Innovation at Development Services During COVID

Since we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I thought I would share with you an innovative program started in the permitting department of Prince William County.

Yes, I started my series on my favorite business rankings and why. However, I thought would take a break and post a couple of different articles. I will get back to the rankings.

The permitting group in the County is formally known as the Prince William County Department of Development Services (DDS).  The program I will highlight is the “Temporary Outdoor Seating for Restaurants".

First and foremost, I did not create it.  Steve Hall did. I only administered it.  It is a brilliant concept that as a tool allowed restaurants, bars, cafes, etc. to add seating capacity during COVID.  He built it off the existing Temporary Activity Permit application and process. For a start, Mr. Hall trimmed the existing Temporary Activity Permit (TAP) application and reduced the number of required materials. 

In addition, the actual approval process was streamlined. In order to receive approval, an application had to be reviewed by seven local and state departments. Each one looked at the application for their area of concern and expertise. For example, VA department of health staff ensured that the Governor’s Executive Orders pertaining to COVID were accounted for and enforced.  In this case, it means that the wearing of masks and social distancing are enforced and monitored.

The Fire Marshal staff reviewed the application to ensure all fire safety regulations were adhered to and that if the seating was in a parking lot, fire protection could get to the fire with absolutely no barriers.  Other reviewing agencies are the County transportation department, the state transportation department, finance staff, police, and the building department team.  In some cases additional permits would be required. An example if a tent over 900 sq. ft. was set up. We accepted email approvals, another innovation.

In recognition of the impact of COVID to the service industry, the Board of County Supervisors reduced the application fee to $5.00 per restaurant or café.

The introduction package included a step by step guide to drawing the site of the outdoor seating on the County GIS mapping app.  Mr. Hall had help from our outstanding DDS IT team. The application could take about 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on how easy you could use the County mapping platform to draw boundaries.  We communicated to 57 restaurant and café owners in Prince William County about this initiative.  We issued 28 conditional letters of approval.

I am immensely pleased to play a role in this innovative program.  Across the U.S. you saw governments at all levels offer various initiatives to help the local business base survive COVID.  This is just one example of hundreds.  Our program helped 28 restaurants increase their capacity for customers. It was put together in a matter of days with a team of County employees (and that included applications, instructions, and program descriptions, etc.).

The next time you think government does not care, ponder this post. We do and we always have and we always will.

The link to the program: 

https://www.pwcva.gov/department/development-services/temporary-outdoor-seating

What I Learned (Or Relearned) During the Pandemic

I thought long and hard before I decided to post this.  The final reason was a Zoom presentation I did. 

What the pandemic taught me most of all.  I can without a doubt say I am a theatre actor, not a TV star.  I like a live audience. I feed off an audience. I can change my presentation style based on the reactions I see from an audience. 

During the Zoom presentation, I could see no reaction.  No feelings in the air. It was very challenging.

My mother was right, I am an actor and I usually excel with an audience.

What else did I learn? Yes, I love my family. However, I also enjoy spending time with them.  My wife is extremely intelligent, notices small things, and very thoughtful toward others.  Oh, and she is an outstanding cook.

My daughter is funny, never forgets anything, has the greatest facial expressions, can do a monologue on several interesting subjects for 15 or more minutes. These monologues are educational and structured.  She can be quite sarcastic and very stubborn.  I wonder where she gets that from.

My son is a joy on facetime. He has an infectious laugh and his voice is getting deeper (or is it a setting on his iPhone?).  He also has a winning eye roll, as in “you cannot be serious!!”  He also walks around his home with his phone talking to you. One time we were in a pocket as we talked; he was at the gym working out.  We could hear every word and he could hear us. Hmmm, perhaps a good short story, “A Day in James’ Pocket”. Nahhhh, limited audience.

In my job, I deeply appreciate working around others.  Working from home is okay, but I miss an office environment.  Just the hum of conversations, copiers running, walking around saying hi, etc. I just miss it.  And finally, two more appreciations – I cherish a finely crafted and formatted email; and people who leave a voice message and repeat their name and phone number. 

I know, you are thinking “gee George, what took you so long?”.  I always knew it, I just got an excellent reminder of how fortunate I am.