Busy summer months ahead
We are lucky to be part of a county where people want to invest and build businesses, homes and communities. Nice weather came early this year and has led to higher than expected permit activity. Unfortunately, this has increased review times for all applications.
To handle the increased activity and continue to provide excellent customer service, we are immediately implementing the following:
- Focus on single-family residential applications with a goal of first review within 15 days of receiving payment.
- Flexible working options for our staff, including overtime, to increase productivity
- “Clear the Deck” Saturdays, when plans examiners work to catch up on applications
- Increasing third party reviews
- Clearer comments in our permitting system to help you avoid unnecessary delays
You also play a part in helping us reduce review times. To help us provide timely and reliable review, we ask you to:
- Submit complete applications—Please include all documents and forms required on our submittal standards. The time spent tracking incomplete applications can double the processing time for approvals.
- Bundle submittals of additional information (Re-submittals)—Package your resubmittals into one submittal that addresses all requested information.
- Submit (and resubmit) your applications electronically—To keep our staff focused on processing electronic applications, please skip the trip to the Development Center and submit online. Applications accepted at the Development Center will be put in the same processing queue as electronic submittals.
- Request submittal standards online through the Ask the Development Center portal. Just upload a site plan and other pertinent information to receive your submittal standard within 48 hours.
- Be patient and understand there may be longer delays in answering phone messages and emails.
This is our first line of defense to reducing review times. I will be monitoring workload and review times. If I do not see improvement, I will implement additional measures.
This is a collaborative effort, and together I believe we can continue to provide timely and reliable application review over the busy summer months.
Thank you for your understanding and help!
Sincerely,
Dennis Hanberg
Director
Pierce County Planning and Public Works