Charging for Staff Review?!?!?

[Glomer]

I guess this is really a two part question.....


How do you charge for staff review?

When a developer comes in with a project, does your city make them put down a deposit from which you draw to cover consulting, administrative time? If so, how much???

We currently allow for one free sit down with staff, then they are on the clock. The problem we have is keeping track of staff time spent on each project......sometimes developers change there projects 10 times.......continually coming in (asking stupid questions, not following our directions, and waisting our time) and we (the city) ends up paying 1,000's of dollars in consulting fees.

So, does anyone make the developer put a deposit down right away.........how much.......and how do you keep track of time spent on numerous projects??????

 

[NHPlanner]

We do not charge for Town staff time, but when applications come in for review we establish an escrow account to cover consultant/legal review. The fee is based upon the size and scope of the project, and can range from $1000 to over $20,000.

 

[peter lowitt]

We charge a peer review fee which is part of the Application. It is equal to !0% of the application fee or $1000, whichever is larger. It is used to pay for our consultants review and is a deposit. If we go over, we hold up their occupancy permit until its paid. We also keep track (via timesheets) of how much time we spend on each project, just in case we have to move to a direct charge approach and to illustrate to the Commission the value of staff.