Director reports jump in permits, big drop in code-enforcement backlog

Aaron Flook, the borough’s director for building, housing and code enforcement, told the Smart Growth Committee that building and housing permits are averaging about 98 per month so far in 2026, describing it as “our highest year so far in the number of permits.”

Flook said the department has shortened average permit-issuance time substantially: “Our department has been able to drop the date to issue for each permit from 97 days down to 20 days.” He also reported that case-closure times for code enforcement have fallen from roughly 655 days in January to 92 days in July, and staff credited new reproducible procedures and policy changes. Flook said staff used cease-and-desist letters to press owners to renew expired rental licenses, prompting multiple properties to begin compliance within days.

The committee discussed outstanding issues such as seasonal complaint patterns and spikes in workload; members asked for continued tracking of turnaround metrics as a measure of service reliability. Chair Jerry Sapaniak thanked staff for the improvements and noted that some targets (for example the state’s 15-day target for residential permits) remain benchmarks for further progress.