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Development
Services
Roderick J. Sanchez
AICP,
CBO-Director
210.207.8259
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2015 UDC
Proposed Updates are underway
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Check out
the latest
to learn more about the
top 5 violations
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Upcoming City Holidays
- Nov. 26 & 27 -
Thanksgiving Holiday
- Dec. 24 to 31 -
Winter Holiday
- Jan. 1, 2016 -
New Year's Day
- Jan. 18 -
Martin Luther King
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Development
& Business Services Center
Main Address:
1901 S. Alamo San Antonio, TX 78204
Office Hours:
7:45 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Monday - Friday
Mailing Address:
PO Box 839966
San Antonio, TX 78283
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Development
Services will follow the City holiday schedule and close Nov. 26
- 27 for Thanksgiving.
This
year's winter holiday schedule is outlined below. Like last year, the
office will open two days during the winter break to ensure your
customer needs are met.
Please
note the Development and Business Services Center will open Dec. 29
and 30 with
limited
staff from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The office will close for lunch
from noon to 1 p.m.
Additional
holiday schedule changes to note:
Planning
Commission
- Meetings
scheduled for Nov. 11, Nov. 25, Dec. 9 and Dec. 23, 2015 are
canceled
- New
meeting dates are Nov. 18 and Dec. 16 (deadlines subject to
change)
Zoning Commission
- Meetings
scheduled for Nov. 20, Dec. 18, and Jan 5, 2016 are canceled
- New
meeting dates are Dec. 1, Dec. 15, and Jan. 19, 2016
Recordation
- Recordation
date of Nov. 27 will be moved to Nov. 30 (deadline will be Nov.
25 at noon)
- The
last regular recordation opportunity for this year is Dec. 18,
2015
- Regular
recordation will resume Jan. 8, 2016
- The
regular recordation schedule will be suspended during the winter
break.
- Out-of-sequence
recordation options are available
Building Standards Board
- Meeting
dates are Dec. 3 and 10
Board of Adjustment
- Meeting
dates are Dec. 7 and Dec. 21
For more information, visit the online
holiday schedule.
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Facilitation at
its Finest
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The
Development Services Department (DSD) regulates land and building
development, while enforcing property maintenance and
building-related codes to help maintain a safer San Antonio. In
line with this effort, DSD supports a customer service philosophy of
facilitation, meaning DSD will coordinate with other City
departments and outside agencies to help residents, commercial
entities, and business owners complete their projects both timely and
effectively.
"As
facilitators for Development Services and the City of San Antonio, it
is our job to help make the process easier for our customers and look
for ways to say 'yes'," said Rod Sanchez, DSD Director.
DSD
has helped facilitate many projects throughout the building,
inspection, and permitting process.
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The
Barn Door Fire Damage
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In
March 2014, the Barn Door Restaurant had a grill fire where an
ember got caught in between a wall and main charcoal cooking grill's
chimney; the chimney was built in the 1950's. While quickly
extinguished, the fire damage created the need for restoration. With
the fire out, and everyone safe, the restaurant reopened the
next day with the help of the Barn Door staff and city
inspectors; however, the extensive fire damage was still a problem.
"We
were advised by the architect and engineers hired for the
restoration that we had a major problem on our hands and the
restaurant may not survive," said Ken Gindy, from the Barn Door.
"The building, which is over 15,000 square feet (with the
fire effecting about 500 square feet) had not had
significant remodeling work in more than 20 years and we were
looking at major reconstruction to bring the entire building up
to current code."
After
spending several weeks with the contractor, architect, and engineers
on the issues, Randy Stokes, Barn Door Owner, contacted the DSD
Director, who suggested that he and his staff inspect the
building with the restaurant owners, and their design team.
Upon
completing the walk through, Rod and his team explained the City
of San Antonio adopted the Existing Building Code, allowing for all
new work to be restored to the current building code while
the undamaged portions of the building did not have to be
touched. During the rebuild, the fire place and grill were
completed to meet current fire code standards, and retained the
historic look and feel of the restaurant. City staff met with
the team often, addressing specific questions while the plans were
being prepared for the temporary grill in the kitchen and restoration
of "Sonny's" dining room cooking grill.
Some
issues were not found until something else was opened; for example,
before the fire there was no significant vent or make up
air system for Sonny's grill. The City worked with the Barn
Door by allowing an installation of a single make up air
system for the temporary grill installed in the kitchen, and
then using the same basic system for the permanent grill
restoration.
"Our
overall experience with DSD was excellent!" said Randy.
"DSD's procedure of working with the property owner to keep the
business open was essential for us. If we found a problem
meeting a current code requirement, DSD promptly reviewed
the situation and offered alternatives to ensure the integrity of the
code without endangering public safety."
Throughout
the restoration, DSD helped facilitate the project and offered
alternatives and guidance; inspections were completed timely and
performed on a schedule that allowed the kitchen to remain open.
"Facilitation
is key," said Rod. "With the right people in the right
place, we can do amazing things and make the development process
easier for our customers."
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BuildSA - on
Target
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As
previously shared, the BuildSA Project kicked off in July 2015 with
the goal to develop a new system that will replace DSD's 4 core systems
(LDS, TPLT, Hansen and ECCO) and allow for information-sharing across
all DSD services and external city partners.
The
project will be deployed into 3 Groups, as outlined below:
Functional
Group 1: Land Development
Functional
Group 2: Permitting, Plan Review, Licensing and Inspections
Functional
Group 3: Code Enforcement
The
project timeline below shows the targeted dates for each group.
What has the BUILDSA Team completed?
To date, the BuildSA team
has validated the requirements from the business and technical staff;
completed an impact assessment of the affected stakeholders; and
established an Organizational Change Management (OCM) Team and
strategy with the mission to educate, enable and empower BuildSA
users to confidently deliver high quality service. In addition, the
OCM team has created a new email specific for BuildSA; all
questions and feedback regarding BuildSA should be directed to BuildSAOCMTeam@sanantonio.gov.
What
are we working on now?
The
team is currently conducting work group sessions to discuss detailed
requirements for the various application types received and processed
by Land Development, while evaluating the other systems and tools
used in the Land Development processes today.
What
next?
OCM
will be working toward building out screen samples to reflect Land
Development business processes for the new BuildSA system. At the
same time, the OCM team will develop a plan for communicating,
managing, and measuring stakeholder change readiness.
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2015 UDC
Amendments Update
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For
the last several months, Unified Development Code (UDC) amendments
have been reviewed and considered by several stakeholders and the
Planning Commissions Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). DSD served
as the administrator over this process and accepted more than 200
submissions. 
As
the UDC amendment process continues, the timeline below outlines the
actions that have occurred this year:
- May
1 - DSD received 260 amendment submittals by 30
internal/external agencies and/or private citizen
- July
- October - TAC has considered and approved over 200 amendments
since the initial meeting
- October
- Consideration by Board of Adjustments, Zoning Commission, and
Planning Commission
- November
- Consideration by Neighborhoods and Livability Committee
The general next steps:
- December
2015 - City Council public hearing and consideration
- January
2016 - Amendments to be effective
DSD, in coordination with the San Antonio River
Authority and Transportation, and Capital Improvement (TCI), will
also be moving forward with additional UDC amendments relating to Low
Impact Development (LID) and Conservation Subdivisions. TAC
considered the item at the Nov. 23 meeting, and now plans to move
forward with briefings to Boards and Commissions in January, and
Council Approval in February.
DSD will coordinate several training sessions
after the New Year to get familiar with the adopted changes. We
encourage you to sign up for training once the schedule is
distributed.
Visit the Unified Development Code section on the DSD
website to view a list of considered amendments and TAC
Agendas. Once the 2015 UDC training schedule is available, it
will be located on this site as well.
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Information
Bulletins and Other Resources
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For
a complete list of Code and Rule Interpretations and Information
Bulletins, visit the sites shared below:
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Performance
Measures - FY 2016
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To view the
performance measures in their entirety, visit
The October
metrics are as follows:
Performance
Measures
Permit
Activity
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City News
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CITY ANNOUNCES THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY SCHEDULE
City Hall and most municipal offices will be closed to
observe the Thanksgiving holidays Nov. 26-27, 2015.
SAFER
RIDESHARING FOR SAN ANTONIO
New online video explains safer ridesharing for San
Antonians where riders can choose drivers with SAPD-verified
background checks.
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
Stay connected with the City as we communicate and
broadcast information to our residents.
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Other Department News
- Customer Comments, New Hires, Recognition, etc.
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Here's what you said about us...
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 Melissa Ramirez, Cat Hernandez, Logan
Sparrow, Land Development
I cannot say enough about how caring, and the
professionalism all three employees showed. My only experience I had
with zoning and development was when I built and developed my
property in early 1990. I was treated real well back then and
everyone was very helpful. I have heard nothing but horrible stories
from different developers and attorneys on how I was going to have
trouble with the city if I attempted to get changes made even though
the city had errors on the maps. Attorneys that deal with the city on
my problem wanted to charge me anywhere from 5K on up but I took it
upon myself to deal with this department. I was referred to Melissa
Ramirez by a person who knew her; and all I can say is that she is a
big asset to the city. She returned my phone call on the same day I
emailed her, at approximately 7 p.m. I am sure this was done on her
own time. I can't say enough about her and what an outstanding city
employee she is. The same applies to Cat Hernandez - she responded
the same way Melissa did in returning my emails and phone calls;
another outstanding employee. I never communicated with Mr. Sparrow but
he also responded and took care of my problem in an outstanding time
and manner. I will never let anyone talk bad about the service and
employees of this department. I am sure that other departments also
have outstanding employees. My experience with this department
surpassed my expectations. If you ever need someone to state my
experience please don't hesitate to contact me. Again outstanding
job.
Mark Gonzalez, Plans Examiner II, Plan Review
Mark has always been helpful. Today I went to him on
an item that we had been working on for a couple of days. In less
then a few hours he helped us resolve our question/concern. He is
reliable, helpful, and always willing to help where he can. The City is
very lucky to have him on their team.
Olivia Rodriguez, Development Services Specialist, Plan
Review
Great FAST Reviews!! Very knowledgeable staff.
She answers the phone and gives accurate information. I look forward
to projects in San Antonio!
Denise Hastings, Code Enforcement Supervisor, Field
Services
Denise has always been a professional. I had a concern
on a tent camped as a residence at 13509 Babcock and Denise followed
through. I like her work.
Ramiro Carrillo, Building Inspections Supervisor, Field
Services
Mr. Carrillo was extremely helpful in helping us
obtain our TCO by verifying our documentation and doing our
inspections. He is extremely professional and a definite asset to
your team. Working with his team has been a pleasure.
Jacob Cuellar, Roland Resendez, Commercial Building
Inspectors, Field Services
I have dealt with other municipalities and by far San
Antonio has been the best to deal with. Jacob and Roland have
been very helpful during the inspection process at City Vista. We
have hit a few snags along the way due to how we permitted the
project and it presented a lot of challenges for the Development
Services Team; however everyone that I dealt with was more than
willing to help and provide insight as to how to get to the finish
line for the project. I look forward to working with your team again
in the future.
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Job
Opportunities
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Development
Services is recruiting for the following position:
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For
comments or suggestions regarding the Development Services
Newsletter, contact Kathy
Quinones.
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