc. contract awarded on Jan. 10, 2019.
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Currently, information-gathering sessions are taking place with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from their respective areas to outline existing processes.
The formal kick-off meeting took place at the Cliff Morton Development and Business Services Center on Feb. 7, 2019. Over 70 City of San Antonio DSD staff members and guests gathered to hear information about the upcoming release. During the meeting, we shared an overview of the delivery strategy for BuildSA Release 2.
Through BuildSA, Development Services’ goal is to deliver convenient, efficient and innovative services using one consolidated system. We look forward to accomplishing this by winter 2020.
Like with the first phase, the BuildSA team will continue to meet with our stakeholders and provide updates as information becomes available. As always, your feedback is welcome; please contact us at
buildsaocmteam@sanantonio.gov.
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Did you know?
When a plat changes from a major to a minor (or vice versa) in BuildSA, the system closes the
original
application and places the letter ‘P’ at the end of the Record ID. For example, the ‘P’ at the end of Record ID # LAND-PLAT-18-900130-P indicates the plat is closed. The new plat ID remains the same without the ‘P’ at the end.
Please do not submit documents for records that end in “-P.”
To view, or have access to the new record through Accela Citizen Access, please submit a
PIN request
.
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BuildSA update!
Effective immediately, Land Development plat applications that were submitted using BuildSA starting Jan. 1 ,2019 can be referenced on the plat using only the numerical portion of the plat. For example, Record ID # LAND-PLAT-19-11800055 can be referenced as 1911800055 on the plat. For plats submitted using BuildSA between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2018, please continue to reference the full Plat ID. For example, Record ID# LAND-PLAT-18-900001 should be referenced on the plat as LAND-PLAT-18-900001.
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Philip M. Barshop Founder's Award
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Pictured L - R: Melissa Ramirez, DSD Assistant Director, Land Development, George Peck, P.E., and Mike Shannon, DSD Director.
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Pictured at Jan. 29 award celebration, George Peck, center first row, along with past recipients and Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
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Kudos to Mr. George W. Peck, P.E., Principal – Division Manager, Civil Engineering Consultants, for receiving the Philip M. Barshop Founder's Award on Jan. 29.
This award is given annually by the Real Estate Council of San Antonio (RECSA) to honor those who carry forward the legacy of leadership, hard work, community involvement, and advocacy for the real estate development industry.
Mr. Peck has served RECSA and the industry for many years, most recently serving as Chair of the Planning Commission for the City of San Antonio Development Services Department.
“George is the perfect recipient of this award,” said Mike Shannon, DSD Director. “His dedication and leadership to the Planning Commission, DSD, and the development community overall does not go unnoticed, and for that, I am grateful. Congratulations George!”
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Overflow Parking Lot Available March 1
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As business has increased, and on days when we have our Boards and Commissions meetings, it can be challenging to find a visitor parking spot at the Development Services office.
To support our customers and help alleviate parking issues,
effective March 1, the parking lot located across the street from the
Cliff Morton Development and Business Services Center
will be open as overflow for both One Stop customers and staff, during normal business hours.
As a friendly safety reminder, do not jaywalk but use the crosswalk at S. Alamo and Flores to cross the street. Be vigilant of traveling vehicles when crossing the street.
Coming next month, DSD will add more visitor parking spots to the One Stop parking lot, and repaint the current visitor parking spaces to make finding a spot easier for you.
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The City of San Antonio wants you to ‘Speak Up’ to make your community a better place!
City Council passed the SA Speak Up ordinance on Jan. 17
to encourage meaningful civic engagement from all San Antonio citizens on the development of city policies and services, and program implementation.
Government and Public Affairs has used the SA Speak Up platform to capture and share information regarding the annual budget process for the last couple of years, which proved to be effective. This new process has been expanded to include public participation on particular issues as they relate to any city department.
SA Speak Up has four stages: 1) Community Engagement; 2) Under Review; 3) Final Report; and 4) Implementation. Stage 1 is your opportunity to tell the City of San Antonio what ideas you have regarding the new item. As new initiatives are promoted, you will be asked to speak up by taking a quick survey or to ‘Meet Up’ with us at upcoming events.
DSD Stakeholder Engagement
DSD goes to great lengths in engaging our stakeholders, including the development community, residents, and neighborhoods. We believe these partnerships are vital to how we do business today, and overall helps build trust and buy-in with our initiatives.
As such, DSD is excited about this new citywide engagement process and will include this new platform as items come up. We are currently using this process for your input on the Digital Billboards in San Antonio City Limits; the
survey
is open through Mar. 8.
To learn more about SA Speak Up, including the latest initiatives, survey topics, meet up open house events, and various ways to stay connected, visit us at
www.saspeakup.com
.
Be sure to bookmark this site to see how you can make your voice heard.
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In March 2017, former District 2 Councilman Alan Warrick submitted a Council Consideration Request to amend the Mahncke Park Neighborhood Conservation District (NCD) language to ensure guidelines protect the integrity of the design standards of the neighborhood. Since that time, the Mahncke Park neighborhood has experienced significant revitalization and interest from private and public investments, resulting in increased awareness of improvement needed to the current NCD Design Standards. To safeguard the consistency of the character of the neighborhood, Development Services held a kickoff meeting with property owners within the NCD October 2017.
The Taskforce met 12 times between February and December 2018 to develop revisions to the NCD. The proposed amendments were presented to the Mahncke Park Neighborhood Association on Jan. 15, 2019 and at a community meeting on Jan. 23. DSD staff presented the revisions as a Unified Development Code amendment to the Zoning Commission (ZC) at a Public Hearing held Feb. 19; and was continued to the March 19 ZC. The tentative consideration by City Council is scheduled for March 21.
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Military Protection Areas
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Changes in state law, which were effective Dec. 1, 2017, provide a municipality with the ability to extend land use controls within five miles of military bases with active training as a means to provide protection of the military’s missions if annexation is not approved.
On Nov. 6, 2018, voters rejected annexation and approved land use controls in two areas of Bexar County, one to the west of Lackland Medina Annex and one to the west of Camp Bullis.
Since the election, DSD, along with Planning Department, City Attorney’s Office, Office of Military Affairs, Bexar County, and the military have been working to develop
regulations allowed to be implemented per the Nov. 6 vote.
Once the draft of the regulations is finalized, Development Services will conduct stakeholder and community meetings, and brief the Boards and Commissions. The current timeline anticipates presenting the regulations to City Council for consideration in Jun
e.
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Save the Dates! SABCA Classes Coming Soon
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Save the date for the next
San Antonio Building Codes Academy (SABCA)
training sessions:
- March 25-26 – One & Two-Family Dwelling Electrical Systems
- April 8-9 – 2018 IRC Braced Wall Provisions
These sessions will take place at the Phil Hardberger Park Urban Ecology Center, Gathering Hall, 8400 N.W. Military Highway, San Antonio, TX.
SABCA’s goal is to bring high-quality educators and necessary building-related codes training to code officials, design professionals, builders, tradesmen and building owners and managers. The training provides Continuing Education Units and is provided by International Code Council professional instructors.
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The Information Bulletin (IB) listed below is new; to learn more, select the link.
As a customer service initiative and in preparation for the new permitting software, DSD created IB235 to provide information regarding the expanded commercial minor structures permitting process (previous “walkthroughs”). In addition, we created a single Project Application that includes new types of simple commercial projects called “minor structures,” which could be expedited.
For a complete list of resources, visit the following sites:
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Performance Measures & Permit Report
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Performance Measures
The performance measures report is available
online
.
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If you are interested in joining our department, apply
online
.
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For promotions, new hires, and certification news, click
here
.
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