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Richland County zoning staff report steady permit workload, launch online permit portal
Summary
Zoning staff told the committee the department processed 82 land use permits, 31 sanitary permits and 26 soil/site evaluations year‑to‑date, launched an online permitting portal (Catalyst) and outlined staffing and training plans for a new zoning administrator.
Zoning staff told the Richland County Zoning and Land Conservation Committee that year‑to‑date activity is roughly in line with recent years and that the department has launched an online permitting portal to let applicants apply for permits electronically.
The department reported 82 land use permits, 31 sanitary permits, 26 soil and site evaluations and 32 new address signs so far this year, and said overall permit volume is down slightly from peak years. "We launched our Catalyst program... folks can now apply online for permits," said one zoning staff member, noting fee fields and other glitches remain to be fixed.
The committee heard that Barb Scott is leading fixes to the Catalyst portal and staff will contact the vendor if needed. The committee also discussed whether to hire an in‑house land‑records/GIS specialist to manage mapping layers used across multiple departments; staff have drafted a job description and plan a wage study to identify funding.
New zoning administrator Katrina said she is completing required training and licensing steps to be able to sign off on sanitary permits and soil tests, and that staff are conducting paired inspections to document sanitary installs and audit readiness. "I'm Katrina, I'm the new zoning administrator," she said, describing plans to take state certification exams in the coming months.
Committee members also heard conservation‑office work that overlaps zoning duties, including monitoring farmland preservation certificates and coordinating inspections of county dams (four engineering inspections were completed this year under a multi‑county consortium). Staff promoted an August 10 "snapshot day" to survey aquatic invasive species and said the office can supply sign‑up details on its Facebook page.
The committee did not take formal action on staffing at the meeting but asked staff to return with budget and job‑description materials for further consideration at budget time.
