Portland consolidates permitting functions into new bureau while warning of $14 million shortfall

Councilor Ryan, chair of the Arts and Economy Committee, opened Tuesday’s meeting with a review of the multi-year effort to consolidate Portland’s permitting functions and said the city is “on the right track, but we’re at a crucial moment of implementation.”

The committee heard an update on the newly formed Portland Permitting and Development (PPD) bureau, created to centralize review and customer service previously split across seven bureaus. Donnie Olivera, deputy city administrator for economic development, said the new bureau formally launched July 1 and remains early in its implementation year. “This is a big vision that requires a lot of leaning in from staff both in the bureau, but also around the city,” Olivera said.

The presentation, led by Terry Tyson of the Permit Improvement Team (PIT) and David Keenhausen, interim director of PPD, outlined several areas of progress and several unresolved risks. Tyson, who leads the PIT, described customer-focused changes including a single point of contact model, website content rewritten for greater readability, expanded translation options, and a “wizard” tool being tested to help applicants determine whether they need a permit. The city’s 2023 customer survey showed a 13% increase in satisfaction with staff interactions, Tyson said.

Keenhausen and Tyson presented permit-processing metrics for 2020–2024 showing…