Pueblo County planning and development officials told the Pueblo West Metro District board on Sept. 22 that the county will take over the building-division permitting functions from the regional building department on Jan. 1, 2026, and described a multi-part plan intended to reduce permit delays and improve customer service.

The county’s transition plan calls for a certified building official, four inspectors, a plan reviewer, two permit technicians and an administrative assistant to staff the new division, plus contingencies if staffing gaps appear. Jennifer Wagner, deputy director for planning and development, described a build in OpenGov that integrates zoning authorization into the single residential permit application and said the change eliminates a frequent source of delay when applicants didn’t route separate forms to different agencies.

“One of the streamlining processes that we’re doing within OpenGov is the building permit. You don’t have to now submit a separate zoning authorization for building permit. It’s built into the application,” Wagner said. She and county staff said they are testing the system and will expand functionality for reviewers and applicants, including Bluebeam integration so plan reviewers and applicants can collaborate on plans inside the platform.

Why it matters: County staff said this will shorten routing and review times for routine residential permits and reduce paperwork-related hold-ups that currently leave some permit applications sitting for months. The county emphasized transparency in the workflow and training for stakeholders before the go-live date.

Details and timeline
- Carmen Howard, Pueblo County planning director, said the county’s transition framework covers initial planning, staffing and infrastructure, application build, legacy permit transfer, stakeholder engagement and a go-live/stabilization phase. She said the team is on schedule to meet the Jan. 1, 2026, go-live.
- Arnold Montoya, the county’s new building official, told the board he expects a typical residential plan-review turnaround of three days and a 10-day maximum depending on workload. Montoya said the team will prioritize getting applications correct on the first review to minimize as-built corrections later.
- The county said contractor licensing and enforcement will be part of the new division. Staff proposed taking the fee schedule out of the county code so fees can be adjusted more quickly and said they are considering a flat contractor registration fee and an incentive of waiving next year’s fee if all permits are closed at year-end.

Customer-service supports
- Pueblo Means Business (PMB) staff described an ambassador program that assigns an ambassador to every building permit to help applicants navigate routing, accessory requirements (road access, zoning authorizations) and back-routing needed before a certificate of occupancy is issued. PMB manager Wally Wallace said ambassadors will follow projects from “concept to completion.”
- The county will offer tutorial videos, one-page guides and in-office kiosks with staff assistance for applicants who need help with online submittal.

Board questions and concerns
Board members asked about historical permit records, contractor portability and whether older permits will remain searchable. Planning staff said historical permits will remain accessible; Pueblo Regional’s public records will continue to be available for older permits. Staff also said they will preserve contractor data; existing regional licenses must still be registered with the county, but the county does not require contractors to re-test.

Next steps
County staff plan a “soft launch” in November where selected contractors will test the system, followed by stakeholder training and public workshops in December. The county will continue technical advisory committee (TAC) meetings and post instructional videos and one-page guides on puebloMeansbusiness.com and link them from the OpenGov application.

Ending: County leaders told the board the move is aimed at reducing permit delays and improving transparency for applicants; they asked for continued feedback during the pilot and said they will return with stakeholder-training dates and additional details before Jan. 1.