Permit office reports improved on-time reviews and proposes plans-examiner role

Municipal permit staff presented a productivity analysis and recommended adding a plans examiner and a permit coordinator to speed initial application intake and reduce back-and-forth. "Our review percentage for permits issued under the 30 days was 69.4% [in 2023]... and this year we're up to 82.4% being issued under that benchmark," the presenter said, reporting analysis of 2,961 permits across the multi-year sample.

Staff showed color-coded examples of green (simple/fast), yellow (moderate) and red (extensive) review cycles and emphasized that about half of all applications require at least one exchange with applicants to reach code compliance. July sample metrics showed 90 permits issued in the month with an average internal turnaround of 17.6 business days and an average external time of 20.5 business days. Staff also reported estimated construction value increases (total estimated construction cost rose from roughly $28.8M in 2023 to about $38M in 2025) that add to reviewer workload.

To address intake delays, staff proposed a plans-examiner/permit-coordinator role to "run interference" at first review—ensuring applications are complete before they enter the full review queue—and suggested the role could also perform code-compliance or inspection follow-up during slower months. Commissioners asked whether the position should be full-time or seasonal and discussed certification requirements for plan review; staff noted plans examiners may need certification if performing technical reviews but that an intake coordinator could perform non-certified screening duties.