Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Economic Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Local business owners and residents urge Porterville to simplify business licenses and permitting
Summary
Several business owners and residents used oral communications to tell the council that Porterville's business-license and permitting processes are slow and inconsistent; staff and managers acknowledged isolated problems and said staff helped resolve at least one case the same day.
Multiple speakers at the June 17 Porterville City Council public-comment period urged the city to simplify business licensing and permitting rules, citing long delays, routing of paperwork through multiple departments and inconsistent requirements.
Darren Garrett described an incident in which a young entrepreneur lost a construction job because the city's licensing process required routing paperwork through several departments and a multi-week wait. Garrett said the issue was ultimately resolved after he escalated the case to the city manager and by contacting on-duty staff. He credited employees named Clayton and Chief Building Inspector James with helping the business owner complete the process.
Contractor Rick Sullins said he has pulled thousands of permits across multiple states and city governments and named Porterville among the more difficult cities he has worked in. Sullins urged the council to streamline review and permitting practices to attract investment and revitalize downtown.
Staff responded in the meeting: acting city manager Tree acknowledged the public comments and thanked staff who intervened on the case mentioned and said staff and management are working to improve processes where possible. Council members repeatedly raised a desire to reduce red tape and instructed staff to bring items back where procedural changes could speed permit processing.
No formal action was taken at the meeting during the oral-communications portion, but several council members referenced the comments when later discussing code modernization and procurement process reforms.
