PORT TOWNSEND — While the Jefferson County Department of Community Development has streamlined its operations, it can be even more efficient if building permit applicants would follow the rules, the department’s director said Monday.
“A lot of the applications we get aren’t properly filled out,” Carl Smith told an audience of about 50 people at the weekly meeting of the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce.
“If there are apparent deficiencies, then we’ll hand the application back to you immediately.
“But the clerk may not catch the mistake right away, and you’ll have to come back to complete the application.”
Smith, who took over as DCD director in spring 2012, has implemented several service improvements, one of which directly addresses incorrectly completed permit applications.
DCD used to share a reception door with the adjacent health department, which charged DCD $30,000 a year to act as a receptionist.
By opening a direct door to DCD and staffing the receptionist job with a member of the planning staff, the agency both saved money and improved service, Smith said.
Aside from knowing the application guidelines, Smith advises applicants to understand what aspects of an application could cause a delay.
“If you are building something, you would do well to avoid critical areas and wetlands if you can,” Smith said. “To develop in those areas, it and requires more hoops to jump through.”
The DCD has rebounded its permit fee revenue in the past few years, but those revenues are less than half than in 2007, prior to the recession.
One revenue-saving measure failed.
At the beginning of the year, employee work hours were cut from 40 to 32 weekly, and the DCD offices were closed on Fridays.
It had a poor impact on customer service, and the hours were restored for all employees July 1.
The office, at 621 Sheridan St., Port Townsend, still is closed to the public Fridays.
“When we cut back the hours, we lost momentum and reversed the progress that we had made,” Smith said.
“It broke my heart because we were doing so well. It is my goal to make DCD responsive and efficient where we don’t have a huge backlog and can get our work done in a timely manner.”
Aside from submitting properly prepared applications, Smith said applicants should make an appointment rather than just stopping in.
One efficiency improvement was delegating one employee to handle all the applications nearly full time, from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, except for Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning.
Smith said the department will need to raise some fees, an issue that he plans to discuss at Monday’s meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners.
One revenue source could come from charging people who ask for advice about the area prior to submitting a permit application.
“Most people will be willing to pay additional fees if we spend a lot of time doing this coaching,” Smith said.
Staffing, Smith said, is the only place where the department can cut costs.
“We have saved everywhere we can, salaries and rent, and there are no other places we can cut without reducing staff,” Smith said.
“So we need to institute some targeted new fees, which will help us to improve service.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
