The city’s Permit Services managers briefed the council on July 23 about permitting volumes, timelines and recent process improvements, and they urged applicants to use pre‑submittal resources to avoid iterative delays.

Sabrina (Permit Services Manager) and Tony Lee (Building Official) said Permit Services enforces city and state construction codes across planning, public works and fire review disciplines, and that staff completed a digital transformation to allow online submittals and reviews. In 2024 the division performed more than 20,000 plan reviews, issued more than 7,600 permits (including roughly 420 new housing units), performed over 21,000 inspections and closed about 2,300 code‑enforcement cases.

The division published a five‑step guiding process: 1) pre‑submittal research and hiring the project team; 2) prepare and apply using submittal checklists; 3) permit review (tiered by complexity); 4) permit approval, fee payment and issuance; and 5) construction inspections and finaling. They said 70% of permits do not require plan review and are processed in 1–3 business days; about 30% (tiered as 1–3) require plan review with goals of two, four and six weeks respectively for first review turnaround depending on complexity.

Presenters showed a 25‑year chart of turnaround times, noting a peak in 2020 related to COVID‑era staffing changes and high volume, and said recent staffing restorations have returned timelines to goal levels by 2024. For new construction (tier 3) the city reported an average first‑review turnaround of eight weeks in July 2025 (range six to ten), comparable with regional jurisdictions.

Managers recommended applicants use published checklists, schedule counter or virtual appointments for concierge assistance, hire professional design teams for complex projects, follow digital upload instructions, and perform quality control on resubmittals to avoid repeated cycles that extend overall timelines. They said the department is exploring AI use for a public-facing agent to answer common questions and noted licensed professional design tools with AI features are used by designers for code research.

Councilmembers asked about preapproved plans, cookie‑cutter house programs, ADU streamlining and how contractors can provide process‑improvement feedback; staff said a residential “basic” process and model‑home streamlining exists for subdivisions and townhomes and that preapproved ADU plans are being explored but not yet in place.

No ordinance or vote resulted from the informational briefing.