Development Assistance Team (DAT)

What it is: The Development Assistance Team (DAT) is a weekly meeting of representatives from the various city agencies who are involved in the Development Review process. Each week, the Team reviews up to four (4) development projects, typically at a preliminary stage, in order to raise potential red flags early enough in the process, before significant time and money have been invested.

When it occurs: Thursday mornings, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm.

Where the meetings occur: For the foreseeable future, meetings will continue to be held via virtually, via Zoom.

Who it is for: Typically developers, architects and engineers involved in projects who are looking for feedback related to site development.

Which city agencies typically participate each week: Engineering, Engineering-Mapping, Traffic Engineering, Fire, Parks, Forestry, Office of Real Estate Services, Metro Transit, Water Utility, Zoning, Planning, Assessor's Office.

Meeting structure: The 30 minutes can be used how the applicant desires and depends on the feedback being sought. Typically, the applicant gives a short overview and the various City Staff then take turns giving feedback.

What the applicant needs to bring to the meeting: Nothing per say. As host of the Zoom meeting, Staff will enable the applicant to be able to 'share their screen' to display the plans when discussing the project. If this is an issue, Staff can display the plans and move through the slides with verbal queues from the applicant.

How to get on an upcoming agenda: The four (4) possible DAT spots each week are available on a first come, first served basis. To get one of the spots, first email Chris Wells (cwells@cityofmadison.com) and Colin Punt (cpunt@cityofmadison.com) with the requested date. Staff will then either confirm the availability or specify the next meeting with an available slot. After the applicant has affirmed their interest in a particular available DAT slot, Staff will then tentatively add them to that agenda. However, in order to finalize their spot on that particular agenda, the following items must be emailed to Staff by noon on the Friday before the meeting:

1. A PDF of at least a site plan (Additional materials should be guided by the feedback desired by the applicant from City Agencies). Please keep this PDF to under 5MB.
2. A very brief, one-sentence description of the development proposal.

Confirmation: Staff will 'cc the applicant when the finalized DAT agenda is sent out the Friday afternoon before the meeting. This will include the time slots for the various projects being discussed as well as the Zoom meeting information.