Despite Summit County’s attempts to streamline the building permit process, builders and contractors are voicing their frustration at the County Council’s recent elimination of a building department position. They say it will have a detrimental effect on the local building industry.
When the Summit County Council approved the 2012 budget in December a building department position along with two positions in animal control were cut. Since one building staffer was retiring no one was laid off, but the department is smaller.
Three Summit County builders and contractors appeared before the County Council on Wednesday and said the county’s expense-saving measure was costing them.
“There is not enough staff in the building to carry out the amount of building inspections we need done in a timely manner,” said Richard Jaffa, a Park City-area builder. “The staff is expected to do plan checks, run the building department and complete continuing education programs and they can’t keep up.”
But according to Summit County Community Development Director Don Sargent, four years ago, the turnaround time for building plan checks was four weeks; it is now almost always done in less than 10 days.
“We have half of the building inspectors we did in 2009 and just as many projects to inspect,” Sargent said. “We have also moved the process online which we think will streamline things and save our staff time, but there is going to be a learning curve for both staff members and those using the site.”
The building department has two employees in the office and three designated for field work.
Scott Stubbs, president of the Legacy Construction Group, said they were not there to attack the council members for their decision, but simply to find a way to make the system work since they were the ones affected by the decision.
“We are scared it may get worse,” he said. “Some ways to make it work better for the building community, despite the lack of staff members would be to have one inspector on a house throughout the entire process.”
Another suggestion was to give out the cell phone numbers of the inspectors so builders could check what time they would be showing up and not wait at a construction site all day.
Councilmember Sally Elliott reminded the builders that the budget had already been approved and suggested the county staff and building community work together to find creative ways to work within the confines of county’s limited budget.
Building inspections should not be rushed due to limited staff, Jaffa said. Adding that by cutting additional building staff, the County Council hurt the people that live in the community and are creating jobs.