Posted on: Sunday, March 20, 2005
City's building permit process still lags
By
Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Staff Writer
A
backlog of city building permits continues to dog officials at an office that
has received its marching orders from Mayor Mufi Hannemann's administration:
Simplify, streamline and reduce time spent waiting in lines.
Bruce
Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser • Little progress on a new system to allow private engineers to sign off on
building plans.
• Waits in line of up to five hours at a time.
• Unforeseen requirements that delay projects even further.
Those seeking permits line up before dawn, and often have to return
repeatedly if there are glitches. Developers say projects worth millions have
been delayed while the paperwork wait drags on. Homeowners who want to renovate,
or build from scratch, frequently face having to put plans on hold.
Officials say they are making progress, citing nine recent hires, a separate
line to pay for permits and a part-time staffed information booth. But O'ahu's
building boom and the retirement of seasoned employees make for an overwhelmed
and understaffed office, they say.
Bruce
Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser Bruce
Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser The first trip there was a bust, White said, because she left after realizing
she had started too late in the day to make any progress.
The second time, she arrived at 5:40 a.m. and was third in line — a coveted
spot that guarantees immediate counter service when the office opens at 7:45
a.m., because there are usually four clerks on duty.
"It's like the military — hurry up and wait," White said,
maintaining friendly banter with other people waiting. "Everybody comes
real early and you wait."
Even though she made progress on the second visit, there was more to be done.
Last week, she arrived at 5:50 a.m., and was seventh in line — the first
person arrived at 4:30 a.m. She hoped to get out by noon until she realized that
she didn't have all her paperwork.
'Need more people'
Harry Saunders, president of Castle & Cooke Homes, said millions of
dollars in Castle & Cooke projects have been delayed two to six months in
some cases. Saunders said he's hopeful, however, because of a positive change in
the city's attitude toward fixing the system.
2003: 16,792
2004: 18,447
2005: 20,309 (projected)
Source: City Department of Planning and Permitting Henry Eng, head of the Planning and Permitting Department, said the
department, under new leadership since January, took a hard look at its
operations and called on industry groups to discuss the permit delays.
"There is unanimity, both internally and externally, in the assessment
that DPP is both understaffed and inadequately supported by resources," Eng
said. "The need for increased staffing and resources cannot be
overstated."
The department has a list of possible solutions, including:
• Third-party review and self-certification that would allow the private
sector to assist in reviewing plans.
• Greater computerization.
• Developing clearer, simpler requirements.
Bruce
Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser Patrick Onishi, president of the Hawai'i chapter of the American Institute of
Architects, said recent efforts by the department should bring about noticeable
changes in several months. Staffing and help with the process are two things
that will ease the burden there, Onishi said.
"The issue of permitting is exacerbated by the fact that there's so much
(building) activity and then staffing has been reduced," Onishi said.
"I know over the last five to eight years there's really been a loss of
tenured staffing in that department."
The department is authorized to have 299 workers. Right now it is anywhere
from 49 to 59 people short, said Eng, who wants to get about 40 of those
positions filled. Once someone is hired, training takes six months to a year, he
said.
Expediting process
Bruce
Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser One person has been approved to perform the third-party reviews and a few
others have expressed an interest in the process that allows engineers or
architects to approve plans, Eng said.
Under the system, the city will retain the sole authority to issue permits,
but will allow "third-party review" of plans by the private sector as
a way to expedite the process and reduce a backlog of permit applications.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
Among complaints from builders and homeowners:
Philip
Cole of the Department of Planning and Permitting examines Daryl
Takata's plans for an addition to his Kane'ohe home. City officials say
O'ahu's building boom and the retirement of seasoned employees make for
an understaffed and overwhelmed office.
Homeowner Denise White, who wants to add a bedroom and bath to her house in
Wahiawa, was on her third trip to the office last week. She still did not have a
permit and wasn't sure how many more trips it would take. At least one more,
White said.
With
blueprints in hand, a permit applicant joins the lines early in the
morning at the Municipal Building. Others arrived as early as 4:30 a.m.
Denise
White works on a puzzle book while waiting for her number to be called.
She has been to the permits office three times and still must return.
"That change in attitude is a tremendous step forward," Saunders said.
"But it will take awhile to effect dramatic changes. The key is they need
more people."
Building
permits issued on O'ahu
Also, some of the delays, officials said, are due to people with incomplete
plans.
Take
a number and wait: Early arrivals get to the counter first; applicants
who don't arrive early might wait as long as five hours. The city
Department of Planning and Permitting says it needs about 49 to 59 more
workers and hopes to fill about 40 of those slots.
An initiative announced in October, third-party review, is being phased in.
City
employee Philip Cole looks over the blueprints for an addition to Denise
White's house. On her first visit, she arrived too late; the second time
and third times, she found that there was still more to be done.