Help on the Way to Combat Dallas Permitting Delays
The Dallas BA continues to lead the fight against crippling residential permitting delays in the City of Dallas. These delays are currently adding 11 weeks or more to processes that were routinely completed in a matter of hours prior to March.
The city council approved a proposal for third party plan review during its Jan. 27 meeting. The $5 million, two year measure brings three private sector vendors online (Stantec, Metro Code and Safebuilt). They will have capacity to process between 60-100 plans per day and will be focused entirely on residential permits starting Feb. 1.
“This is a decidedly positive step in the right direction and I commend the city council and staff for taking it,” said Dallas BA Executive Officer Phil Crone. “I’m optimistic they can help clear the things out very quickly. However, we need to make sure they are truly empowered to succeed and that processes retained by the city such as zoning review and establishing water accounts are not a drag on progress.”
In a recent Dallas Business Journal article and interview on Fox 4 News, Crone bemoaned the “organizational ineptitude” within the city’s Sustainable Development and Construction Department. The Association estimates, using data provided by Zonda/Meyers Research, that these delays have cost the city more than a quarter billion dollars in tax base increase and nearly 600 homes that would otherwise have been completed.
The origins of the problem and the Dallas BA’s efforts to solve it were summarized in an article, linked here, last month. On Jan. 5, the City of Dallas responded with a memo that offered little promise of progress. At the request of council members, the Association responded 10 days later with compiled feedback from the housing industry. Dallas BA members resoundingly proclaimed the city’s efforts were not nearly good enough and that third party assistance was needed.
“We’ve taken the first steps back from the brink on this,” Crone said. “Staff and council realize the immediacy of the situation and they are bringing in resources that can make a difference now with the current crisis and hopefully going forward to remedy the underlying issues that caused it.”
The city council will hold an extensive hearing on the issue during its Feb. 1 meeting of the Economic Development Committee. Later that week, the city’s Development Advisory Committee, of which Crone serves as a co-chairman, will provide further industry input.