The county of Ventura is on its way to reforming its often-Byzantine planning and land-use procedures, according to a report that will be delivered today to the county Board of Supervisors.

A committee of high-level county officials has been working since April to follow up on a report issued then by consultant Tom Berg, who once oversaw the planning process as manager of the county Resource Management Agency.

Berg's report, which was based on interviews with 75 people both in and out of county government, concluded that the basics are "not fundamentally flawed," although there is plenty of room for improvement.

He found that property owners who want to develop their land often face long delays, unpredictable fees and the risk of dizzy spells from turning from one county department to another on the same application.

He recommended steps to streamline the process, build better communication between departments, update county planning and building codes, and allow both developers and the public to follow the progress of an application more easily.

Today, Assistant County Executive Officer Matt Carroll will report to the board on the progress that the oversight committee has made since then. Its recommendations, according to a copy of Carroll's report released Thursday, are divided into those that should happen immediately and those that should be put off until next year.

The delays would come because those measures require money that isn't in the current budget, or because they should be coordinated with a bureaucratic streamlining effort that the county as a whole is working on.

The changes that should take effect now include establishing a permanent, official oversight committee that will coordinate the operations of the various departments that handle land use; coordinating the efforts of enforcement officers across all departments, so building code violations and health code violations will be addressed together; and updating the system of permits required for development.

Those recommendations that the committee endorsed for next year include a review by the Board of Supervisors of its transportation and land-use policies, including open space and environmental protections; hiring more planners and support workers so the county can process applications faster; and forming a committee to start work on an update of the General Plan that will take the county beyond its current planning horizon of 2020.