Walton County planning director presents 90‑day action plan; commissioners press for better customer response

Walton County planning staff asked the Board of County Commissioners on Aug. 26 to give them 90 days to implement a plan of action intended to address recurring customer complaints about application processing, telephone responses and staffing.

Interim Planning Director Steven Schoen told the board the department’s last fully integrated policies-and-procedures manual dated to 2011, with limited updates since 2018. Schoen said staff have identified “gaps” that have grown over time and have drafted a revised policies-and-procedures manual, added process managers, and proposed internal stratification of planner positions to improve retention.

Schoen and County Administrator Brian Kellenberger described several near‑term technology steps. The department is converting more work to the EnerGov permitting system, adding a "planner of the day" point of contact so callers can get status updates, onboarding the SWIFTGov AI review tool for building permits (staff said commercial review will come later), and planning a customer relationship management (CRM) system to consolidate communications and document attachments. Schoen said the building‑permit AI pilot could reduce some permit review times to hours for certain plan sets and that staff will continue to perform human review.

Commissioners and residents recounted calls and in‑office visits that went unanswered or were told to use the online portal instead of receiving in‑person help. Several commissioners asked staff to ensure phones are answered, e‑mail and phone calls are returned within 48 hours (staff noted that is current policy), and that the department maintain clear status information in EnerGov so customers can check application progress. Schoen said several planner positions are vacant (he estimated four to six openings) and that interviews are underway.

Schoen asked the board to accept the plan of action and allow approximately 90 days for implementation and to demonstrate measurable improvement. Commissioners asked staff to produce periodic progress updates and to continue outreach to applicants. No formal ordinance or budget decision was taken at the meeting; the board signaled support and requested follow‑up reporting.

Ending: Schoen said staff will proceed with the 90‑day implementation plan, continue recruitment, and report results to the commission; commissioners directed staff to prioritize returning phone calls and improving customer updates.

Speakers - Steven Schoen — interim planning director (county staff) - Brian Kellenberger — County Administrator / Manager (county staff) - Commissioner Glidewell — commissioner (elected official) - Commissioner Anderson — commissioner (elected official) - Resident commenters (unnamed) — local applicants who described delays

Authorities - {"type":"other","name":"EnerGov permitting system","citation":"software used by Walton County Planning Department","referenced_by":["planning-department-operational-update"]}

Actions - {"kind":"other","motion":"Accept planning department plan of action and allow staff approximately 90 days to implement improvements; staff to report back to the board.","mover":"not specified","second":"not specified","vote_record":[],"tally":{"yes":0,"no":0,"abstain":0},"legal_threshold":{"met":false,"notes":"Request for direction; no formal recorded vote recorded in transcript"},"outcome":"direction_given","notes":"Board signaled support and requested updates; no formal recorded roll‑call vote."}

Clarifying_details - {"category":"policies_last_integrated","detail":"Planning policies-and-procedures last fully integrated","value":"2011","units":"year","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Steven Schoen"} - {"category":"staff_vacancies","detail":"Planner positions estimated vacant","value":5,"units":"FTE","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Steven Schoen"} - {"category":"implementation_period","detail":"Staff requested implementation period to show improvements","value":"90","units":"days","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Steven Schoen"}

Proper_names - {"name":"EnerGov","type":"other"} - {"name":"SWIFTGov AI","type":"other"}

Community_relevance - geographies:["Walton County"] - impact_groups:["developers","builders","residents applying for permits","small businesses"]

Meeting_context - engagement_level:{"speakers_count":10,"duration_minutes":50,"items_count":1} - implementation_risk":"medium"; history:[{"date":"2025-08-26","note":"Board asked for improvement and plan of action; interim director requested 90 days."}]