Dallas Builders Bemoan Permitting Delays
COVID-19 has caused a host of problems for the homebuilding industry. Along with worker safety issues on building sites and social distancing at new home models, builders across the country are seeing delays in project permitting. Dallas homebuilders have raised a red flag about the holdups in getting building permits since the pandemic shut down in-person building permit applications. The city of Dallas shifted almost 90% of its permit process to an online system to protect workers and builders. But the local homebuilders association says that has created a backlog of approvals for new home construction.
“Once upon a time, Dallas building association members were able to walk into the city of Dallas’ Oak Cliff Municipal Center and walk out with a residential building permit within hours,” Phil Crone, chief executive officer of the Dallas Builders Association, wrote this week in a message to members. “In a city where zoning, development and utility connections are nightmarish processes, building permitting was a bright spot with far faster turnaround times than surrounding cities.”
But Crone said the permitting process is being bogged down by a balky online system that’s been taxed during the pandemic. Builders complain to Crone that, in some cases, it can take weeks to get a permit. One builder said a permit request has gone two months without action by the city. “While other cities saw some interruptions, the depth and breadth here is a unique Dallas issue,” he said.
City officials say they recognize that builders have issues with the system.
“The Sustainable Development & Construction department is aware of the frustrations on the applicant side, as well as on the staff side, as we jointly navigate through this new world we have been thrown into,” Dallas public information officer Deme Jackson said in an email. “As with most major technology implementations, there have been implementation pains on both sides, and we are diligently working on continued improvements.” Jackson said when the applications are processed correctly on the city’s online system, it should take seven to 10 business days to get through the permitting queue after submittal. “We will continue working hard under difficult circumstances to meet the very important needs of our residents and the construction industry,” Jackson said.
Dallas-Fort Worth is the country’s top homebuilding market, with almost 40,000 annual home starts at the midpoint of 2020...
