Hernando County lauded for AI-driven permitting overhaul; plans online property maps and faster reviews

Hernando County’s Development Services Department is rolling out a suite of technology changes it says will speed permitting and make land-use rules easier for residents to find. Director Omar Depawal told the county commission on Tuesday that the department won a national award for efficiency and AI use and is moving to the Tyler Technologies platform to fully digitize finance and permitting.

Depawal said staff trained a narrow, plan-review AI to check subdivisions and single-family plan sets and that the system has already processed more than 1,000 permits and 32 subdivisions in pilot testing. “Going from 30–40 hours of review to a minute or two on many plan checks has been pretty incredible,” he said, adding that the approach has cut reliance on third-party reviewers and allowed staff to focus on design and code issues.

The changes include broader use of state-approved video inspections and targeted drone flights for large developments, a reworked standard operating procedure that reduces redundant reviews, and a fee study staff will bring to the board. Depawal said the county expects annual time-value savings for developers in the neighborhood of $1.5 million, a figure the department said came from developer feedback on faster review cycles.

Commissioners praised the results and pushed staff for public-facing tools and guardrails. “We want to remove red tape but keep public-safety safeguards,” said Commissioner Champion. County Administrator Ray Rogers said the Tyler rollout includes both an ERP (finance) cutover and the permitting portal; ERP is scheduled for March 2 and permitting on March 3, with a short blackout window while data migrates.

A public GeoHub developed with SWIFTgov will publish parcel-level land-use standards, flood-zone and base-flood-elevation overlays, riverine-protection designations and permit-related conditions. Sabrina Dugan of SWIFTgov demonstrated the map, showing how residents can search by address or key number to see permitted uses, setback requirements and FEMA layers without digging into municipal code.

Depawal and staff said they will return with the code-rewrite and fee-study details, and continue cross-training staff so gains from automation do not require long-term increases in head count. The board also asked staff to continue outreach so residents and small contractors can use the new tools.

The county’s rollout follows major storm recovery work: staff said they have identified roughly 2,500 substantially damaged homes and issued more than 800 permits as part of long-term recovery while using AI to keep routine permits moving.

What’s next: staff will present a fee-study and a recommended timetable for phasing Tyler and GeoHub features to the commission in the coming meetings.