I have sponsored this referral item to discuss the turn-around times for issuance of residential building permits.

I am co-sponsoring with sponsor Vice-Mayor Arriola an agenda item, which will be heard at the July 30, 2021 Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee meeting, to consider the creation of a permitting ombudsperson, to assist single-family homeowners with the City’s cumbersome building permit process.

It is my understanding that Governor DeSantis recently signed into law a Bill (HB 1059) which will require municipal building departments to make various changes to their residential building permit application process, and which imposes statutory deadlines for reviewing certain building permit applications.

In addition to the separate pending item for the creation of an ombudsperson, the intent of this referral item is to improve residential building permit turn-around times for our City’s residents, and discuss how the City will streamline its building permit application process to come into compliance with the new statutory requirements noted above.

Please feel free to contact Amadeus Huff for additional information.