- During the City Council Wednesday, a connectivity issue impacting the City's software and permitting program was brought to attention.
- President of the Home Builders Association of Kern County Allison Oliver said when it comes to developers and vendors in Bakersfield, filing paperwork and applications has become more of a hassle as the city moves to online systems.
Communication is key, especially when it comes to construction.
During the City Council Wednesday, a connectivity issue impacting the City's software and permitting program was brought to attention. Phil Burns, building director for the City of Bakersfield, said while the issue was resolved Friday, it was difficult for staff to communicate with developers and vendors about the work being done behind-the-scenes.
“With limited staff, it’s hard to get to each person and to kind of explain to them what’s going on," Burns said. “We’re trying to get caught up from this backlog."
President of the Home Builders Association of Kern County Allison Oliver said when it comes to developers and vendors in Bakersfield, filing paperwork and applications has become more of a hassle as the city moves to online systems.
“Over the last year we’ve had several breakdowns," Oliver said.
Due to the connectivity issues, Burns said even though it may have appeared as thought permits weren’t going through, that wasn’t the case. Still, it did delay some processes, with 90 applications stalled by the technical breakdown.
While this latest issue only started a few weeks ago, according to Burns, Oliver said the difficulties have been ongoing.
“In the past few months, it’s been taking weeks, even months just to get one thing that should be a 24-hour turn-around," she said. "There’s much more than just home-building permits, the commercial industry was impacted as well by the e-permitting system.”
Oliver saying each time these systems delay projects, it directly affects our economy and people’s jobs.
“Think vendors, subcontractors, you’re plumber, your tile guy, all of these subcontractors employ several hundred employees," Oliver said. "We know the city wants to work with as well, but they need to create a back-up plan, a workaround.”
While the City’s software issues seem to have been resolved, local developers aren’t fulling convinced. Even though projects are once again moving forward, there’s still a level of concern for the Home Builders Association.
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