Comprehensive Strategy and Process Improvement (Planning, Building)
Pieces of the City of Loveland Development Services Department have come together in a beautiful new venue. The Development Center – say “DC” – unites Loveland’s planning, permitting and inspection functions and the people who perform them in a single location. Members of the City’s development community – real estate developers, builders, architects, engineers and property owners – will find what they need to see their projects though.
Client’s Challenge
The City of Loveland found itself in an unappealing place — relative to its neighboring cities, the process of community planning and building within Loveland had become undesirable. As a result, developers were taking their projects to other communities like Ft. Collins, Windsor, Greeley and others.
Loveland was looking for an approach to dramatically transform the guiding principles and strategies related to how it “thought about” community development and building — thus leading to a revolutionary set of actions, processes, and methods.
Our Solution
Loveland’s leadership asked Team Tipton to help it think differently related community development and building. Through a series of city council retreats, and a number of workshops involving a trusted and comprehensive set of Loveland’s staff members (directors, managers, supervisors, lead workers, workers), we assisted Loveland in revolutionizing their processes, structures, measures, and staff assignments related to community development and planning.
Our final step in the “Design the Future Process” for Loveland’s community development and building support involved the picture above… This photo was taken in the city council chambers, and it represented the first time (ever) that Loveland had invited the development community (developers, consultants, engineers, land owners, etc.) into the same room at the same time to explore and choose preferred approaches to drive up Loveland’s standing as THE preferred destination for development in Northern Colorado.
Outcome / Benefits
Suffice it to say that the results for Loveland were nothing more than revolutionary. By choosing a posture of collaboration FROM THE START with the development community, choosing an approach that favored great development instead of ensuring nothing bad could happen (not mutually exclusive — but Loveland chose to be flexible instead of rigid), and choosing a fully-integrated approach across all agencies in the city involved in community development and planning, timeframes dramatically shortened, costs to developers went down, morale within the city shot up, and the results for the city have been truly remarkable.
Fast forward to today, and Loveland is clearly THE choice for developers in Northern Colorado. Loveland’s desires have been fulfilled.