At the last Savannah/Hilton Head Realtor Commercial Alliance meeting a few weeks ago, city manager Rochelle Small-Toney was the main speaker. Instead of giving a presentation, she turned the meeting into a laid-back round table discussion. When asked about changes in the usually hectic permitting process, Ms. Small-Toney offered some hope for those in the process now or the near future.
She first acknowledged a decrease in inspections and permitting in Savannah due to a recovering economy. This has caused layoffs for many county inspectors who will be rehired when the number of permits increases. She replied to a comment that “the permitting process is crazy,” by explaining that the problem was mainly poor customer service. This created the appearance of chaos and a lack of information within the system. She said this was being addressed and that “we do know what’s going on.”
Another problem area that is being corrected concerns the permitting ombudsmen. Previously, they would visit a site, make a decision and then refer to someone else for approval. Now the ombudsmen “have the authority to make the call on site. They didn’t know that before,” she said.
To streamline the permitting process, the city is exploring the use of software to track a permitting project in real time. If implemented, permit seekers will track the project’s status, view comments, understand problems and find solutions immediately. This will eliminate dozens of phone calls permit seekers usually make to the city to try to find out where their permit is. This will be in addition to the Virtual Inspections and Permitting Systems already in place.
Savannah also offers free semi-annual workshops on the permitting process at the civic center. The next one will be in the autumn. Visit www.savannahga.gov/developmentservices for more information.
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