Success Stories

LA City Planning Modernizes Development Application Process

LA City Planning Modernizes Development Application Process

Overview

In collaboration with its partner Novinzio, SimpliGov was able to get the cloud-based implementation up and running in only four weeks.

Like many cities across the country, developers and homeowners in Los Angeles looking to break ground on any project—a new daycare facility, a set of high-rise apartments, a house remodel, or anything in between—had to engage in a process that was paper-based and relied heavily on in-person interaction with city planners. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic presented the LA City Planning Office with an opportunity to make applying for a new construction project easier, more efficient, and less time-consuming for citizens and employees.

“When the Los Angeles Department of City Planning faced the realization that it must immediately transform its technology model to meet the demands of the ‘new normal’ for conducting business during an unprecedented global pandemic, It engaged with SimpliGov and Novinzio to implement an all-encompassing online application filing platform and payment solution as city staff and the public followed California’s ‘Safer at Home’ orders."

David Terukina

David Terukina

Senior Systems Analyst, Los Angeles Department of City Planning

Impact

  • Citizens Save Time
  • Compliant Process
  • Digitization

Challenge

  • Paper-based process required applicants to submit requests in person
  • Pandemic necessitated a new remote online process in short order
  • Applicants and city planners struggled to manage the many documents associated with each submission
  • Staff was bogged down in bureaucratic tasks

Solution

  • Workflow automation attaches credit card payment confirmation into city records
  • Seamless integration with existing case management and billing systems

Results

  • Contractors and homeowners save time by submitting new building applications online
  • Applicants and staff collaborate more effectively
  • More effective use of staff time and resources
  • Compliance with COVID-19 health protocols
  • Implementation completed in just weeks

LA City Planning

Population

3.8 Million

Use Case

Application for Development

Department

City Planning

Municipality

City

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