North Port officials say permitting overhaul reduced duplicative steps and payments for single‑family builds

Staff presented a Lean 6 Sigma review of the development services department on March 2 showing that, at the time of initial measurement, a typical $350,000, 2,300‑square‑foot single‑family home in North Port involved about nine payment touchpoints and multiple separate permit submissions. Scott Jolin, accredited with Parks and Recreation, and Kyle Bestie from IT described benchmarking against surrounding municipalities and said the city historically used a fragmented permitting model that required duplicate information for separate trades.

Jolin said North Port’s permitting total (shown in staff slides as roughly $4,800 for the model house) was about $2,000 above the peer mean. The team recommended condensing permit fees, offering a consolidated building permit and adjusting permit workflow; Caitlin Griffin said the consolidated pathway was implemented on Jan. 1 and reduces the number of required applications and payment touchpoints.

Director Elena Ray explained some reasons the earlier model existed, including separate trade licensing and prior system limitations, and said the Acela platform update allowed the department to implement a consolidated permit pathway. Commissioners pressed staff on customer service concerns, historical call documentation and whether the city can capture call notes; staff said Acela stores emails and that intake notes can be added but require consistent staff entry.

Staff said they process large permit volumes (the presentation noted roughly 20,000 permit records annually, with roughly 300 single‑family permits on pre‑platted lots in the current fiscal year) and that the consolidation was intended to reduce non‑value work for staff and duplicate payments for applicants. The commission did not take a direct vote; staff will continue monitoring customer feedback and permit timelines.