by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
By spring, the City’s permitting process could become substantially more user friendly.
Spearheaded by Mayor John Peyton, various committees have been reviewing nearly every facet of the process for about two months.
“It’s not that Jacksonville has any specific problems,” said Council member Daniel Davis, who has helped in the revision efforts. “We’ve actually got a good system in place, but it can be better.
“Right now we have people looking at every segment of the process from the time anyone sees a property, all the way through the application process itself.”
Davis, who also serves as associate director of the Northeast Florida Builders Association and chair of the Council’s Recreation, Community Development and Education committee, said the overall goal when legislation is introduced is to make the permitting process more “customer friendly.”
“I guess you could say I’m playing a double role because I’m looking out for both customers,” he said. “I want to make things easier for the consumer public and the builder, who is trying to make an economic impact in the city. It’s all about creating efficiency and helping to continue in the progress we are making now.”
Davis’ permitting committee should wrap by the end of the month and one recommendation it will likely make is that the City should consider hiring more building inspectors.
“Right now our inspectors are performing around 19 inspections a day,” said Davis. “We’d like to get that number down to around 12 to 15 so they’re not having to jam in so many inspections all day long.
“After a while it starts to take on a snowball effect and something’s going to have to give. Today we’re issuing record numbers of permits and we haven’t brought on any new people to account for that. That’s something we’re going to have to address.”
Davis said those new inspectors who would, by law adhere to safety standards and practices, will likely help decrease any margin for error.
“To be honest, it would be more efficient for everyone involved if we had more people,” he said. “Just being able to better adjust to a contractor’s schedule will really help.”
Davis was unsure of the fiscal impact related to any future permitting legislation, but added it would there would be several factors to consider before anything passes.
“This is something we are going to have to be committed to if we really want to improve the permitting process,” said Davis. “I’m sure there will be some costs to consider, but in the end everyone will have to be willing to make it even more user friendly than it is right now. By the first of quarter of 2004, we should be one step closer to accomplishing that.”