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Q&A
Staffing and application processing for outdoor dining program
1:50:50
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139 sec
Council Member Julie Menin inquires about staffing levels for processing outdoor dining applications and expresses concerns about backlogs and processing times. DOT officials explain their staffing situation and the reasons for extended processing times.
- DOT has filled all 8 additional headcount positions for processing applications
- The department has also trained other staff and hired consultants to help with application review
- Officials believe current staffing levels are adequate but are prepared to bring in more staff if needed
- Extended processing times are attributed to various required steps in the process, including community board review, public hearings, and controller review
Julie Menin
1:50:50
Okay.
1:50:51
And the fiscal year '20 '20 '5 November plan added a 76,000 for an additional eight headcount positions to process outdoor dining applications.
1:51:00
Have all of those positions been filled?
1:51:02
Yes.
1:51:04
Do you think that you need more staff to address the backlog?
Margaret Forgione
1:51:07
I don't think we need more staff, so maybe I'll just talk about that for a moment.
1:51:12
Have obviously this is our biggest year.
1:51:14
In order to address the applications that are coming in this year, we have our 24 staff that are funded as part of the program.
1:51:24
We also trained some other staff within department and put them on loan into this program, and we also hired some consultants for several months in order to help review applications.
1:51:35
So we think that the staff in the program is probably the right number going forward, but we're also prepared to take measures to bring in more staff if we ever need to.
Julie Menin
1:51:44
I just think when you have the number of complaints you have, and we know that there have been tremendous number of complaints despite what your testimony is saying, there are enormous amounts of complaints.
1:51:55
There is a huge backlog.
1:51:56
And also, I do wanna point out that records show that from 2017 to 2019, it took DCWP an average of a hundred and seventy seven days from the filing of an application to the approval of a sidewalk cafe license.
1:52:09
And one of the whole intents of this law was to try to speed up this process, but now we're seeing that many applications are still in this backlog.
1:52:19
So why do you think that eight staff members is enough to address this program?
Margaret Forgione
1:52:23
Okay.
1:52:23
The reason the program is taking so long is really because of the steps in the process coming back to some things required in the city charter, other things required in the local law.
1:52:33
You know, we're giving council, We're giving community board review time.
1:52:37
We have a public hearing.
1:52:38
We have to notice the public hearing.
1:52:41
There's a certain number of days at the controller.
1:52:44
So they're each of those things that I just rattled off, and Michelle can get into them in detail if we want to talk about them.
1:52:49
Those things are just months.
1:52:52
Those add together and form months.
1:52:54
So it is less, I would say, if we have an active restaurant that's engaging with us in the back and forth, we can get the application final very quickly in a matter of a few weeks.
1:53:05
But it's really all these other steps in the process that add on so much time.
Julie Menin
1:53:09
Can you give us examples?