 New Online System Helps, But Permit Backlog Persists
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Charlie Misner, one of the City's Plans Examiners, hard at work;
click to learn more about electronic plan review
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The City's
Development Services Group (DSG) is scrambling to keep up with a 10-year high in permit applications, despite having a new online system to help expedite the permit review process.
A recent survey found high customer satisfaction with DSG's overall service, but satisfaction with the permit-approval process fell to 65% -- a 20+ point drop since 2013.
"The sheer volume of applications has overwhelmed our ability to keep up, even with our new online system in place," says Paul Skidmore, Senior Plans Examiner at DSG. "We know customers want things to move faster."
Other cities in our booming region are experiencing similar challenges. The City of Seattle, for example, has stopped accepting new permit applications for the remainder of the year due to being over-capacity with applications received to date.
Geotechnical hazard issues on Mercer Island and the high proportion of unique home designs submitted by some of the Island's residents add to the time and complexity of plan review. "Every day is a new building and a new challenge, which makes work interesting as a plan reviewer -- but the more complex structures take more review time," says Skidmore.
Another impediment to quick permit approval is lean staffing at DSG. Staffing levels are determined by the City budget every two years and hold fairly constant. "Yet our work volume is very cyclical, depending on the real estate market," says Alison Van Gorp, Administrative Services Manager for DSG. "When everyone is working at full capacity, we have no extra time to devote to other important projects like streamlining our online process even further, the way we'd like to."
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