April 26, 2021

There were at least 15 plans waiting to be reviewed for permits in the city’s building services division at the end of last week.

It has been that way for at least a month.

Normal activity would create more like eight or 10.

In the past week alone, $33 million in permits were issued, bringing the year-to-date total to nearly $300 million.

“The plans coming in have been astronomical this year compared to other years,” said Butch Warrington, chief building official.

“They just keep coming in.”

What that means for businesses attempting to start projects likely is a longer wait. From the time a plan gets submitted, it’s taking about four weeks before a permit is issued.

“We ideally would like to get the time down to two or three weeks, but we always knew when we got into the busy season this could be the outcome,” said Jeff Eckhoff, director of planning and development services.

“We had a slight pause for COVID, and it took off again, and this winter was mild enough there was really no slowdown.”

The significant increase in apartment projects is adding to delays.

“They’re some of the most difficult things to review,” Warrington said, pointing out that fire resistance between units, between corridors and units and around stair towers all has to be reviewed.

“There’s a lot to look at that takes a long time.”

The city has added a residential examiner, and “that’s going pretty well, so you’ll usually get a house permit in 24 to 48 hours,” Eckhoff said.

And he plans to request a fourth commercial plans examiner for next year’s budget, but that won’t be added until 2022 if it’s approved.

What businesses can do

Businesses submitting building plans need to make sure they’re complete, city officials said.

“I understand everybody wants to get in line, but … if they’re not complete, we have to kick them back, and it doesn’t do any good anyway,” Warrington said.

“And it takes a fair amount of time to just look at it.”

Staff is trying to get to new plans early, so they don’t sit for weeks only to be returned because they’re incomplete, but “we have the pressure of the ones in the queue too, and everyone is in a hurry, and we get that,” Eckhoff said.

They encourage businesses to meet with city officials early in the process to make it go more smoothly.

“If we can save some time in the long run, that hour or two meeting is well worth it when it comes time to review plans,” Warrington said. “Some contractors do, and some don’t. We find a lot of out-of-town contractors and architects love it because I take it that doesn’t happen in a lot of jurisdictions, but we recommend it.”

Meetings also can be done virtually, they said.

Applicants also should be clear in what they intend to build, Warrington said.

“We need to know what it’s going to be used for to give you a good plan review,” he said. “It’s a whole lot easier to change things on paper than it is once it’s up and you learn you can’t do something and you have to start tearing some of the parts off. That costs time and money.”

The pipeline includes even more apartments yet this year, as well as additional commercial buildings – and that’s just what has been discussed with city staff.

“If you sit down ahead of time, it goes so much better,” Eckhoff said. “It’s a lot easier to pick up the phone and everyone gets on the same page to start with. The big thing is we can correct it when it’s a line on a page versus a wall you suddenly have to do something with.”