In October of 2021, Commissioner Arriola requested that the Information Technology (IT) Department provide regular updates on Tyler Technologies products owned by the City, ensure that the City's investment was being maximized, review performance from the vendor, and discuss strategic goals and recommendations. IT continues a robust assessment of existing technologies, evaluates alternatives, and coordinates with Tyler to streamline services and identify potential gaps.

At the December 14, 2022, Commission Meeting, the City Commission discussed and referred Item R7 D, which sought to direct the City Administration to establish an “Ad hoc Permit Process Improvement Advisory Committee,” to improve the City's regulatory permit processes and customer experiences. The Commission unanimously approved and directed the Administration to return to the City Commission in 120 days to report their progress and any preliminary recommendations.

In late December 2022, the City Manager assembled an internal committee of staff directly involved with permitting, which included Deputy City Manager Eric Carpenter and management staff of the Building Department, Planning Department, Information Technology (IT) Department, Parking Department, Environmental & Sustainability Department, Fire Department, and Public Works Department.

City staff has been working to improve the City's regulatory permit processes and customer experiences in development review, including bi-weekly staff meetings with department heads involved in the permitting process, and working with an external consultant for a comprehensive assessment and recommendation on the permitting process.

An update was provided for the May 17, 2023 Commission meeting. 

On October 11, 2023, the consultant (Berry Dunn) presented to the City its completed report including the assessed current permitting process, including, but not limited to, information-gathering, fact-finding meetings, including focus group sessions with external stakeholders (e.g. property owners, developers, contractors, permit expeditors, and other interested parties, etc.), as-is process diagrams, peer benchmarking, and recommendations for improvement.

BerryDunn identified 14 challenges as a result of the project planning, fact-finding, process diagramming, and external stakeholder outreach activities completed to date. The challenges identified present the overall or primary challenges and opportunities for improvement that BerryDunn identified as themes from key functional areas in the City. Berry Dunn also identified and recommended several projects and initiatives to address the challenges they identified.

On October 16, 2023, the Finance & Economic Resiliency Committee (FERC) unanimously accepted the plan and action items as presented related to the permit process review. FERC recommended that staff return to FERC every 4-6 months to provide updates on the related action items. At the October 18, 2023, Commission meeting, the Commission accepted via resolution 2023-32824 the action items.

In late December 2022, the City Manager assembled an internal committee of staff directly involved with permitting, which included Deputy City Manager Eric Carpenter and management staff of the Building Department, Planning Department, Information Technology (IT) Department, Parking Department, Environmental & Sustainability Department, Fire Department, and Public Works Department. The group established bi-weekly meetings, and one of its first actions included hiring an external consultant to review and provide a comprehensive assessment of the City's current permitting process. Concurrent with the consultant’s review, staff has been meeting either weekly or biweekly for the past six months with the leadership of all the Departments involved in the development review process (Building, Planning, Fire, Public Works, Environment & Sustainability, Parking, and IT). The staff is collaborating on innovative solutions and efficiencies to improve the permitting process and person-to-person interactions and determining how we can improve the customer experience.

Staff has summarized the consultant’s report on the attached chart into 14 individual points including action items for ease of tracking and providing status updates. Furthermore, staff has identified 5 overarching pillars that will lead the actions to address the recommendations. These five are:

1. Governance – Bi-weekly Policy Control Group that include Deputy City Manager and Department Heads; and a Change Advisory Group made up of subject matter experts that work with the EnerGov permitting system to ensure we are streamlining and maximizing the use of EnerGov.

2. Training –Training staff internally for continuous technological proficiency and provide training to applicants to assist them in understand the process.

3. Technology – Created a permitting landing page for a “one stop shop” of all Miami Beach permit information and guides in Miami Beach; Decision Engine to help direct applicants to the proper information and applications; Expand the use of the Bluebeam Plan Review software to improve and facilitate the explanation of code requirements on plans.

4. Customer Service – As approved in FY 24 budget, creating the Customer Liaison position; Updated over 175 checklists for every building permit type that we handle; Automating instructions on how to work with outside agencies for required permits, such as Miami Dade County.

5. Process Improvements – Reviewing manual process; removing unnecessary reviews and inspections; streamlining workflows, standardizing comments for consistency and creating drop down lists for plan reviewers to access and provide to applicants.