Masterplan has been providing 3rd party review and other planning services to assist municipalities that are experiencing high volumes of plan submittals or staffing shortages even during the midst of the nation’s response to COVID 19. The City of New Braunfels first recognized the need for periodic help with development review processes in late 2018 when it issued a Request for Qualifications for “Third Party Review” services. Interestingly, it was during a pandemic when Masterplan first received the call for help to provide these services from the Planning Department.
The City of New Braunfels continues to receive a high volume of building permit applications, particularly permits for new home construction. Masterplan is pleased to be a partner in helping to meet the City’s stated goals of providing timely review comments or approvals to applicants. As many municipal planning departments are learning during this period, most building plans and support material can be digitized, which allows plans to be shared with reviewers working remotely from home offices.
Masterplan is also serving as the Interim City Planner for the City of Duncanville to provide planning and zoning services. These tasks include City representation of zoning and platting cases to Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council, customer service solutions, and review of internal processes to increase efficiencies. This is similar to contract City Planner services that Karl Crawley, Masterplan President, provided in the past to McLendon-Chisholm. McLendon-Chisholm is a small yet growing community in Rockwall County located east of Dallas.
It has been interesting to observe local responses throughout Texas to the COVID 19 outbreak and the subsequent stay at home and social distancing policies. Masterplan is grateful for the quick response and actions taken that have allowed for some planned construction projects to proceed during this period of reduced interactions. Many development service departments were able to quickly implement new processes for accepting online submittals, providing flexibility for some public service employees to work from home, and even utilizing technology to maintain continuity of public hearings by elected and appointed officials. Masterplan is proud to be a part of these efforts and to work with public agencies to figure out solutions and alternative methods for keeping the development review processes moving forward not only for our clients, but also for the City departments striving to maintain services for their communities.
Please know Masterplan is here to help and assist in any way possible, please contact us today.
Masterplan (www.masterplantexas.com) is a privately held nearly 40 year old business based in Dallas, TX that specializes in assisting businesses, individuals, utilities, and government agencies regarding all matters of land use. Our firm specializes in zoning changes in Dallas, TX; Houston, TX; and Austin, TX. We routinely handle Planned Development Districts, Conditional Use Permits, Special Use Permits, and all zoning matters. Likewise, we assist in expediting building permits across the state of Texas as well as assist with building code issues. Let our experience be your success. Masterplan’s related company, LaBarba Permit Service (www.labarbapermitservice.com), is celebrating its 55th year in business and specializes in obtaining approvals from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC).