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City demonstrates SmartGov public parcel lookup; commissioners debate wider plan and public access to plans
Summary
City staff demonstrated the public-facing SmartGov parcel search and permit view on the city website, which provides permit counts and high-level statuses back to 2013; commissioners debated whether to publish more detailed plans and inspection records online.
City staff demonstrated the public-facing portion of the SmartGov permitting portal and commissioners debated whether the city should publish more detailed permit plans and inspection records online.
Paola Rivera of the building department walked the commission through the publicly accessible parcel search on the city—s website (sibfl.gov). The public view includes parcel data, counts of pending/issued/closed applications, permit numbers, permit type, status (for example "awaiting corrections from applicant," "ready to issue," or "closed") and basic project descriptions. Paola said records in the portal are searchable back to 2013; older records may require manual retrieval because the building department migrated through multiple software platforms.
Dylan, the city manager, added that owners and contractors with SmartGov accounts can access additional project details—plans, inspection results and submission histories—through the "my portal" login, but that level of detail is not currently open to the general public. He noted code-enforcement records are not integrated into SmartGov and recommended caution before publishing internal plans or detailed inspections online.
Commissioner Stuyvesant asked for a vendor presentation from SmartGov to clarify the product—s capabilities; Commissioner Joseph asked the city to make code-enforcement and permit details available to the public, noting title companies routinely request those records in property due diligence. The city attorney flagged security and safety exemptions, for example for school plans or sensitive facilities, and advised a human review filter for some plan types.
City staff and several commissioners agreed on three practical points: (1) the portal currently provides meaningful public access to permit status and parcel-level counts; (2) owner/contractor portal users have fuller access to plans and inspection details; and (3) code enforcement is a separate system not yet linked. The city manager said staff can provide a list of additional fields the public might request, and commissioners can then decide whether to publish more detail or request a vendor demonstration. No change to public access policy was approved at the meeting.
