Planning department reports faster permit reviews, more transparency in Development Services

Kathy Warren and Deputy Director Carrie Buckholt presented the Planning Department’s FY2025 development review data to the City Council on Feb. 17, highlighting changes made since PermitStat launched in 2020.

Warren said the customer service counter is now open five days a week and staffed with subject‑matter experts. For FY2025 the department recorded 5,268 customer visits (about 752 per month) and 28,803 phone calls (a 92.7% capture rate). She noted the department processed 450 discretionary applications, held 101 presubmittal meetings, and received 2,655 development submittals.

Buckholt walked council through review timelines by project type. Under new state code reductions, initial site‑plan reviews moved from 60 to 40 calendar days; subsequent reviews were reduced from 45 to 30 days. In calendar year 2025, the department approved 128 single‑family site plans (average 2.8 review cycles; average total 84.7 business days from start to finish, with about 36.1 days in staff review and 48.6 days out of the department’s hands). For commercial site plans the average was 4.6 review cycles (43 projects), with staff taking roughly 79 days and total elapsed time about 190.1 days. On building permits, staff reported internal targets that are typically shorter than state allowances and said their team is achieving substantially reduced review times in many categories.

Council members praised the improvements, asked how cross‑department coordination works (public safety, public works, utilities), and asked staff to engage the process improvement steering committee on any zoning/ordinance recommendations. Staff said they are exploring permitting software and AI demos to further streamline reviews.

What happens next: staff will post the review‑time data publicly on the city’s website and continue to pursue initiatives to expedite attainable‑housing project reviews.