Making Planning Services More Accessible to the Public

"Buena Park's new City Hall typifies a trend in O.C. cities to make facilities easier to use as well as attractive....Offices frequented by residents, such as human resources and the planning counter, are located on the first floor, where patrons can easily find them. Internal departments, such as the city manager's office, are located upstairs. Other Orange County cities are also integrating customer- service-related amenities into the design or revamp of their civic centers." As one architect put it: '"Making City Hall into a clearinghouse for handling business seems to be a strong focus in today's civic-center planning.'"