County Permitting Takes a Step Forward

In the midst of 2020’s pandemic restrictions, we saw many employees working remotely, doing their best to keep up with the workload as their environment and tools changed (and changed often). This, of course, caused delays, backlogs, and a fractured process for many organizations. Quite possibly, Mason County’s permitting department displayed the worst of these.

The Chamber reached out to Mason County Commissioners at the beginning of 2020 to find a solution, as the inefficiencies in the building department was a known and ongoing issue. The response was a reorganization of the department putting Kell Rowan at the head of Community Development, Planning, and Permitting—a great first step.

However, amidst the perfect storm of the already existing delays, compounded by the challenges presented by the pandemic, in addition to increased—sometimes nearly doubled—building permit submissions, county staff lagged. At times, it was months before applicants would receive an email invitation. This email was only an appointment time to submit the building permit, which would start the clock ticking for permit approval, often lingering two or three more months.

On April 1, 2021, the Chamber and Mason County Master Builders hosted a virtual meeting to reiterate concerns and push for a resolution. While acknowledging the strides that county staff has made so far, the messaged remained clear: fix the broken submission system. Since that meeting, in the span of a month, several issues have been addressed and some solutions have been found.

The first solution was to move forward with scheduling appointments for building permit submittals. After the April meeting, staff’s priority was to get everyone who requested an appointment on the schedule. Rowan reports that this has been accomplished. Since then, scheduling appointments for submittals has assigned to clerical staff, not a permit tech. This simple change has expedited scheduling and freed up technical staff’s time to focus on reviews, meetings, and inspections.

County staff is averaging 8-9 requests per day, an increased workload from prior months. However, those requests are now being met with a scheduled appointment within days. In addition to this, permitting staff worked with the county’s IT Department and are currently testing scheduling software, which should allow people to self-select open appointment dates online. The hope is to have that process fully implemented this month.

A second change is how inspections are coordinated. Although the mechanism to schedule online has been implemented, it is currently undergoing analysis. A few problems have been identified. First, the system does not automatically select email confirmations and notifications, making an onerous process for applicants.

Another issue is that while the system allows online scheduling, it does not consider staff’s availability. An issue arose as one could select a date for an inspection that inspectors were not in the specified area.

Lastly, the online schedule is not completely current. Clerical staff receives an email from the online submission and then must input it into the live calendar. This creates a situation when staff may receive the email the following business day after inspections were scheduled over the phone and the previously “open” time has already been filled. Permitting staff is currently working with IT and the software company to address these issues.

Rowan reports that over the next two weeks, she has a team who is scheduled to go through the Lean process with the Washington State Auditor’s Office. While this will surely create temporary local delays, utilizing this process to identify and address pressure points and create a smoother process and path forward.

The Chamber is appreciative of the partnership with Master Builders in advocating for the builders, developers, and residents who are investing in growing our community. We also thank Rowan and her team for prioritizing a solution—and the County Commissioners for supplying the resources to carry it out. Over the past month, there has been marked commitment to identify, address, and correct the problems and issues. The Chamber will continue to monitor progress, engage with stakeholders, and update our members as the process continues in the upcoming months.