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The Story of DPIE

June 2016

Authors:

The Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement (commonly known as DPIE) is the newest department in Prince George’s County (County), which is located just east of the District of Columbia. This paper chronicles the many interrelated activities which went into the creation of DPIE.

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The Story of DPIE

Synergy through Consolidation and Co-location

Daniel L. Dornan, P.E.

Special Assistant to the Director of DPIE

The paper tells the story of the creation and evolution of Prince George’s County, Maryland’s

Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement (DPIE) during its first two years of

operation.

June 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

Table of Contents………………………………………..………………………………………….......... 1

List of Exhibits………………………………………………………………………………………….... 2

Summary………………………………………………………………………………………………......3

1. Background……………………………………………………………………………….…………..4

Geographic and Socioeconomic Context………………………………………………………… 4

Efforts by Prior Administrations………………………………………………………..…………4

New Administration with Bold Vision……………………………………….……….……….......5

Stakeholder Feedback…………………………………………………….…………….………….5

2. Genesis of DPIE Concept………………………………………………….…….…………………....6

Development of the DPIE Concept……………………………….……………….……….............6

Legal Basis for DPIE……………………………………………………………………………....8

Timeframe for Establishing DPIE………………………………………………………………....8

Locating DPIE Building and Functions………………….…………………………………….......9

Components of Change for Developing DPIE…….………………………………………………11

3. Management Framework for Creating DPIE………………………………………………………12

DPIE Project Management Office…………………………………………………..…………….12

Project Charter…………………………………………………………………………………….12

DPIE Vision, Mission, and Objective Statements…………………………………………….......12

Core Working Groups……………………………………………………………………...….......13

4. Core Working Group Activities and Products……………………………………………......……13

Organization and Staff Planning Working Group……………………………...…..……..............13

Building and Space Planning Working Group……………………………………..……....…......16

Process and Procedure Improvement Working Group…………………………..…...…….…......19

Peer and Third-Party Plan Review and other Expedited Services…………………...……………20

Technology Working Group…………………………….…………………………………….......22

DPIE Budget Working Group……………………………………...……………………………...23

5. DPIE Opening and Post-Opening Initiatives…………..………………………...…………………24

Customer Service Expansion…………………………………………...…………….…………...24

Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with Bi-County Agencies…………………………….....24

Continuous Improvement Initiatives………………………………...………………….…………25

Employee Recognition Programs………………………………………………………….………27

Key Program Documentation…………………………………..………………………………….27

Revised Permit and License Fee Schedule…………………………………………………….......29

6. Performance Results for DPIE………………………………………………………………………29

7. Needs for Moving DPIE Forward…………………………………………………………….…......31

8. Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………………………33

Appendix – Major Two-Year Achievements………………………..………...…………….………......35

LIST OF EXHIBITS

EXHIBIT PAGE

1. Geographic Location of Prince George’s County, Maryland………………………...……….…............4

2. Key Functions of DPIE………………………………………………….…………...…………….…….....7

3. Agencies Aligned with DPIE……………………………….……………….……………………………...7

4. DPIE Building at 9400 Peppercorn Place, Largo, Maryland.….…………..……………………………9

5. Location of DPIE in Prince George’s County, Maryland ………………………………………....…...10

6. DPIE Management Organization Structure………………………………………………………….…14

7. DPIE Functional Organization Structure …….………………………………………………………...15

8. First Floor of the DPIE Building………………………………………..………………………………..17

9. Mega Project Build or Planned in Prince George’s County…...…………………..…………………...18

10. DPIE Building Spaces …………………….……………………………………………………………....19

11. Signing Ceremony for Memoranda of Understanding between DPIE and M-NCPPC and WSSC....25

12. Snow Drift at DPIE Building…………………..……………………………………................................28

13. Two Year Performance Improvement by DPIE………………………………………………………...30

14. MGM Entertainment Complex……………………………………………....…..…................................31

THE STORY OF DPIE

SYNERGY THROUGH CONSOLIDATION AND CO-LOCATION

By Daniel L. Dornan, Special Assistant to the Director

SUMMARY

The Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement (commonly known as DPIE) is the newest

department in Prince George’s County (County), which is located just east of the District of Columbia. DPIE was

originally conceived as a response to continuing criticism of the County’s permitting and licensing processes

lodged by representatives of the economic development community in Prince George’s County.

DPIE is the keynote initiative in the Baker* Administration’s strategy for improving the County’s capacity to

meet the needs of developers and businesses seeking permits and licenses from the County in a timely and

proficient manner. DPIE brings together staff from nine County, bi-County, and State agencies under one-roof

so that customers can access related services required for issuing a permit or license.

DPIE has achieved dramatic improvements in various service measures through organizational transformation,

process improvement, technology enhancement, staffing optimization, office space rehabilitation, performance

monitoring and reporting and staff recognition. This includes an 88 percent increase in revenues between fiscal

years 2014 and 2016, a doubling of permit, plan review and inspection activity and a 63-95 percent reduction in

the processing time for processing permits and licenses. These are perhaps the most significant measures of

accomplishment for this relatively new agency and are consistent with the Baker Mission Statement which calls

for “providing excellent services that achieve high levels of customer satisfaction.” All this was accomplished

without increasing staff or outsourcing.

This paper chronicles the many interrelated activities which went into the creation of DPIE. The paper:

 Provides a biographical account of the development and implementation of DPIE – the vision, the

organization, the people, the struggles, and the triumphs.

 Traces the development and implementation of DPIE from its 2012 inception to its current

manifestation.

 Describes the many players and many steps which were required to launch this bold initiative.

 Discusses further steps that are needed to fulfill County Executive Rushern L. Baker, III’s vision for the

agency.

* Rushern L. Baker, III – Prince George’s County Executive

1. BACKGROUND

This chapter provides insight into the geographic, socioeconomic, political, and historical context for the

development of DPIE. It also describes how the concept for DPIE was developed and the major changes which

needed to occur for the concept to become reality.

Geographic and Socioeconomic Context

DPIE is the newest department in Prince George’s County, Maryland, which is located adjacent to and east of

Washington, D.C. (see Exhibit 1). The County is the second most populous in the state of Maryland, with nearly

900,000 residents representing approximately 15% of Maryland’s total population of just over 5.8 million

residents. Prince George's County is immediately north, east, and south of Washington, D.C., comprising a total

land area of 500 square miles. According to the U.S. Census, the median income for a household in the county

for 2011 was $73,447, compared to a U.S. median household income of $50,100. Prince George’s County is also

one of the largest counties in the U.S. with a majority of residents classified as Black or African American.

Almost twenty percent of County residents are foreign born.

Exhibit 1 – Geographic Location of Prince George’s County, Maryland

Efforts by Prior Administrations

For many years stretching back into the 1970s, various administrations in Prince George’s County attempted to

address broad-based criticism of the County’s permitting processes by making modest changes to the

organization and location of these functions which spread across multiple agencies located in widely-dispersed

buildings. The most recent effort involved establishing a One-Stop Permitting Center on the top floor of the

Peppercorn Building which housed both the former Department of Environmental Resources (DER) and the

Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPW&T). This earlier attempt put resources from these two

County agencies and a bi-County agency, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-

NCPPC) together on the sixth floor Permitting Center. These earlier efforts paved the way for the ultimate

solution – DPIE.

New Administration with Bold Vision

The 2012 election of a new County Executive, Rushern L. Baker III, created the opportunity for the County to

revisit the many serious challenges facing the County, develop positive strategies to address these challenges,

and apply the necessary resources to implement these strategies. During the period following the election and

prior to the installation of the new administration a number of outreach efforts were made to identify and

prioritize the most pressing problems holding the County back from achieving its full potential. Those

participating in these efforts included:

 Baker Transition Team members

 Other elected officials

 Community, environmental, and business leaders

 County public employee union representatives

 Process Transformation Team (PT2) comprised of building industry representatives

 Staffs of affected County agencies

 Officials from neighboring jurisdictions and leading-edge counties and cities (such as Montgomery

County, District of Columbia, Fairfax County, Arlington County, and Chicago)

 Site visits to Montgomery County, District of Columbia, and Howard County to observe first-hand their

permit processing office arrangements, use of advanced technology, and workflow

Before and after taking office as County Executive, Mr. Baker also participated in a number of town meetings

intended to solicit the views of constituents regarding services that needed to be improved. Among the

functions deemed most in need of improvement was the entire entitlement and permitting process. Many

complained that the land use and zoning approval (entitlement) process was exceedingly cumbersome, slow

and subject to involvement by elected officials acting on behalf of constituents seeking approval of zoning

changes, particularly zoning exceptions. While streamlining this set of processes had long been an objective of

prior administrations, making substantive progress had been limited since the entitlement process remained

primarily the responsibility of the semi-autonomous Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

Stakeholder Feedback

The result of these outreach efforts was a prioritized list of improvement strategies grouped under the

following four core areas:

 Economic Development

 Health Care

 Public Education

 Public Safety

The first area was selected because of its importance to overall County efforts to develop and sustain the tax

base needed to adequately support programs in all four areas. With little commercial development and an

overabundance of residential housing, the costs of County government have traditionally been shouldered by

residential property owners. County stakeholders noted that achieving greater economic development to take

some of the tax burden off the shoulders of residents would require the County to become a more attractive

place to do business. This meant quality education, high public safety, and superior health care.

When asked about the County’s past performance in serving the building community, stakeholders frequently

noted the following concerns:

 Lengthy time to process permits

 Numerous disparate locations of responsible agencies

 Fragmented authorities/responsibilities among multiple agencies

 Functional redundancy and duplication of effort

 Inconsistent plan reviews and resulting rework

 Inefficient manual and paper-based processes

 Weak code enforcement of property standards

 Long time to resolve property standards code violations

These were viewed to be impediments to economic development and neighborhood revitalization and served

as the basis for creating DPIE.

2. GENESIS OF DPIE CONCEPT

There were two driving forces behind the development of DPIE. The first was a need to make the permitting

process more Simple, more Timely, and more Predictable (or STP for short) so the regulatory review and

inspection processes could be performed more cost-effectively for the economic development community. STP

became an early catchphrase for the objectives of DPIE and its central mission of Serving The Public. The

second impetus for change was the perception that the County’s permitting and inspection functions were

highly fragmented, both organizationally and geographically. There were major permitting and inspection

functions in the Department of Environmental Resources (DER - now known as the Department of the

Environment or DoE), the Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPW&T), and the Health

Department. This created delays and redundancies in the permitting and inspection services, thereby reducing

the attractiveness of the County to developers and builders with other neighboring counties and cities to site

their projects.

Development of the DPIE Concept

The election of County Executive Baker ushered in a new era for the County to take a fresh approach in how it

regulates and serves the development community. Early in its first term, the Baker Administration pledged to

make economic development one of four focus areas for the County. Guided by inputs provided by various

internal and external stakeholders at meetings held in mid-2012 and the results of a survey of leading

jurisdictions providing permit and license processing services, County Executive Baker issued an executive order

on August 21, 2012 calling for the creation of a new department that would combine the resources and

functions of permitting (including cashiering, licensing, and plan review), inspections, and enforcement of

property standards.

The new department was intended to serve as evidence of the Baker Administration’s commitment to its

mission:

The Baker Mission:

To transform the quality of life for our residents, visitors and businesses by providing

excellent services that achieve high levels of customer satisfaction through integrity,

accountability and convenience.

The Baker Team laid out a broad framework for the new department and a short-term schedule for its

implementation with little consideration for how many things needed to be developed and implemented. The

new department was to encompass the many functions associated with the issuance of permits and licenses

relating to economic development whether existing or proposed. Hence the chosen name for the agency

became: the Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement (DPIE) - with an underlying objective of

better serving its many diverse customers. The relationships of the core functions of DPIE are portrayed in the

following exhibit.

Exhibit 2 - Key Functions of DPIE

All of the County’s fee-based services associated with permit and business license processing were to be either

combined or co-located under one roof. This meant carving out these functions and their staffs from several

County agencies and somehow reassembling the pieces into an organization structure that did not yet exist. In

addition, other County, bi-County, and State agencies involved in these functions were to have staff co-located

in the same building. The various agencies that were to become aligned with DPIE are shown in Exhibit 3.

Exhibit 3 - Agencies Aligned with DPIE

Legal Basis for DPIE

The legal framework for DPIE included subtitles of the County Code which were formerly applied to the host

agencies from which the Department derived most of its functionality and staff resources (DER, DPW&T and

Health). The key subtitles of the County Code which provided the legal basis for DPIE’s major responsibilities

included:

 Subtitle 4 – Building

 Subtitle 5 – Business and Licensing

 Subtitle 5B – Chesapeake Bay Critical Area

 Subtitle 13 – Housing and Property Standards

 Subtitle 24 – Subdivisions

 Subtitle 27 – Zoning

 Subtitle 30 – Agriculture (Enforcement)

 Subtitle 32 – Water Resources Protection and Grading

Timeframe for Establishing DPIE

This new department was to open in ten months following issuance of the Executive Order calling for the

establishment of DPIE. The sequence of events leading up to the opening of DPIE included the following:

 July 2012 – County Executive Announced Establishment of DPIE

 August 2012 – Executive Order Calling for Creation of DPIE Transmitted to Council

 September 2012 – Interagency Working Group Formed - including representatives of all County, Bi-

County, and State agencies to be included or co-located with DPIE

 September 2012 – DPIE Core Working Groups Formed - with group leaders assigned to each from

among key managers of core functional areas

 October 2012 – Council Approved Executive Order

 January 2013 – Proposed Changes Discussed with Public Employee Unions

 January 2013 – Enabling Legislation Submitted and subsequently passed

 July 2013 – DPIE Launched

The details for how this new department would be set up and operated were left to representatives from the

various agencies that were participating on working groups assigned to develop DPIE. The short timeframe for

getting DPIE designed, developed, and implemented was made even more difficult by having to consolidate

staffs and functions from three County agencies (DER, DPW&T, and Health) and co-locate with six County, Bi-

County, and State agencies, including:

 Office of Law (OOL)

 Fire Department

 Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC)

 Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC)

 Prince George’s Soil Conservation District (SCD)

 State Highway Administration (SHA)

Locating DPIE Building and Functions

Recognizing the condensed timeframe to set up DPIE, it was decided early in the planning process to house the

new department in the 27-year old Peppercorn Building where two of the three key source agencies (DER and

DPW&T) were already located (pictured in Exhibit 4).

Exhibit 4 – DPIE Building at 9400 Peppercorn Place, Largo, Maryland

As shown in Exhibit 5, the Peppercorn Building was centrally located in the Largo government campus, along

with buildings that housed a number of other County agencies. The area was served by major interstate,

primary and secondary roads, the regional transit system (Metrorail), and the County’s transit service (The Bus).

Having a central location was essential to making it convenient for customers to apply, obtain, and pay for

permits and business licenses by going to one building instead of multiple buildings spread around the County.

DPIE has been moving to on-line permitting and payment to reduce or eliminate customers from having to come

to the DPIE Building. This is a gradual process since DPIE is constrained by an outdated application which

currently serves as the backbone for the Department’s permitting and licensing processing.

Exhibit 5 – Location of DPIE in Prince

George’s County, Maryland

The first major hurdle facing the transition PMO Team was the absence of space in the building for DPIE. Given

the expected size of DPIE, it was determined that at least 4-5 floors of the building would be required for DPIE

and its co-located agency staffs. The only solution was to move out of the building several of the current

occupants, including the Department of Housing and Community Development from the first and second floors

and ultimately the Department of Environmental Resources from the 5th floor. The first floor would need to be

gutted and reconstructed to accommodate the many customer-facing functions that would be located there,

including the Permit Center, License Center, Cashier’s Office, and Homeowners and Mega Projects Suite. Hence

the focus of one of the major working groups was on the space needs of DPIE and how to reconstruct the first

floor in time for the DPIE opening.

The decision to alter the traditional pattern of having all permit applicants go to the first floor instead of the top

sixth floor of the Peppercorn Building was intended to make customers’ visits to obtain services less burdensome

and counterproductive. The second floor was designed to house the plan review staffs of the new department,

given their related functionality to the permitting processes to be located on the first floor. To pay for these

improvements, the County chose to use its Capital Improvement Program (CIP) funds. The reconstructed first

floor was opened to DPIE on July 1, 2013 while the second floor was opened in February 2014.

Components of Change for Developing DPIE

In developing DPIE, the County embarked on a multi-year transition plan that would impact every aspect of the

Department. The plan’s concurrent change elements included:

 Establishing a unique culture for the new agency, created out of the distinct cultures of the three

departments contributing significant functionality and staff to DPIE.

 Creating an organization structure for the new agency, drawing primarily on the functional alignment

of the three contributing departments.

 Determining the staffing complement for each office, division, section and unit of the new agency,

including position assignments and responsibilities for all staff being reclassified as DPIE employees.

 Reconfiguring the interior space of the building where the new agency would be housed, including

complete reconstruction of the first two floors of the building selected to house DPIE, including the

Permit Center, License Center, and Cashier’s Office on the first floor and building and site/road plan

review on the second floor.

 Updating policies and streamlining procedures transferred to DPIE from DER and DPW&T to improve

efficiency and customer service, as measured by a monthly performance tracking system.

 Making greater use of technology to automate selected processes, such as queue management in the

Permit Center, electronic plan review for concurrent access and processing, and on-line access to

permit and license applications and issuance.

 Setting up the budget structure for the new agency based on how the sections transferred from DER

and DPW&T were budgeted.

By implementing DPIE the County expected to achieve the following results:

 Greater process efficiencies

 More timely resolution of issues between multiple agencies co-located in one building

 Predecessor agencies able to focus on their core services

 Expedited permitting processes which reduce:

o Redundancies and duplication of effort

o Frequency of customers trips between numerous locations to obtain a permit

o Inconsistencies between agencies and resulting conflicts, re-work, and lost time

 Placement of all DPIE staff under one roof to reduce the cost and time to comply with permitting

requirements across functions

These results were expected to facilitate economic development, redevelopment, and neighborhood

revitalization.

3. MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK FOR CREATING DPIE

In August 2012, the County Executive appointed the director of DPW&T to lead the DPIE development effort

by. That meant he would be responsible for assembling and guiding the internal and external resources

needed to create and launch DPIE – all within a ten-month timeframe. DER contributed one of its deputy

directors to assist in the development of DPIE and coordinate these efforts with the other major department

(DER) contributing resources to the new agency.

DPIE Project Management Office

The first step in the creation of DPIE was the establishment of a Project Management Office (PMO) to guide the

creation and implementation of DPIE. The PMO consisted of senior-level staff from the Office of the County

Executive, DPW&T, DER, the Office of Information Technology, and an external IT consultant. This group met

on a weekly basis to develop and execute strategies for creating DPIE and to coordinate with various working

groups charged with carrying out the implementation of these strategies.

Project Charter

Among the first products of the PMO was a project charter that included:

 Business Case – project description and purpose, business need, benefits, assumptions/dependencies,

constraints, milestones, acceptance criteria, and funding/budget information;

 Project Control Information – describing the roles and responsibilities of the project sponsor project

director, and project manager, and participants from the various stakeholder groups contributing to

the effort to create DPIE; and

 Review and Approval – authorizations required to proceed and implement the various elements of

DPIE.

DPIE Vision, Mission, and Goal Statements

After the Project Charter was created, the PMO set about drafting DPIE’s vision statement, mission statement,

and set of objectives to provide a common understanding of what DPIE was and what it was intended to

accomplish. These are presented below.

 DPIE Vision Statement: To consolidate at a single location the various functions associated with the

County’s regulation and approval of economic development and redevelopment projects within the

County and position the County as a national model for permit processing, code enforcement, and

business licensing.

 DPIE Mission Statement: To promote economic development and redevelopment in Prince George’s

County and protect the health and safety of County residents, businesses and visitors through highly

integrated and efficient permitting, inspection and licensing services that ensure compliance with

established building codes and property standards.

 DPIE Objectives:

– Establish a one-stop, high-quality, customer-friendly experience for permit applicants, licensees

and property owners.

– Deploy more fully-integrated, technology-enabled and streamlined processes to more efficiently

and effectively perform project permitting, construction inspection, code enforcement and

business licensing functions.

– Simplify the permitting, inspection and licensing functions and make them more timely and

predictable for all stakeholders.

These statements reflect a strong emphasis on supporting efforts by the economic development community to

comply with the regulations and standards pertaining to the design, construction, and maintenance of physical

structures throughout the County. The PMO also developed a detailed work schedule to guide the

contributors’ activities during the period leading up to the launch date. This schedule was organized by major

functional area of the new department and key areas of change in creating DPIE.

Core Working Groups

In September 2012, the PMO established a number of core working groups composed of personnel from each

of the functional groups forming DPIE. Each group focused on a particular component of the change process

outlined above. These included:

 Organization and Staffing Working Group

 Human Resources Working Group

 Building and Space Working Group

 Process Improvement Working Groups

– Permitting and Plan Review Group

– Inspections and Enforcement Group

 Technology Working Group

 Budget Working Group

Each of the core functional working groups met at least weekly to lay out, discuss, and carry out the

development requirements for the new agency. Members of the PMO participated in selected working groups

to provide coverage, coordination, and integration across the groups. Through these meetings and the

background activities of the working group members the structure and fabric of the new agency evolved from

its predecessor agencies.

4. CORE WORKING GROUP ACTIVITIES AND PRODUCTS

The following lists the activities and products of each core working group operating concurrently to meet the

opening day deadline for DPIE.

Organization and Staff Planning Working Group

Creating DPIE’s organization structure and staffing plan required more than just reshuffling the divisions,

sections and units from the predecessor agencies being moved to DPIE. To achieve a one-step shop that

encompassed all of the functions of the new department, DPIE needed to recognize the many functional

responsibilities of all of the units making up DPIE or co-locating in the same building. The following summarizes

the key components of this formative process:

 Develop and Refine Organization Structure based on Core Functional Responsibilities

 Consolidate Functional Divisions from Predecessor Departments

 Invite Selected Agencies to Co-Locate Staff and Related Functions at DPIE

 Develop Staffing Structure based on Staffing of Predecessor Units and Willingness of Co-Located

Agencies to Commit Staff

 Work with Office of Human Resource Management (OHRM) to Align Staff Positions with Staff

Classifications and Responsibilities

The organization structure that resulted from this group’s efforts is shown in Exhibit 6.

Exhibit 6 - DPIE Management Organization Structure

As shown in Exhibit 6, DPIE was organized into two major groups, each led by a deputy director (one of which

has remained unfilled due to budget constraints). One group consists of the office-based Permitting and

Licensing Division and the two Plan Review divisions. The second group consists of the field-based Inspections

Division and Enforcement Division. A more detailed functional organization and staffing chart is shown in

Exhibit 7 below, including DPIE’s operating divisions and various groups representing agencies which agreed to

co-locate with DPIE.

Exhibit 7 - DPIE Functional Organization Structure and Staffing

As shown above, DPIE’s functional organization structure consists of the following divisions, sections and units:

 Office of the Director, consisting of the Director, Deputy Director, Public Information Officer, Quality

Assurance/Quality Control unit, and administrative support staff.

 Six divisions, including:

– Administrative Services Division, including Human Resources, Budget, and Information Technology

– Permitting and Licensing Division, including Permit Processing, Business Licensing, Cashier’s Office

and Homeowners and Mega Projects Suite

– Site/Road Plan Review Division

– Building Plan Review Division, including Health Plan Review

– Inspections Division, including Building Inspections and Site/Road Inspections

– Enforcement Division, including Single-Family, Multi-Family, and Commercial/Zoning Inspections

for Property Standards Compliance

 Ten co-located units from eight aligned agencies, including:

– DPW&T Director’s Office and Traffic/Transportation Engineering Section

– Health Department Environmental Section (planned)

– Health Department Food Protection Section (planned)

– MDSHA Highway Review Unit

– M-NCPPC Plan Review Unit

– M-NCPPC Environmental Review Unit

– Office of Law Unit

– PGSCD Sediment and Erosion Control Unit

– F&LSD Fire Protection and Life Safety Unit (planned)

– WSSC Water and Sewer/Plumbing/Gas Connections Unit

DPIE’s staffing levels are also listed in the charts shown on the prior pages. The total staffing complement of

279 positions was initially based on the number of staff in those divisions and sections which transferred into

DPIE from DPW&T, DER, and Health Department. In addition, it was estimated that there would be

approximately 80 positions associated with the co-located units and sections once DPIE was fully built out.

DPIE’s maximum complement of 279 positions has remained unchanged since DPIE opened due to County

budget constraints. This has made it challenging to properly serve DPIE’s customers, particularly as the

workload has increased. Within this total there are typically about 50 lapsed/unfilled vacancies which enable

DPIE to remain within its constrained operating budget. It is a testament to the perseverance and resiliency of

DPIE’s staff that they have been able to improve performance in many areas despite the staffing constraints

and the many changes imposed on them since DPIE was launched, as demonstrated by the performance

improvement results shown chart in Exhibit 13.

Building and Space Planning Working Group

Major changes were undertaken to transform the County building at 9400 Peppercorn Place into space suitable

for housing DPIE’s many functions. This working group developed a space plan to accommodate in the same

building the functions and staff of DPIE and its co-located agencies. The initial space plan and its current status

are summarized below on a floor-by-floor basis:

 Reconstruct First Floor for Permit, License, and Cashier Functions (opened July 1, 2013)

 Reconstruct Second Floor for Plan Review Functions (opened February 10, 2014)

 Rehabilitate most of Fourth Floor for Inspection Functions (on hold)

 Rehabilitate Fifth Floor for Director’s Office and Third-Party Plan Review Teams (on hold)

 Rehabilitate Sixth Floor for Enforcement Functions (opened September 1, 2014)

From the beginning, the concept for DPIE was based on co-locating, under one roof, all staff responsible for

functions involved in the regulation of economic development across Prince George’s County. This meant all

279 DPIE staff and 80 staff slated to come from related agencies would co-locate in the DPIE Building and be

able to interact on a first-hand basis with their counterparts in other divisions and agencies and customers.

This also meant that customers would be able to obtain advice and assistance regarding the permitting and

licensing process, requirements, and costs from various responsible agencies without having to drive from

agency to agency. The first step in this transformation process was to reconstruct the first floor so it could

accommodate most of DPIE’s customer-facing functions.

Exhibit 8 portrays the key parts of the first floor which were situated to facilitate a smooth transition between

customer service functions including permitting, licensing, cashiering, walk-thru plan review, and homeowners

and mega projects support. In addition, the first floor provided a variety of customer amenities, including

Welcome Station, Internet Service Counter, On-Line Payment Kiosks, WI-FI, ATM, and vending machines.

Exhibit 8 - First Floor of the DPIE Building

Homeowners and Mega Projects Suite – This special set of offices, located on the first floor, was established to

provide specialized support services tailored to two market groups: homeowners seeking to navigate the County’s

permit system for the first time and developers of very large commercial projects seeking to get their projects

moved through the regulatory process in an expedited manner. These large-scale projects include the current $10

billion backlog of mega projects planned or proposed in the County.

The large-scale projects listed in Exhibit 9 reflect the economic vitality of the County and foretell significant

increases in workload likely to face DPIE in the coming years.

Meeting/

Conference

Room

“C”

”

“C”

“D”

Exhibit 9 – Mega Projects Built or Planned in Prince George’s County (as of September 2015)

 National Harbor Buildout (continuing)

 MGM Entertainment Complex

 Tanger Outlets Buildout (continuing)

 Cafritz – Whole Foods Market

 Regional Medical Center

 MedStar Surgical Center

 Southern Maryland Hospital Expansion

 Doctors Community Hospital Expansion

 Konterra Mixed Use Development

 Westphalia Business Center

 FBI Headquarters (potential)

 Purple Line

 Transit Oriented Developments

 Capital College Student Housing

 MD Department of Housing and Community Development Headquarters

Exhibit 10 contains images of various locations on the reconstructed first and second floors of the DPIE

Building, including the first floor Permit Center, Homeowners and Mega Projects Suite, and Welcome Station

and the second floor Plan Review areas.

Unimproved Building Floors - While the first, second, and sixth floors were either reconstructed or

rehabilitated, the fifth floor remained unimproved from the conditions left by the prior tenant (DER). The third

floor continues to be occupied by several sections of DPW&T, including the DPW&T Director’s Office. DPW&T

plans to use the fourth floor to relocate operations staff from the DPW&T Operations Center eight miles away.

Currently there are less than a dozen DPW&T traffic and transportation engineering staff located on the fourth

floor, which remains largely unoccupied.

Due to the lack of available space in the DPIE Building, owing to the assignment of the fourth floor to DPW&T,

DPIE’s Inspections Division was relocated to a County building several blocks away in September 2014. As a

result, Building inspectors are not able to intermingle with their counterparts in the Permit Center and the Plan

Review divisions who deal with many of the same customers and issues. This has also hampered the County’s

efforts to establish DPIE as a one-stop shop.

Exhibit 10 – DPIE Building Spaces

Permit Center Customer Service Counter Internet Service Counter

Permit Processing Station Plan Screening Counter Homeowners and Mega Projects

Suite

Plan Review Reception Plan Review File Room Welcome Station

Process and Procedure Improvement Working Group

One of the major themes of the calls to create DPIE was the need to significantly improve the performance of

DPIE customer service functions. This meant looking closely at the work processes of operational units,

particularly those with direct customer service responsibilities. This working group consisted of two subgroups

– one for the future permitting and plan review divisions and the other for the future inspections and

enforcement divisions. Each subgroup focused on understanding and documenting current processes and

seeking ways to streamline those processes to be performed by their respective divisions.

These efforts are summarized below:

 Direct Functional Teams to Document their Processes

 Request Functional Teams to Identify Ways to Streamline their Processes and Reduce Turnaround Time

for Service Requests

 Consolidate Large Number of Permit and License Case Types

DPIE inherited an assortment of policies, procedures, and directives from the three major departments which

contributed staff to it. Recognizing the lack of adequate time and resources to carry out proper Business

Process Re-Engineering (BPR) efforts to quantify and streamline current processes, the subgroups responsible

for this portion of DPIE’s creation asked their respective operating divisions to review/update the standard

operating procedures and suggest ways to streamline them. These suggestions were reviewed and

adjustments were made where appropriate. The most important part of these exercises was the effort to

document the processes which would be used at the startup of DPIE and guide implementation of a digital plan

review system adopted by the County for DPIE.

This top-down BPR approach enabled the process improvement subgroups to document current processes,

incorporate selective process improvements, and establish the basis for subsequent initiatives that would

involve BPR efforts, such as the imminent replacement of DPIE’s electronic permitting system.

Early on in the formation of DPIE the process improvement working group reviewed the various permit case

types to search for redundancies or discontinued permits. These included the following case types considered

redundant to other residential case types which remained:

 New Senior Living (Deleted)

 New Residential Condominium (Deleted)

 New Apartment (Deleted)

 New Commercial Condominium (Deleted)

 New Cottage (Deleted)

 New Residential Triples (Deleted)

 Multifamily Permit (Deleted)

After eliminating redundant or inactive case types, the number of case types fell by one-third. This helped to

streamline the permitting process for DPIE and simplified the agency’s fee schedule.

Peer and Third-Party Plan Review, Inspection and other Expedited Services

To expedite the plan review process, DPIE encourages applicants to use Peer Plan Review and Third-Party Plan

Review approaches to supplement the Department’s limited plan review staff, especially for large commercial

projects. These programs are summarized below:

 Peer Plan Review Program – DPIE initiated its Peer Plan Review Program in 2013. This program allows

owners and applicants to select DPIE-certified peer reviewers at their own cost to expedite the plan

review process in lieu of County staff. Peer Plan Reviewers are required to coordinate with the owner’s

design team and DPIE plan review staffs. Peer reviewers can be retained for various types of building

and site development projects. The results of their efforts are reviewed and approved by County staff.

The Peer Plan Review Manual documents the program and describes the certification requirements for

prospective candidates, peer reviewer responsibilities, steps in the peer review process,

documentation requirements, performance criteria, disciplinary actions, and various forms. Compared

to the conventional plan review process, peer plan review can reduce the timeframe for review and

approval by up to 75 percent, from twelve weeks to three weeks. In Fiscal Year 2015, 85 projects were

processed through the Peer Plan Review Program.

 Third-Party Plan Review Program - DPIE instituted a Third-Party Plan Review Program in 2015. This

program enables owners and developers of large-scale commercial projects to retain and pay for an

outside third-party individual or team to review project plans at the DPIE offices. Third-party plan

reviews are currently limited to vertical construction only. Unlike peer plan reviews, no County reviews

are utilized in third-party plan reviews. It is estimated that third-party plan reviews can save up to 85

percent of the typical plan review and approval time.

When the Third-Party Plan Review Process is applied to very large commercial projects delivered

through Design-Build contracts there arise significant opportunities to expedite the entire permitting

and approval process as well as the entire project delivery timeframe. Design-Build projects encourage

strong interaction between project designers and construction contractors since they are part of the

same contractual team. This enables certain sequential stages of a project to overlap, resulting in

accelerated processing of project delivery phases.

Since the design and construction processes are being carried out in a more fluid manner, permitting

and inspection processes must keep pace with this dynamic process to ensure that there is proper

adherence to established codes, standards, and regulations as the functions and phases of the project

proceed. This requires a close working relationship between the owner, designers, contractors, third-

party plan review team and permitting agency throughout the project development process, from

concept planning to issuance of the Use & Occupancy permit to the owner.

In this unique program, the design-build team submits construction plans for review on a sequential

basis, including the following components:

 Foundation

 Super structure/curtain walls and roof (floor by floor)

 Engineering systems (mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection)

 Fit outs and venues.

These are reviewed and approved by the third-party plan reviewer as the project is being constructed.

The third-party plan review team coordinates progress of the project by holding weekly meetings with

the design-build team, third-party plan review team, and DPIE plan review and inspection staffs, as well

as at the project site with the inspection staff throughout the project development process. DPIE

processes the applications to permit issuance, once the third-party plan review team recommends

approval of the submitted plans. This program’s success relies on continuous coordination and

communication between all of the key project participants and strong quality assurance/quality control

oversight.

The Third-Party Plan Review Process leverages the time-saving features of major Design-Build projects

by synchronizing the plan review and inspection functions with the phased delivery of design plans by

project component. The phased/concurrent processing of certain design, plan review and construction

activities provides the opportunity to reduce the overall project development and delivery timeframe

by 25 to 35 percent compared to the conventional, sequential process of design-review-permit-build-

inspect. This represents a major potential cost savings to the commercial development owner. The

challenge is to ensure proper regulatory oversight of the project.

 Third-Party Inspection Program – DPIE’s Third-Party Inspection Program (TPIP) establishes a building

inspections procedure that utilizes qualified, third-party professionals in addition to the County’s

Quality Assurance Inspectors. Owners of most large-scale and complex projects are mandated to use

third-party inspectors. A Third-Party Inspection Program Manual describes the responsibilities of the

third-party inspectors by assignment phase (pre-permit, construction, and post construction) and

required documentation (certifications, forms, reports and logs).

 Plans-on-File Program – For residential projects DPIE has encouraged residential builders producing

multiple homes with the same model design to submit the representative design for approval on a

proactive basis. Such plans can be pre-approved and kept on file for attachment to subsequent permit

applications, enabling a 1-2 week turnaround time for final review and approval. This program applies

primarily to single-family structural reviews and reviews of sprinkler systems.

 Express Plan Review Method – Using a preformatted calculation sheet and stricter design standards,

this expedited plan review process can be completed on a same-day turnaround basis. Its use is limited

to residential sprinkler systems.

 While-You-Wait Plan Screening – DPIE implemented while-you-wait plan screening for building

projects to ensure only complete plan sets are accepted for review. Plans are tracked by a log-in/log-

out system.

Technology Working Group

Those responsible for creating DPIE understood that the performance improvements being sought from

process streamlining alone would not be adequate without supporting technology. This was driven in part by

the fact that the new department’s key technology system, ePermits, was already seven years old and limited

in terms of the number and complexity of enhancements that could be made to it without jeopardizing

performance. The key elements of DPIE’s technology improvement plan are summarized below:

 Automate business licensing process for walk-in customers

 Develop on-line applications for building permits, electrical permits, and special utility permits

 Install ePlan to automate plan review functions on a concurrent basis

 Replace ePermits System with a robust enterprise system for permitting, licensing, plan review and

inspections

From the very beginning of DPIE’s genesis, automation was viewed as a critical component of making the

agency successful in serving its customers. This meant using technology to reduce unnecessary activities and

paperwork, expedite processing, and increase service convenience for DPIE’s customers. This was consistent

with the long-term goals of:

 Eliminating the need for customers to come to the DPIE Building to file applications for and receive

permits and licenses;

 Enabling mobile processing of construction and property standards inspections; and

 Replacing all paper-based processes with on-line applications.

During the first two years of operation, DPIE accomplished the following technology initiatives:

 Established DPIE website to provide customers convenient access to DPIE policies, procedures, forms,

checklists, and fee schedules for permits and licenses: dpie.mypgc.us

 Eliminated need for customers to manually complete paper permit applications which formerly were

then re-keyed into ePermits by DPIE staff

 Enhanced existing ePermits system to enable on-line permit application, plan review, and payment for

electrical permits and utility permits; and on-line building and site/road permit applications

 Enabled customers to make multiple permit payments in one transaction, reducing their out-of-pocket

costs

 Implemented ePlan system for on-line submission, distribution, review, revision and approval of

electronic architectural/engineering plans for building, site/road, and utility plans

 Implemented automated customer queue management system – Q-Nomy

 Provided DPIE permit tracking service on Mobile Prince George’s app

 Applied digital technology to process the following:

– Floodplain information requests, study reviews, and delineation reviews

– Electronic CADD plan data for addressing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)

reporting requirements

– Processing CADD and GIS data from developers to promptly update road inventory and expedite

service delivery to new communities

– After-Hours Convenience Store on-line registration and reporting application

DPIE Budget Working Group

Drafting a budget for a new agency posed a major challenge for this working group. Instead of starting from

scratch, the working group transferred pieces of the budgets from the predecessor agencies for those portions

relating to the functions to be transferred to DPIE. The following list summarizes the primary objectives of this

working group:

 Consolidate Portions of Budgets from Departments Contributing most Staff to DPIE

 Reduce DPIE’s Initial Operating Budget due to County Fiscal Constraints

 Develop and Issue Comprehensive Permit and License Fee Schedule

The development of DPIE’s initial operating budget essentially combined the relevant portions of budgets for

functional units that merged into DPIE from DER and DPW&T. This meant that whatever was budgeted for

these units was transferred over to DPIE. The budget for staffing was based on the number and classification of

staff moving to DPIE. Due to County budget constraints, the initial operating budget was reduced to come in

line with the 279-staff complement allowed for DPIE and requested reductions in certain line items. This has

been the practice for the last two budget cycles. Despite these constraints, DPIE has continued to improve its

performance and productivity.

One of the greatest challenges in managing DPIE’s operating budget is its focus on the operating costs without

consideration of operating revenues. Because DPIE is funded by the General Fund, all of its revenues earned

through the issuance of permit and license fees are absorbed into the General Fund. The uncertainty regarding

the allocation of General Fund revenues leaves DPIE unable to budget adequate resources to fully serve its

customers. This issue can be resolved if DPIE became an Enterprise Funded agency. This would require

additional fee revenues to fully cover the agency’s direct and indirect costs, as well as an adequate rainy-day

reserve.

5. DPIE OPENING AND POST-OPENING INITIATIVES

Following ten months of intensive effort by many members of management and staff from the predecessor

agencies and the many agencies to be co-located in the DPIE Building, the opening day arrived on July 1, 2013.

Customer services were suspended for the morning during the festivities, which included numerous speakers

from the County Executive’s Office, County Council, key business stakeholders, and leaders from other

departments set to collaborate with DPIE. During the morning ceremony, the County Executive and other

County elected and appointed officials spoke about the significance of DPIE and their high expectations for the

fledgling department. In the afternoon, DPIE commenced operations and began serving customers.

In the months following DPIE’s opening, a number of initiatives were undertaken to further enhance DPIE’s

ability to offer increased customer service, collaborate with co-located agencies, track agency-wide

performance, measure customer satisfaction with DPIE’s services, and gauge employee satisfaction working at

DPIE. These initiatives are discussed below.

Customer Service Expansion

A number of changes were initiated during the first year of DPIE’s operations to improve and expand the

availability of customer services. Several of these enhancements are summarized below:

 Open the Permit Center, License Center, and Cashier’s Office Counters during the Noon Lunch Hour

 Open the Permit Center, License Center, and Cashier’s Office Counters 30 minutes earlier each day

 Expand Walk-Thru Plan Review Days from two to four days each week

 Institute policy requiring staff to respond to customer inquiries within 24 hours

When combined, these modest increases in service availability produced dramatic impacts on the backlog of

customers waiting to be served by spreading out customer demands for service. As a customer service-focused

organization, these scheduling adjustments have enabled DPIE to better serve its patrons with a fixed staff

complement.

Memoranda of Understanding with Bi-County Agencies

DPIE entered into a series of Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with several co-locating agencies to define

their roles, responsibilities, staffing commitment, and space requirements in co-locating with DPIE.

The first MOU was between DPIE and the M-NCPPC. This MOU, signed on August 6, 2014, defined the roles,

responsibilities, staffing commitment and space requirements of M-NCPPC for establishing and maintaining an

on-site staffed presence in the DPIE Building in support of the environmental review of plans and approval of

permits. There had been a long tradition of M-NCPPC staff being co-located with DPIE and its predecessor

agencies for the purpose of handling site and building permit applications requiring entitlement and zoning-

related review and approval. In addition, M-NCPPC agreed to co-locate with DPIE up to seven staff from its

Development Review Section and up to six staff from its Environmental Planning Section to coordinate plan

reviews related to the environmental concerns of M-NCPPC.

The second MOU was between DPIE and WSSC. It was also signed on August 6, 2014 and defined the roles,

responsibilities, staffing commitment and space requirements of WSSC for establishing and maintaining an on-

site staffed presence within the DPIE Building. WSSC committed to have up to four WSSC staff assigned to a

secure office suite to be provided by the County for the purpose of coordinating WSSC approvals for building

permit issuance, reviewing water and/or sewer related plan submittals and participating in pre-planning

meetings for mega project developments.

These MOUs reflected the County’s efforts to improve the timeliness and quality of permitting and inspection

services through the co-location of staffs from various County, bi-County, and State agencies involved in the

regulation of economic development within the County. Exhibit 11 shows the signing ceremony for these two

MOUs, held in front of the DPIE Building.

Exhibit 11 - Signing Ceremony for Memoranda of Understanding

Between DPIE and M-NCPPC and WSSC

Continuous Improvement Initiatives

A number of initiatives aimed at continuously improving DPIE were instituted during the first two years after

DPIE opened. These are described below.

 Established a Comprehensive Performance Measurement and Tracking System (PMTS)

– Monthly tracking system fed largely by automated permitting systems – launched July 2014

– Performance Indicators include input, output, efficiency, quality, and outcome measures relating to

the functions of the six DPIE divisions

 Conducted Annual Employee Satisfaction Survey (ESS) – On-Line

– Created an on-line anonymous survey that inquired about employees perspectives on their jobs,

working for DPIE, division management, and senior Department leadership

– Asked all DPIE employees respond to the survey between the months of April and June in 2014 and

again in 2015:

o 2014 Survey – 226 respondents or 90% of total staff

o 2015 Survey – 178 respondents or 71% of total staff

– Requested respondents rate the Department according to the following criteria:

o Performance feedback

o Salary

o Benefits

o Work environment

o Work schedule

o Feeling of belonging

o Training

– Requested respondents rate DPIE’s management and senior leadership according to the

following criteria:

o Provides equitable treatment of

staff

o Provides recognition

o Quickly resolves issues

o Follows policies and SOPs

o Keeps staff informed

o Seeks staff input

o Knows own job

o Knows jobs of subordinates

o Gives clear instructions

o Develops cooperation

o Demonstrates integrity

o Fosters teamwork

o Shares knowledge

o Performance based on work

o Is approachable

o Promotes a positive workplace

environment

o Creates a nurturing

environment

– Developed valuable insights into what the staff values and dislikes the most about working

at DPIE to serve as a basis for improving the environment for employees

– Produced a report on actions taken by DPIE leadership to address major concerns raised by

employees

 Conducted Continuous Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSS) – On-Line

– Created a short on-line anonymous survey that provided an on-going opportunity for

customers to rate DPIE services across a number of performance criteria

– Requested customers to go on-line to take the 2-minute CSS survey and rate the

performance of the Department during the fiscal year

o FY 2015 Survey – 157 responses in first 12 months

o FY 2016 Survey – 60 responses in first two months

– Produced a report on the FY 2015 survey results and the noteworthy comments provided by

customers regarding how to improve DPIE’s performance, which generated a set of

strategies designed to address these comments

These performance tracking and survey tools were built on the Department’s first-year achievements.

Employee Recognition Programs

The three most significant findings of DPIE’s Employee Satisfaction Survey in both fiscal year 2014 and

2015 were:

 The low level of salaries and the lack of cost-of-living increases over the past seven years

 The lack of promotional opportunities

 The lack of recognition of staff performance by managers and senior leadership of the

Department

Given the budget constraints of the County, it was recognized that little could be done to increase

salaries or promote staff. However, it was decided to develop several low cost employee recognition

programs to help address the third finding. These are described below.

 DPIE Ambassador Program

The Ambassador Program recognizes staff who exemplify the spirit of DPIE and demonstrate

high levels of performance and customer service. Every six months, Associate Directors select

up to one candidate from their respective divisions, based on nominations submitted by their

staffs. Each nominee is cited by their respective Associate Director and supervisor at an awards

ceremony. During the ceremony, the DPIE Director presents each recipient with a silver-coated

DPIE lapel pin. Each recipient is asked to continue their outstanding performance on behalf of

DPIE and to wear the lapel pin in recognition of that performance.

 DPIE Gold Club

An extension of the DPIE Ambassador Program is the DPIE Gold Club. This second program

recognizes individuals who have demonstrated truly exceptional performance in serving DPIE

and its customers. Nominations can come from any staff member in DPIE or from among its

customers and are forwarded to the Director for approval. There is no specific timeframe or

frequency for awarding the DPIE Gold Club lapel pins.

Key Program Documentation

In Fiscal Year 2015, DPIE embarked on several initiatives to document agency directives, standard

operating procedures, and a variety of emergency preparedness programs. These are described below:

 Directives

Written directives communicate formal instructions to staff regarding certain administrative,

management, and operational requirements of the Department. This involved updating the

various directives inherited from the predecessor agencies which contributed functions and staff

to DPIE.

 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

SOPs describe the procedures for performing certain functions and provide information on the

basis/background, purpose, scope, authority, responsibility, underlying policy, and process

descriptions for standard procedures. These SOPs cover the full range of functions for each of

the six divisions comprising DPIE and are based in part on the SOPs developed in prior years by

the predecessor agencies, updated for DPIE.

 Emergency Response Plan (ERP)

The ERP describes how designated DPIE managers and selected subordinates are to prepare for

and weather any kind of natural or man-made threats. The plan lays out the procedures for

safely and effectively managing an emergency event so that employees and visitors are

protected from any further harm during an emergency situation. The Plan establishes specific

responsibilities and outlines emergency actions that should be taken to ensure the safety of

employees and visitors.

 Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP)

The DPIE COOP provides the framework to restore essential functions in the event of an

emergency that affects operations of DPIE. It establishes the procedures for addressing loss of

access to a facility, loss of services caused by a reduced workforce, and loss of services caused

by equipment or system failure. The Plan also details procedures to implement actions to

continue essential functions for up to 30 days.

 Sidewalk Ice and Snow Removal Inspection Program

This new program description and plan implements the requirements of the County Road

Ordinance regarding the timely removal of snow and ice from paved sidewalks throughout the

County by residents and businesses which abut public sidewalks. Snow removal is an annual

challenge for Prince George’s County, businesses, and residents. This is evidenced by the snow

drift shown in Exhibit 12, which accumulated on a balcony of the DPIE Building. DPIE enforces

the provisions of the County Road Program pertaining to abutter responsibilities for sidewalk

snow and ice clearance. The plan describes the program, the responsible agencies (DPIE’s

Inspections Division and Enforcement Division), procedures, management structure, and

reporting requirements.

Exhibit 12 – Snow Drift at DPIE Building

Revised Permit and License Fee Schedule

One of the most critical undertakings of the new department was the development of a comprehensive

fee schedule covering the many permits and licenses issued by DPIE. Such a schedule was needed to

enable the Department to understand what it was charging its customers, how these fees compared to

those charged by neighboring jurisdictions, how much revenue was earned by these various fees, and to

what extent the revenues generated by fees covered the operating costs of the department. It was

recognized that this information would be needed to determine what fee increases would be required

to enable DPIE to become self-supporting and eventually attain Enterprise Status.

It is only through Enterprise Status that DPIE can ensure that the level of resources (staffing, vehicles,

etc.) comprising the Department will be adequate to provide the level of service expected by its

customers in return for the fees paid for these services, instead of merely being sent to the General

Fund.

To move DPIE towards Enterprise Status, the following steps were put into action starting shortly after DPIE was

launched:

 Developed initial permit and license fee schedule in 2013

 Expanded permit and license fee schedule to include all permit and license types in 2014

 Developed fee increase options to produce varying levels of revenue and position DPIE for

eventual Enterprise Status, self-sustaining and separate from the General Fund

 Reviewed OMB proposal for DPIE permit and license fees which focused on the lowest revenue

option, which was only one-third of what had been proposed by DPIE

 Assisted the County Board in developing a fee increase schedule that was implemented in July

2015, the first comprehensive fee increase in over 20 years

 DPIE’s fee increase schedule included a five percent adjustment for almost all DPIE fees to be

dedicated to pay for technology enhancements for the Department, including software,

hardware, and networks

The increase in fees was slated to generate about $8 million in additional revenues in FY 2016. OMB

provided only $160,000 or about 2 percent of the amount generated by the new fees for DPIE to

possibly add staff with the rest absorbed by the General Fund.

Having instituted fee increases to produce only about a third of the fee increases needed for DPIE to

attain Enterprise Status, DPIE expects to seek further fee increases over the next two years to make up

for the remaining two-thirds of the revenue sought to properly resource the Department. Ultimately as

DPIE achieves greater fee parity with its neighboring jurisdictions, the Department will be in a position

to establish a long-term fee strategy with recover sufficient revenues to cover all direct and indirect

costs, account for inflation, and provide a sufficient reserve to cover costs in periods of economic

slowdown.

6. PERFORMANCE RESULTS FOR DPIE

The results of the initiatives listed in the prior chapters over the first two years of operation were quite

dramatic, particularly in terms of dwell time and process time. This was most apparent in the areas of

permitting, licensing, and plan review. A concerted effort was made to shorten the length of time to

wait before being served at the Permit Center counter and the length of time it took to process the

permit application. These were among the most frequent complaints of customers served by DPIE and

its predecessors.

Exhibit 13 displays the before and after timeframes for several key processes performed by DPIE. These

timeframes are based on average durations to complete the activities listed. In all cases the results

show a dramatic shortening of the average timeframes to perform key processes. Among the greatest

improvements in processing time shown above, bond review and processing time declined by 93% when

the Office of Law (OOL) assigned staff to the DPIE Building on a rotating basis. The time to log-in,

screen, and assign case numbers declined by 95%. And the time to issue business licenses dropped by

90% after the licensing function was included in the agency’s permit processing system, ePermits.

The time to issue utility permits was cut by 67% while the time to issue electrical permits dropped by

90% after these two categories of permits were put on-line for same-day application and issuance.

Exhibit 13 – Two-Year Performance Improvements by DPIE (2013 – 2015)

The most challenging performance measure to change was the time to conduct plan reviews. However

with tighter management of these processes, DPIE was able to cut the turnaround time of first-cycle

plan reviews conducted by DPIE staff from 50% to 75%. The resulting timeframes could be cut a further

50% when the plan reviews were performed by outside engineers pre-certified by DPIE and retained by

the project owner to carry out surrogate plan reviews in certain disciplines that are ultimately approved

by DPIE.

DPIE continues to look for ways to improve its performance, particularly in serving customers, through

such means as:

 Training staff on a more proactive basis

 Adopting new systems that provide remote/on-line capabilities

 Upgrading the web site for DPIE

Permitting and Licensing Activity Pre-DPIE DPIE

Average %

Reduction in

Process Time

Bond Review and Processing 3–10 weeks 2–3 days -93%

Plan Log-In, Screening and Case Number

Assignment

3 weeks 1-2 day -90%

Most Business Licenses 1–2 weeks 1-2 day -80%

Special Utility Permits 3 weeks 1 week -67%

Electrical Contractor Permits 1–3 days 1–2 hours -90%

Building Plan Review (first cycle) 16 weeks

4 weeks

Peer Plan Review - 2 weeks

-75%

Site/Road Plan Review (first cycle) 8 weeks

4 weeks

Peer Plan Review - 2 weeks

-50%

As testament to DPIE’s performance success, a representative of the MGM Resorts organization which is

building a $1.4 billion casino/entertainment complex (Exhibit 14) where the Potomac River meets I-95

made the following observation about DPIE services:

“When MGM Resorts first came to Prince George’s County, we heard how difficult it was to

deal with the County and get projects permitted and approved. However, since we started

the project last year, we have been absolutely delighted with the services we have received

from DPIE.” Gordon Absher, Vice President of Corporate Communications/Public Affairs on July

15, 2015

Exhibit 14 - MGM Entertainment Complex

While DPIE remains very much a work in progress, even after two years of operations, DPIE’s leadership

recognizes that much can and still needs to be done to better serve DPIE’s customers who pay its fees.

A number of these items are briefly described in the following section.

7. NEEDS FOR MOVING DPIE FORWARD

As DPIE enters its third year of transition and operation, there are several items which are critical to

helping the Department achieve its full potential. These include the following:

 Adjust Fees to Eventually Become Financially Self-Sufficient – DPIE’s permit and license fees

should be further raised to enable it to become financially self-sufficient and achieve enterprise

status.

 Increase Accountability and Clarity of DPIE Budget and Revenues – DPIE’s financial reporting

should recognize both operating expenses as well as operating revenues, unlike the current

situation where only operating expenses from DPIE are reported and managed. DPIE should

produce both a cash basis income statement and a cash flow statement to show the sources and

uses of cash by operating activities.

 Prepare DPIE for Enterprise Status – Attribute all fees earned by DPIE to a DPIE Enterprise Fund.

This will demonstrate to the paying public that the fees are being properly used to fund DPIE

development-related activities.

 Provide the Necessary Staff Resources and Building Space to Effectively Serve DPIE’s

Customers – With more dedicated funding DPIE will be able to increase it staffing to meet the

Department’s expanding workload. This will also require additional building space to

accommodate all DPIE and co-located staff under one roof. The entire building floor space at

9400 Peppercorn Place may ultimately be needed to house the staffs of DPIE and its co-located

agencies. With additional fee revenues these resource constraints can be resolved.

 Relocate Inspections Division Back to the DPIE Building – This will complete the transition to a

one-stop shop under one roof for all DPIE-related services. Sufficient space now exists on the

fourth floor to accommodate the entire Inspections Division.

 Adopt Enterprise System for Permitting and Licensing - DPIE and the many agencies with which

it deals require a multi-function enterprise-wide system to support permitting, licensing, plan

review, inspections, and enforcement of property standards. The current system, ePermits, is

over eight years old and has reached its functional capacity to add more permitting and licensing

applications. The County plans to eventually retain a major technology systems provider to

develop and provide a new system to support permitting, licensing, plan review, and

inspections. The scope, budget, and timeframe for this effort have yet to be determined.

 Provide Additional Automation Capabilities to Expedite Services – Technology is viewed as a

critical part of improving the productivity and service quality to customers. This includes further

leveraging current capabilities by:

– Expanding ePlan electronic plan review to all disciplines, including Site/Road, Health, M-

NCPPC, and SCD

– Establishing on-line capability for permitting and licensing – as allowed by law

– Implementing document management and screening capabilities to convert extensive paper

files to digital format

 Streamline Entitlement Process – Obtaining a permit to build or redevelop anywhere in Prince

George’s County has been viewed as a tortuous process taking not months but years to

navigate. While DPIE has been the County’s primary initiative to reduce the complexity and

duration of the permitting and approval process leading up to occupancy, much still needs to be

done to streamline the front end of the process - known as the “entitlement” phase.

The entitlement phase involves getting approval relative to a variety of considerations, including

planning, zoning, site planning, traffic accessibility, historical preservation, and various

environmental considerations. Many of these reviews are carried out by a separate bi-County

agency, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Because of the number of

factors being considered, the multiple layers of decision-making by a Planning Board and planning

staff, and the frequent involvement of various stakeholders in the deliberations, the approval

process can take one to three years before the project even comes to DPIE for permitting.

There appears to be consensus that the Entitlement Process needs to be streamlined, with

quicker concurrent reviews, greater automation of processes, and reduced opportunity for

intervention by those acting on behalf of special interests. Specific opportunities for

improvement include the following strategies.

– Overlap certain entitlement processes

– Use form-based code versus detailed architecture for plan review

– File building-only permit applications

– Issue rough grading permits to accelerate project site work

– Revise Sign and Use & Occupancy permitting processes

 Streamline Hearing Process – To expedite the adjudication process involving disputed property

standards violations and fines, DPIE should obtain legislative authority to conduct administrative

hearings instead of full court hearings. This will have the effect of reducing the time required to

adjudicate these cases from months to weeks.

These are the most critical requirements to enable DPIE to fulfill its mission and the vision of County

Executive Rushern L. Baker III.

8. CONCLUSIONS

DPIE is a bold experiment in applying business best practices to create and operate a major, multi-

functional county agency which regulates economic development and redevelopment projects through

permitting, plan review, and inspection. In carrying out this role, DPIE has focused on customer service

and satisfaction while preserving its objectivity in upholding its regulatory responsibilities under County

and State statutes.

In the past year, DPIE worked to have its permit and license fee schedules changed to become more

comparable with other neighboring jurisdictions. As a result of increased workload and the 50 percent

fee schedule increase institutes on July 1, 2015, DPIE fee revenues grew by 88 percent from fiscal year

2014 to 2016. This is expected to begin the process, through subsequent fee adjustments, to enable

DPIE to generate sufficient revenues to become fully self-sufficient and ultimately achieve enterprise

status, whereby DPIE revenues will fully cover its operating and capital costs.

In its first two years or operation, DPIE has made significant improvements in customer service times,

quality, and satisfaction through a variety of initiatives. These are summarized in the Appendix

following this section. DPIE will continue to implement ways to better serve its customers through re-

engineered processes, wireless technology, and expanded outreach efforts.

To fulfill its mission and meet its full potential, DPIE requires additional staff, which should all be located

at the DPIE Building. DPIE also needs more fee revenues to enable the Department to become

financially self-sufficient and eventually achieve Enterprise Status.

By 2019, DPIE can be fully developed and implemented, standing on its own and providing outstanding

services as a “best in class” enterprise-based agency. In doing so, DPIE would be in a position to fulfill

its purported legacy, which is to become:

 More focused and forward thinking

 More customer friendly and convenient

 More predictable and consistent

 More efficient and responsive

 More attractive to residents, businesses, and the development community

This will in turn create additional jobs, tax revenues, and amenities for County residents and businesses.

In the end, DPIE is still very much a work in progress and there remains much more to do to fully implement its

vision. While we can celebrate the progress made to date, we will continuously seek new ways to improve DPIE

and its service to customers.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

This paper is dedicated to the entire staff of DPIE.

APPENDIX

MAJOR TWO-YEAR ACHIEVEMENTS OF DPIE

 Created and opened DPIE within 10 months of authorization to proceed

 Merged resources/functions from several County agencies to form core of DPIE – DER, DPW&T

and Health Department

 Secured commitments from all collaborating agencies involved in the County’s permitting

processes to co-locate under one roof with DPIE – including OOL, M-NCPPC, PGSCD, SHA, WSSC,

Health, and Fire Department

 Obtained signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) defining roles/responsibilities with M-

NCPPC and WSSC

 Renovated three floors of 9400 Peppercorn Place to improve work environment for staff and

service environment for customers of permitting, licensing, plan review and enforcement

functions

 Moved Enforcement Division to the sixth floor of the DPIE Building – the first time in over 20

years this group has been housed in the same building as the host department

 Provided customer amenities on the first floor, including Welcome Station, Internet Service

Counter, On-Line Payment Kiosks, WI-FI, ATM, and vending machines

 Accelerated the filling of staff vacancies despite impediments imposed by the budget and

leveraged staff through training/cross-training

 Consolidated the Building Inspection Section and the Site/Road Inspection Section into the

Inspections Division to facilitate cross-training and to improve responsiveness and accountability

 Combined the Business Licensing and Health Licensing sections into one section through staff

and technology consolidation

 Instituted on-going cross-training of staff in the Permit Center, Licensing Center, and Cashier’s

Office

 Changed agency culture by balancing the traditional compliance and control focus with an

emphasis on customer service and support

 Required staff to respond to customer inquiries within 24 hours

 Extended customer service hours by opening 30 minutes earlier and staffing the Permit Center

and Licensing Center customer service counters during the lunch hour, which had previously

been closed

 Extended availability of Walk-Thru Plan Review services from Tuesday and Thursday to Monday

through Thursday, resulting in a better distribution of those customers with smaller, less

complicated projects during the week (representing about 80 percent of the number of projects

reviewed by DPIE)

 Documented streamlined processes and consolidated permit and license case types

 Expanded use of Peer Plan Review, Third-Party Plan Review, and Third-Party Inspection services

voluntarily paid for by applicants to expedite commercial projects and leverage DPIE plan review

and inspection staff

APPENDIX - continued

MAJOR TWO-YEAR ACHIEVEMENTS OF DPIE

 Offered customers the opportunity to have their plans reviewed through the Plans-on-File and

Expedited Plan Review processes, applicable to standardized repetitive plans (such as fire

protection systems)

 Implemented e-Plan digital plan review system and numerous on-line applications to automate

permit and license application/issuance processes

 Increased permit and license fees, after a 20-25 year hiatus, by about one-half to raise an

additional $10 million annually. This included the introduction of a 5% surcharge on most fees

and licenses to offset the costs of information technology systems and equipment used by DPIE.

 Instituted annual employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction surveys to gauge employee

and customer perceptions of DPIE services as well as track performance trends by division and

function

 Instituted the DPIE Performance Management and Tracking System (PMTS) to measure DPIE

performance across divisions and performance criteria on a monthly basis

 Provided prompt attention to projects promoting economic development and neighborhood

revitalization through Homeowners and Mega Projects Suite and use of Peer Review and Third-

Party Plan Review

 Implemented periodic building industry meetings with representatives of selected segments of

the industry (residential, commercial, fire/life safety) to discuss performance issues and

strategies for addressing them

 Implemented weekly meetings with permit process expeditors to discuss process and

technology issues and approaches

 Received positive response from building and economic development groups to progress made

by DPIE in addressing long-standing performance issues

 Instituted a bi-annual employee recognition program called the DPIE Ambassador Program,

whereby candidates are nominated by their peers based on service excellence criteria and the

selected individuals are awarded a silver-colored DPIE lapel pin in recognition of their service to

DPIE and its customers

 Instituted the DPIE Gold Club whose members are issued a gold-colored DPIE lapel pin in

recognition of truly exceptional performance in serving customers and/or fellow staff

 Updated Directives and Standard Operating Procedures to better reflect the new organization,

its responsibilities, and available technology

 Developed operations plans for emergency response, providing for continuity of operations

following an incident, Sidewalk Snow/Ice Removal Inspection Program, and Peer Review

Program manual

 Conducted bi-monthly surveys to identify abandoned and unsafe properties and prioritize

strategies to reduce blight

 Established dedicated Vacant Property Unit to track abandoned homes and instituted a 30-day

demolition notice to expedite the removal of unsafe buildings

ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.

ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.

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