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Development Services reports new Acela permit portal, staffing needs and blight enforcement activity
Summary
Deputy Director Judith Rothschilds and the blight remediation director reported a new Acela online permit portal, exploration of AI for plan review, high volumes of permits and inspections, a backlog in rental licensing, and tracking of about 350 vacant properties with enforcement and land‑bank strategies.
Development Services provided the Planning, Economic Development and Housing Committee with a multi‑quarter briefing on licensing, inspections and blight remediation, highlighting a new Acela online portal for permit applications, plans to use AI to assist internal review workflows, large inspection volumes and a significant rental licensing backlog.
Deputy Director Judith Rothschilds said the Acela portal—live for less than six months—guides applicants step‑by‑step and can save in‑progress applications once a user creates an account. "It will tell you what type of permit you need," Rothschilds said, describing the portal’s ability to prompt for required documents, contractor license numbers and fee information and to help applicants prepare a complete submission.
Rothschilds gave six‑quarter statistics (07/01/2024–12/31/2025): the building and trades unit reviewed more than 7,500 building plans, performed over 14,000 inspections, issued 28 certificates of occupancy and processed thousands of licensing transactions. The housing code enforcement team received nearly 3,000 complaints, performed close to 9,000 inspections and issued roughly 1,800 notices of violation and citations during the same period; emergency calls requiring inspectors’ response numbered 681 since October 1.
Rothschilds also reported the rental licensing program had 762 building applications filed with 88 licenses issued as of Dec. 31, 2025, creating a backlog that requires multi‑office review (planning, building and fire) and lead‑safe analyses; the department has requested additional staff and an extra plan reviewer to address throughput concerns.
The blight remediation director (Mike) said the city is monitoring roughly 350 privately owned vacant properties and using a mix of informal outreach, formal orders, fines, liens and, where appropriate, strict foreclosure to obtain site control for rehabilitation or transfer to the land bank. He described examples where liens and forbearance agreements helped vet buyers and complete renovations, and said the city is pivoting to pursuing larger liens that can be foreclosed to move properties into an inventory for redevelopment.
Committee members raised operational concerns—scheduling inspections, cross‑training between building and fire inspectors, parking lot licensing structure—and asked staff for additional breakdowns (complaint types and geographic distribution) and a copy of the presentation. Rothschilds and the blight director agreed to provide requested details and the department will follow up offline with more granular data.
