LAWTON – City Hall staff is making headway on processing building permits, Community Services Director Charlotte Brown told the City Council last week.
According to Brown, seven commercial permits were under review; staff was waiting on additional information from applicants on 42 residential permits and 14 commercial permits; and one residential permit was awaiting a pre-inspection from the chief inspector.
Enterprise Permitting and Licensing went live Sept. 25, via the Civic Access Portal, for online submission and review. “We have had 48 submitted since that date,” Brown said. “Six are waiting on fees to be paid and seven are in review; 24 have been issued in two weeks,” she said.
“We have had a few hiccups,” Brown conceded. “The company we were utilizing for third-party review of plans determined they were not the best for what we needed for the residential permits and they helped find another company; once that was sorted out, permits were reviewed and gotten out very quickly.”
Responding to a question from the council on Oct. 10, Brown said the Building Division “has been invoiced more than $13,000 since the end of June” for third-party review of building permits, “and there’s another $10,000 we haven’t been invoiced for yet.”
On June 20 the Building Division had 21 residential permits in process, 31 demolition permits were awaiting clearance, 39 permits required revisions, and 56 permits were with third-party plan review, the council was informed.
During a July 25 council meeting, the staff was asked to provide an update in 60 days “on where we are in the process.”
At that time, Brown said review of commercial building permits averages a week to a month “if all of the required information has been received.” Residential building permits average “about three days to three weeks for review” if all of the required data has been submitted.
Commercial permits are reviewed by the chief building official, the Public Utilities Department, the fire marshal, the Planning Department, and Stormwater Management, Brown related. Residential building permits are reviewed primarily by the plans examiner, “but, if necessary, Stormwater Management and Planning review them, too,” she said.
Reasons why building permits get delayed, the council was told, include:
• Applications are incomplete.
• Site plans and scope of work are missing.
• Staff is unable to contact the contractor for needed information.
• Contractors do not respond in a timely manner to requests for additional details.
• The contractor or owner changes his/her mind on construction plans.
• Interruptions, such as meetings, questions from the public, staff, etc.
• The department is inundated with a large volume of telephone calls.
• Large numbers of customers are waiting at the counter.
Other duties of the Building Division, the City Council was told, include administration of boating, hunting, fishing, and RV permits/licenses for the municipal Parks and Recreation Department, including inventories of stickers, lake permit books, trotline tags, and lake agents. The Building Division also issues garage sale permits and all business licenses for the City of Lawton, sells bus passes, and sells water meters for Utility Services.