Building planner John Minato unloaded a fat roll of paper, filled with designs for the Swedish Medical Center, on a table in the Issaquah council chambers.
It was one of 14 volumes, printed in sets of five, multiple times through the course of permitting for the one project. By the end, the paper totaled about 5,000 pounds, or about $63,000 in printing costs.
For the council, it was an eye opener to the need for a system that would allow developers to submit permit requests digitally.
The group of politicians passed an ordinance that would allow eCityGov Alliance, an interlocal government agency, to move permitting to the digital age.
It also allowed the council members to move the cost of the program, which has been preparing for this inevitable move since 2001, from the general fund and add it to the permitting fees.
It may cost builders another 1.3 percent to get their plans submitted, but the local Master Builders Associations couldn’t be more thrilled.
“They said not only do we want it, but it’s also a huge cost savings,” Minato said.
The old funding model was based on population. So while Bellevue has a larger population than Issaquah and Sammamish, it still cost Bellevue less per building application, because of how much development the city has had, said John Backman, eCityGov executive director.
While the fees have started, Issaquah doesn’t plan to introduce online permitting until next year.
The plan is to start small with basic plumbing permits, and then begin including building and land use permits.
Issaquah will eventually tie in public works engineering, Minato said. “This will go from a building department project to a citywide project.”
Developers to homeowners planning renovation would be able to submit their plans online, then receive notes from the city, and resubmit multiple times.
Planners can also pay for permits from multiple cities at once, much like someone might do with “shopping cart” features online.
ECityGov first came into existenceafter a group of area building officials took a trip to San Francisco in 1998 to study how they had streamlined the process.
At the time, cities and neighboring counties had such vastly different building codes, it was holding up development.
The planners had the idea to eventually move to the web, but first they began working together to create more consistent building requirements.
They also introduced inspection tip sheets, a check list to help developers get through the process more quickly, Minato said. “Our cities have come together on a lot of things.”
