Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Digital Permitting topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission reviews Clarity permitting demo, asks staff for comparison to CitizenServe
Summary
The Planning Commission heard a remote demo of Claritya hosted permitting platform and debated next steps, asking staff to arrange a CitizenServe demonstration and to investigate phased implementation that starts with simple permits.
The La Habra Heights Planning Commission on July 28 heard a remote demonstration of Clarity, a cloud-hosted permitting, licensing and inspections platform, and discussed whether to enable the citys existing CitizenServe portal or pursue an external vendor.
Chair (role: Chair) moved the Clarity presentation up on the agenda so the East Coast presenters could join; Clarity representative Kate Wandler said the system "offers permitting for building, planning and zoning, special events, as well as licensing" and described parcel-based guides, embedded GIS layers and a public-facing map that can show permits and code violations in real time. Wandler added Claritys inspection app works offline and the company provides implementation support and community templates to speed rollout.
Commissioners and staff pressed presenters on implementation burden, data migration and cost. Planning staff warned the city lacks server capacity and that some of the municipal code is property-specific and will still require staff review. Clarity provided example figures during the Q&A (an implementation and training example of about $16,000$17,000 and a sample annual subscription figure near $24,150) and said some customers have seen a roughly 30% drop in permit-center phone calls after rollout; staff emphasized that any rollout would likely be phased and require data transfer planning.
The commission asked staff to schedule a demonstration from CitizenServe (the citys present vendor) so commissioners could compare features, costs and migration options. Staff also requested more time to assess server, retention and staffing constraints before recommending a path forward.
