Eric Druen is the new development specialist for the City-County Planning Commission of Warren County.

Residential and commercial development projects in Warren County will never be the same.

Responding to the rapid growth in building and the need to simplify the development process, the City-County Planning Commission of Warren County is now using a new comprehensive design review process that promises to make life easier for builders, engineers and architects.

The zoning ordinance changes proposed by Planning Commission Executive Director Ben Peterson, developed over several months, have been approved by both the city of Bowling Green and Warren County Fiscal Court. Peterson says the result will be a “streamlined” process that brings together all agencies and utilities involved in the development process.

The comprehensive design review will replace the old detailed development plan and will mean an additional member on Peterson’s staff to coordinate the new process.

Eric Druen has moved from his zoning compliance officer position to the new development specialist role, and Peterson said Druen will serve as the “quarterback” of the development process.

Druen’s role of bringing builders together with all the government agencies and utilities that must sign off on developments is a welcome change, according to Brent Childers, director of neighborhood and community services for the city of Bowling Green.

“Instead of trying to figure out which office to contact, developers can come to this one meeting,” said Childers. “Bowling Green is a growing marketplace for investment. We have to build our processes to meet that demand.”

The growth of Bowling Green and Warren County is reflected in the number of projects approved by the planning commission. The number of single-family lots approved has exploded from 47 in 2012 to 1,121 in 2017, and multi-family unit approvals have swollen from 457 to 2,212 in that same period.

Such growth complicates the development process, according to Bowling Green builder Mike Hymer.

“There’s a lot of paperwork and hassle now,” said Hymer, who currently has residential developments in the works on Rich Pond Road and Scottsville Road. “It takes so long to get things done. From the time you buy the property and go through the design and utilities approvals, it might be a year before you can sell a lot. It gets to be aggravating.”

Druen’s task will be to reduce that aggravation. Funded largely through an increase in fees received by the planning commission and by an extra $14,000 each kicked in by the city of Bowling Green and the county fiscal court, Druen’s development specialist position is a natural extension of his role of compliance officer.

“I’ve worked with building permits, contractors and developers,” said Druen, who has already started his new duties while Peterson searches for a new compliance officer. “So it should be a smooth transition.”

Once a week, Druen will bring builders together with the various agencies they must deal with in the development process, making it more of a one-stop shop.

“Basically, any agency that would typically have a hand in the development process will be at the weekly meetings,” Druen explained. “Applicants can have their questions answered, and it will give them an opportunity to narrow down their site selection.”

By bringing all the parties together at one time, Druen believes the new comprehensive design review process can cut the approval process significantly.

“Typically, the detailed development plan process takes four to six weeks,” he said. “This should cut it down to three weeks. It’s a much smoother process. Instead of the engineer or developer going to each agency, they have them all in one meeting. It’s much more streamlined.”

And much appreciated, according to Warren County Public Works Director Josh Moore.

“Any time you can get all responsible parties in the room at one time, it’s better,” Moore said. “The process they’ve set up should work more smoothly, which I think the development community should appreciate.”