After permit turnaround times vastly increased during the pandemic—in part due to understaffing—the city manager will review hiring practices and prioritize fully staffing the Permit Center at the direction of the Long Beach City Council Tuesday.
“This situation has delayed our ability to approve permits and build housing in the middle of a housing crisis and makes it more difficult for contractors to conduct improvements to homes, improve habitability issues within our city,” Vice Mayor Rex Richardson said. “That threatens our ongoing economic recovery.”
Over the past year, permits that typically take a few days took weeks to be issued.
The city manager and director of development services cited a flurry of reasons for delays.
The center, usually staffed by 11 full-time employees, dwindled down to six full-time employees during the pandemic with contractors to fill the gap.
City Manager Tom Modica said that multiple staff left at the end of 2020—due to illness, retirement or new jobs—creating “the perfect storm.”
Councilmember Stacy Mungo Flanigan theorized that permit staff were being “cherry-picked” by other jurisdictions, some of which may offer higher pay in areas with a lower cost of living.
Modica admitted, “We are not known as the best-paid municipality around either, so pay is certainly a factor.”
The Permit Center is currently authorized for overhiring and a continuous application period to help plug the gap, though Modica said that the highly specialized nature of the job leads to smaller applicant pools.
In addition to transitioning from an in-person to an email-based communication model between departments, staff were also affected by citywide furloughs that limited their hours.
Digital applications for permits also presented issues. When the permit center received incomplete applications, staff spent more time over phone and via email collecting required information.
As a result, permitting experienced delays, especially permits for minor construction like reroofing. These delays were paired with increased demand, as the memo states “construction activity has significantly [increased] as homeowners and businesses invest in their properties.”
This May, the Permit Office began processing in-person applications for express permits by reservation and worked to address the delays.
Though Modica said that permit turnaround time is now “within range” of similar cities, the council directed staff to look into streamlining the Permit Center’s software. When the item comes back to the council, staff will present software options that could expedite the permitting process.
“I think we have learned a lot of lessons,” Mayor Robert Garcia said. “We have to be prepared for how we would operate in the future, if we would have to have this type of closure in the future, which hopefully will never happen again anytime soon.”
At the direction of Vice Mayor Rex Richardson, staff will also consider a “shot clock” model that would include a countdown timer for all permits.
“Despite these issues, affirmatively addressing this issue does present a real opportunity for us to create a modern present permitting system that’s efficient, transparent, that’s accountable,” Richardson said. “If we get this right, this will help spur economic opportunity within our city.”
