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St. Pete Beach staff outline 91‑day roadmap to speed permitting and add online tools
Summary
Community Development Director Laura Canary and technology manager Candice Galloway presented process changes, express permits, single point-of-contact implementation and a 91‑day operational blueprint to speed permitting and add automation and transparent metrics.
City staff told the commission Feb. 26 that they are implementing multiple procedural and technology changes intended to reduce permit turnaround times and improve customer experience.
Laura Canary, Community Development Director, said the department has created a single point of responsibility for incoming permit applications, expanded evening hours on Wednesdays, made certain express permits available (water heaters, panel upgrades, some mechanical change-outs) and introduced clearer status language that distinguishes planning review complete from final completion. She said project-specific checklists and appointment availability with building officials are now in place and will be highlighted during a March 26 building-and-permitting open house intended as a one-stop resource for homeowners.
Candice Galloway, managing technology for the city, described a 91‑day roadmap that documents current-state process flows, builds a pain-point register and creates a permit-type matrix. The technology roadmap targets intake automation, standardized checklists, workflow automation and a future-state service map so the city can run targeted vendor demos and evaluate automation tools. Galloway said the work is intended to move the permitting service toward an 'optimized' maturity level with more self-service for applicants.
Commissioners suggested adding clearer in-portal status indicators (a checklist or progress bar that shows which department reviews are complete) and instituting courtesy phone calls before issuing denials. Staff agreed to test phone-call procedures and to report back with metrics in the March update.
