Tigard launches 'Community Development Hub' (Tyler EPL) to consolidate permitting, planning and licensing

TIGARD, Ore. — Tigard staff told the City Council they are about to put the city’s new permitting and licensing portal into service, rebranded for the public as the Community Development Hub. The system uses Tyler’s Enterprise Permitting and Licensing (EPL) module to consolidate building permits, land‑use applications, business licenses, code‑compliance case management and engineering permitting into a single platform.

What the city will deliver and when

Senior Planner Susan Shanks, who coordinates change management for the project, said the city planned a staged rollout. On the announced “go‑live” date staff will enable core functionality so residents and contractors can view records, submit certain applications and request inspections from one portal. Over the following six to nine months staff will add additional online submission types and automate more workflows.

Key capabilities and benefits

- Consolidation: EPL replaces five legacy systems that did not communicate, reducing duplicate data entry and improving staff coordination. - Online submissions and process tracking: Customers will be able to initiate more application types online and see workflow status visually (steps that are pending, failed or complete). - Electronic plan review: The system integrates with Bluebeam to allow reviewers and partner agencies to mark up drawings and manage versions electronically. - Search and reporting: Staff highlighted more robust search and reporting tools for permits, inspections, business licenses and code compliance cases, including the ability to search by address and view historical data migrated from legacy systems. - Multilanguage support: Shanks said the portal fields are translatable and staff have prepared Spanish communications for outreach; staff noted the translational capability was a recent platform improvement.

Code compliance and Tigard service request

Shanks said code‑compliance case intake will remain primarily customer‑facing through Tigard service request, but cases that require administrative follow‑up will be managed in EPL’s back office. She emphasized that the system will not only manage permits and licenses but will help coordinate code compliance investigations and long‑running cases.

Outreach and training

City staff described a communications plan that included mailings and emails to contractors, in‑field outreach by inspectors, posters and a dedicated web page with how‑to guides. Staff said contractors and frequent users will be encouraged to register and create accounts so the city can route notifications and documents efficiently.

Why it matters: The new portal is intended to make permitting and licensing easier to navigate for residents and local businesses, reduce staff time spent reconciling multiple systems, and provide better public access to application materials and approvals.

Speakers (whitelist for quotations and attribution)

- Susan Shanks, Senior Planner (change management lead), City of Tigard (government). First referenced s:6793.18–6810.995. - Sally White, Project Manager (mentioned by Shanks), City of Tigard (government). First referenced s:8495.59–8495.75.

Clarifying details and timeline

- Project status: final module (EPL) planned to go live the week following the council meeting; staff will continue iterative rollouts of additional submission types over 6–9 months. - Systems replaced: five legacy systems (unnamed individually in the staff report) that previously handled permitting, licensing and plan reviews. - Bluebeam integration: staff cited Bluebeam for plan review markups, version control and coordination with partner agencies such as ODOT when needed. - Historical records: staff said legacy data would be migrated to EPL so both current and past permits will be searchable, though record completeness may vary.

Proper names

[{"name":"Community Development Hub","type":"program"},{"name":"Tyler Enterprise Permitting and Licensing (EPL)","type":"product"},{"name":"Bluebeam","type":"product"},{"name":"Susan Shanks","type":"person"},{"name":"Sally White","type":"person"}]

Community relevance

- Geographies: City of Tigard (customers across the city and regional contractors) - Impact groups: property owners, contractors, design professionals, code‑compliance complainants and neighborhood groups

Meeting context

- Engagement level: staff presented a project briefing near the end of the agenda after budget hearings; council discussed translation and record search capabilities and requested staff support for residents who may need help navigating the new portal. - Implementation risk: low to medium (technical cutover and data migration risk; phased rollout reduces immediate operational risk)

Searchable_tags:["permitting","Tyler EPL","Community Development Hub","electronic plan review","Bluebeam","business license","code compliance"]

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