Delray Beach to launch unified online permitting system June 17; payments and some services paused during data migration

Anthea Gianniotis, director of Development Services for the City of Delray Beach, told a public presentation that the city plans to launch a unified online permitting and e-services platform on June 17. Gianniotis said staff will pause collecting payments at the close of business on June 9 to begin a multi-day migration and that the city expects limited functionality from June 11 through June 16 while data are moved and verified.

The change centralizes permits, business tax receipts, planning and zoning approvals, historic preservation records and code-enforcement cases into a single, GIS-based system keyed to property parcels, Gianniotis said. The city will keep the plan-review tool Project Docs for reviewers; Project Docs will integrate with the new services module so plan-review comments and versions continue to be handled in the existing reviewer workflow.

"Our expected launch date is June 17," Gianniotis said at the meeting. She described the migration as a multi-year effort to replace paper-based and legacy processes with an electronic system that allows applicants to submit applications online, schedule inspections, pay fees and receive inspection results by e-mail.

Why it matters: the switch affects contractors, homeowners, business owners and others who apply for permits, pay city business taxes or track code cases. Staff said the migration should speed turnarounds and increase transparency because users will be able to look up active permits, violations and approvals tied to a property on a public map once data are fully available.

Key dates and service impacts

- June 9: close of business; the city will stop accepting electronic payments to prepare for migration. Gianniotis described this as a brief pause not intended to halt projects.

- June 10: upgrade and data transfer begin.

- June 11 16: limited services; new submissions, payments and some contractor registrations and business-tax transactions will be difficult or impossible to complete during this window.

- June 17: system go-live (city expectation).

Gianniotis urged applicants to schedule inspections before June 10 if they can. She said inspections will continue to be performed in the field during the migration window when possible, but scheduling and result posting will be limited while systems move over.

What will change and what will not

- Centralized record: The new services module is GIS-based and will show permits, planning approvals and code cases tied to property parcels so residents and stakeholders can look up activity on city-owned and private properties.

- Project Docs: Project Docs remains the cityplan-review module and will continue to host plan markups and version control. New applications will start in the e-services application assistant and then connect to Project Docs for detailed electronic plan review.

- Payments and fees: Most payments will be possible through the new portal. Gianniotis said applicants will face standard merchant fees: a credit-card option (she estimated "up to almost 4%" on cards) or an electronic check option with a flat fee (about $1.95). The city will not absorb third-party card fees.

- Exceptions: A small number of services remain outside the new system initially. Alarm registrations use an existing ScribeWolf system and will not integrate immediately; alcohol licenses require state applications and will continue to follow the state process until integration is confirmed.

Records, privacy and historical plans

Gianniotis said the move will consolidate many legacy records now managed in a legacy "green screen" and in Laserfiche scanning workflows into the new platform over time. She said historical scanned plans and old paper permits will be migrated when possible but that some older records lack e-mail associations and will need manual contact updates to link current user accounts to older permit records.

"The email is associated on a permit by permit," she said, explaining that permits retain the contact information originally entered and the city will not reassign e-mail addresses automatically.

Access and customer support

- Training and materials: The Development Services landing page includes step-by-step tutorial videos in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole. The city will post quick-reference guides for common tasks.

- Kiosks and in-person help: Two kiosks will be placed in the Development Services lobby and staff will be available to help homeowners and infrequent users create accounts and submit applications.

- Staff support during the migration: Gianniotis said many reviewers and permit staff will work through the migration weekend and that staff were asked not to take vacation during the migration window.

Technical and procedural details applicants should know

- Versioning and file naming: When applicants upload revised plan sheets, naming the files consistently helps Project Docs automatically match new versions to prior sheets. If names differ, users can map old files to new ones in the task form.

- Digital signatures and seals: The system checks whether a digital seal or signature is intact and warns if a signature hash is broken. Gianniotis provided examples of accepted certification authorities (DG Cert, Entrust, iDenTrust, GlobalSign) and said signed PDFs must show a valid certificate for the city to accept them.

- Batch stamp: The city will continue to place a certification or stamp on approved plan sets. Applicants should leave space on plans for that stamp; the city said it adopted a small, standardized stamp to minimize interference with sheet content.

- Owner and contact associations: Permits remain attached to the email/contact that was entered on the permit. If an applicant cannot access a permit because a prior email was used, they must contact Development Services so staff can add or change contacts on that permit.

Operations and inspection scheduling

- Inspection scheduling: After the system launches, inspections will be scheduled online through the dashboard; the interface is mobile-friendly. Inspectors will post immediate results and applicants will receive e-mailed notifications when results are uploaded.

- Emergency work: For immediate emergencies (for example, electrical emergencies), staff advised applicants to call and request expedited handling and provided the names of electrical reviewers/inspectors to contact directly for emergency coordination.

Where to find help

Gianniotis said Fernando Arrossa is the Development Services staff member dedicated to the new system and will be the technical point of contact if staff cannot resolve an issue. Project-specific questions can also be routed to reviewers and permit technicians; the city will maintain a contact list and a quick-reference page for conversion issues.

The transition is intended to reduce paper dependency and centralize tracking of permits and code cases, but Gianniotis acknowledged it will be "messy" during the cutover and asked applicants for patience while staff and customers adapt.

Ending

Development Services staff recommended that applicants plan around the migration window by scheduling inspections in advance, completing payments before June 9, and using the training materials and lobby kiosks if they need assistance. Gianniotis said the city expects the new platform to speed permit turnarounds and make records more accessible once the migration is complete.