5-8-2001
County reinventing permitting procedures
The permitting counter at the Kitsap County Courthouse. New procedures should eliminate the delays and frustrations that have plauged builders and developers as well as county staff for years.
   If there’s one criticism just about everyone involved in the construction industry at any level has had about Kitsap County, it involves permitting.
   Kitsap County’s Department of Community Development (DCD) has been thoroughly criticized, chastised, taken to task, reprimanded, condemned and denounced over the years for its lack of consistency, bad judgment, tardiness, laziness, aloofness and just plain bad attitude in dealing with permitting issues — not only with the general public, but especially by builders and developers.
   “We’re made to feel like we’re the enemy, like we’re the scum of the earth, just because we want to get a permit to build a house,” said one builder who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal by DCD staff. “They talk to us like we’re morons instead of professionals.”
   Every builder and developer you know who has been in business here for any length of time has at least one horror story about a lost or mishandled permit application, the seemingly eternal wait to process what, on the surface, should be a fairly straight-forward permit application, and tons of what are perceived as onerous DCD rules, regulations and additional paperwork that appear to be unnecessary, repetitive, expensive and time consuming. For many area builders and developers, as well as business people and homeowners, dealing with the DCD has been about as much fun as a migraine.
    According to Karen Ross, assistant director of permitting for the DCD, that’s going to change. Building permit application forms are being simplified and improved, and for the past several months, her organization has been working on a concept called “triage permitting.” It essentially assigns one staff member to review new permits on a daily basis and to interact with DCD environmental engineers, county planners and other departments to evaluate what permits can be processed in one to three days, those that will require more work.
   A permit coordinator assigns each permit to a staffer who shepherds it through each step of the process, handles problems and is available to customers to answer questions regarding the status of the permit. She also said outreach plans are in the works to educate the public on the permitting process, and that a new system will be installed to improve telephone communication between staff and applicants as well.
   To avoid confusion between departments, a unified site plan has also been designed and became mandatory with all applications on May 1.
   Ross explained that the department’s long-term goal is to tie-in the DCD’s database with those of other building-related departments and allow people to access such information through the county’s web site and eventually process some permits online.
   She acknowledged that a growing population base, lack of sufficient resources, increased health, safety and environmental rules, and other systemic factors that have changed the way the public and DCD staffers interact — and that has been at the root of many of the past problems.
   With all the changes on the horizon, Ross said the DCD is committed to moving towards a more customer-friendly approach to doing business. She noted that the staff will treat the department’s clients with respect — something sorely lacking according to many builders. However, Ross expects her staff to be treated with the same professionalism and courtesy.
   This seems to be a situation with enough blame to go around for everyone to share in it. A lot of people refuse to acknowledge that the “good old days” when the Kitsap County’s population was smaller, and state and federal regulations fewer and more lenient, are over. The days of bringing plans to DCD on the back of a cocktail napkin are history. And if Karen Ross gets her way, so will be the delays and frustrations that have plagued builders and developers for what everyone agrees has been too long.