Survey gauges City Hall’s business climate

The developers have spoken.

Now it’s up to Lawrence city officials to decide what to make of developers’ opinions of their dealings with City Hall in the city’s latest “Business Climate Survey.”

About 45 business representatives answered the four-page survey, offering insights about their navigation of the city’s bureaucracy — from submitting a site plan to revising a development plan, petitioning for annexation or seeking rezonings.

Results haven’t been tabulated yet, but Linda Finger, the city’s planning director, said she had a pretty good idea about what the developers would say: Streamline the process for getting projects approved.

Making the city’s development code more concise, consistent and understandable should help make the process easier for everyone involved, Finger said, but upcoming changes also will require developers to meet with neighboring property owners, concerned groups and other players before the plan reaches City Hall.

“You’re not going to be able to streamline the process enough to eliminate the public process,” said Finger, who spent Tuesday drafting a staff report about the proposed code overhaul, scheduled for review Nov. 17 by Lawrence-Douglas County planning commissioners.

“If you don’t do work on the front end, you’re going to run into problems in Lawrence.”

The survey is part of the Lawrence City Commission’s ongoing efforts to create a “user-friendly” City Hall.