Dallas Builders Association Advocates Third-Party Help to Fix Permitting Debacle

Could enlisting the help of private companies be the key to fixing Dallas’ much-maligned permitting process?  That seems to be the thinking among some who are fed up with the current system.

Leading the charge to overhaul the city’s process is Phil Crone, executive officer for the Dallas Builder’s Association. He characterizes the current setup within the city’s Sustainable Development and Construction Department as “organizational ineptitude.” He says processes that were completed in a manner of hours back in Mach now drag on for upwards of 11 weeks.

In a Jan. 15 memo to the Dallas City Council, Crone said the current backlog of permits must be cleared by the end of February to reduce permit turnaround times to no longer than three weeks.  He also called for the implementation of a third-party plan reviews program for new single-family residential construction. According to him, this could be integrated into a self-certification initiative already approved by the council.

A $250M Loss, And It’s Getting Worse

To back up his assertion, Crone cites information provided by Zonda/Meyers Research that says delays have cost the city more than $250 million in tax revenue over the past year. Their data also estimates that nearly 600 homes slated to be built could not be finished due to permitting issues.

“It’s getting worse,” Crone said in a Jan. 23 interview with the Dallas Business Journal. “It’s really getting to a, ‘Now or never moment.’ It remains a crippling problem with staff seemingly unwilling or unable to solve it.”

According to Crone, the problem stems from the move to a system that was not ready to handle the demand.  Users have experienced an inordinate number of issues simply navigating the application process.

Dallas Falls Behind Other Municipalities

There’s also a general consensus that the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative effect as well. What’s frustrating to Crone is that pandemic-related issues seem to only be a problem in Dallas. He says that while other cities managed to transition to a socially distanced permit application process back in March, Dallas has still struggled. Over the past year, some permit approvals have taken more than three months.  Meanwhile, other local cities are completing the same task in two or three weeks.

The City Council is expected to discuss the issue on Wednesday, Jan. 27.  The Economic Development Committee also plans to hold a hearing on the issue on Feb. 1 to consider enlisting the help of a private entity.  

Crone is encouraged to see third-party options finally getting council consideration.  However, he cautions that this is just a first step. The city must then meet the challenge to ensure the process is ultimately set up to succeed in a way Dallas has seemed incapable of over the past 10 months.

“The next few weeks really constitute a now or never moment for the city on this,” Crone said. “They need to make a concerted effort to get timelines down to 2-3 weeks in the next month and bring in qualified third parties for help.”