PORT TOWNSEND –Jefferson County officials, dealing with more than 800 building permit applications for the second year in a row, are streamlining the permit process and easing the delays and headaches it can bring.
“We can now get you out of here in 30 days,” said Al Scalf, director of the Community Development Department, about building permit applications that are submitted with complete information and uncomplicated plans.
The time a permit now takes is between two to four weeks, Scalf said, depending on a project’s complexity.
The effort to make the county permit process more efficient and productive started when county commissioners hired Kurt Latimore last year.
Latimore, a systems analysis engineer with the Snohomish County-based Latimore Co., was hired to study and evaluate the permit process.
The permit efficiency project became a focus in the county’s comprehensive plan.
Used ‘Boeing approach’
Latimore is an industrial engineer who has worked with Boeing Corp. and several other Washington counties and municipalities in similar roles.
Latimore, according to Scalf, “Used a classic Boeing approach to production.”
Interested parties, including builders and real estate agents, were given an opportunity to discuss their issues and suggestions.
In turn, a host of internal changes have been made to the way applications are tracked, managed and routed between county departments.
The enhancements accelerate any aging applications, broaden reviewer skills and speed up permit reviews.
Latimore found an overworked staff, but has reorganized the process so if an employee is absent or on vacation, another employee can take over the absent person’s permit applications without delaying the process.
“Under the process now we do the oldest (permits) first to avoid letting the system back up,” Scalf said.
“That way you don’t pile up 100 projects in queue. You keep 10 or 20.
“We’re generalists now, not specialists,” added Scalf of the four employees in the county’s building division and six in the development review division.
In effect, he said, employees “cross train and cross support.”
