Best practices book - Flipbook - Page 433
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Stakeholder Process for Ordinance Change
Contact Information:
Melissa Ramirez
Assistant Director, Land Development
Melissa.Ramirez@sanantonio.gov
(210) 207-7038
Development Services Department
City of San Antonio
PO Box 839966
San Antonio, TX 78283-3966
Program Description:
In order to update or develop a new ordinance, DSD goes through the process of identifying
stakeholders who could be impacted by the ordinance change(s) and then invites them to attend
meetings which can inform the revised or new ordinance. The stakeholders may consist of the
development community, business owners, and neighborhood representatives, depending on the
ordinance to be changed or created. In addition, DSD will include members from other City
departments or agencies to be present during scheduled stakeholder meetings. Updates from the
stakeholder process are made to a dedicated Web page on the DSD Web site to keep stakeholders
and the public informed about the status of the process.
Two recent examples include adoption of the 2018 International Code Council (ICC) Buildingrelated Fire and Property Maintenance codes as well as creation of a new ordinance for Short
Term Rentals (STR). The ICC code adoption process took place over 29 meetings with
stakeholders before it was presented to City Council for approval. The new STR ordinance also
entailed 16 stakeholder and taskforce meetings before it was presented to City Council and
adopted.
Cost/Benefits:
Employment of a stakeholder process for updating City ordinances or creation of a new
ordinance ensures that individuals or entities which may be impacted are part of the process.
The use of the stakeholder process ensures transparency for stakeholders, as well as buy-in or
support of the changes, and could potentially result in fewer legal challenges of City Code.
Ultimately, this process helps the department and City ensure that a balanced ordinance is
developed and presented to City Council.
Attached Documents:
None.
Example of Web page for recent stakeholder processes:
https://www.sanantonio.gov/DSD/Resources/Codes#154541588-icc-code-updates
https://www.sanantonio.gov/DSD/Resources/Codes#176642678-short-term-rental
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