Modernizing private development review for Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City’s Private Development Review and Permitting (PDRP) process was highly decentralized, spread across six departments: Development Services, Planning, Public Works, Fire, Utilities, and Airports. This structural fragmentation led to inconsistent service level standards, siloed communication, uneven resubmittal handling, and underutilized technology systems. The City sought to improve timeliness, coordination, transparency, and customer experience. 

We conducted a comprehensive analysis that combined staff interviews, stakeholder focus groups, benchmarking, employee surveys, process mapping across multiple development scenarios, and a facilitated cross-department Process Improvement Exercise.  

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The final framework provided a governance model, operational improvements, and a performance management structure: 

• Consolidated leadership: Recommended consolidating oversight of all review departments under a single Assistant City Manager and designating Development Services as the process owner with authority over service level standards. 
• Process clarity: Established Development Coordinators for complex projects, formalized pre-application meetings, and implemented consistent completeness review protocols with standardized customer service metrics. 
• Technology optimization: Created a roadmap to optimize technology platforms such as Accela, GIS integration, automated notifications, and AI-assisted plan review. 

These recommendations provided Oklahoma City with a system that improved predictability and strengthened accountability.