Application tweaks aim to streamline permitting process

Incomplete building permit applications in Longboat Key will now be promptly returned to sender.

The town has recently implemented some changes to how it intakes and processes building permit applications. Recommendations were made by a group of staff members participating in the Lean Six Sigma training program where employees evaluated ways to improve efficiency in workflows of various town processes. Planning, Zoning and Building Director Allen Parsons said the goal of the new policies is to reduce turnaround time.

“One of the things we found is that processing times can sometimes be extended because of multiple rounds of reviews,” Parsons said. “When a building permit application comes in and it doesn’t have everything that is needed to perform a complete review, comments will identify missing items. Those comments then put the ball back in the court of the applicant who may hold onto the application for a period of time before resubmitting it. If we have to go through that more than once, the review timeframe from when a permit application is submitted and when a permit is issued can be longer than necessary.”

Changes to the permitting application process include a new checklist provided to contractors, a staff member who will act as “intake coordinator” and new requirements for how attachments are named in the application packet.

Building permits must go to various town departments before they are given final approval. Parsons said previously applications would go from one department to the next before it was discovered that necessary documents were missing. The staff member in charge of receiving applications will now check whether all materials are included before the process gets underway.

“We want them to be using these checklists and we’ll be returning applications back to them for missing items,” Parsons said. “This should have the ultimate benefit of having applications get reviewed faster. That’s a win for applicants because time is money, and it’s a benefit to staff.”

The goal, Parsons said, is for single-family building applications to have a turnaround time of 14 days. A Lean Six Sigma evaluation of four months of permitting data showed a turnaround time of 18 days.