JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The City of Jacksonville announced a new, online permitting system Wednesday afternoon aimed at cutting down wait times for anyone requesting permit approval.
During a press conference Wednesday, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, alongside city leaders, announced the official launch of the new system called Jax Enterprise Permitting Inspections and Compliance System (Jax EPICS).
The new system was developed to streamline the process of submitting, processing and tracking every permit the city approves, now through an online portal.
Mayor Deegan said the new system will be a game-changer to help curb wait times for local business owners and contractors seeking permits.
"Time is money in business. The truth is those delays have real-life impacts on small businesses who drive most of our local economy," Deegan said. "Whether it is the opening of a new restaurant or the construction of an affordable housing complex, a lot can change when projects are delayed for months or even years," said Deegan.
The city processes upwards of 9,000 permits a month, and on average the timeline for commercial permits approval takes about 30 days, with some requests seeing longer delays.
"We don't want that to happen anymore," Deegan said.
In the early phase of this new online system, the city is aiming to lower wait times to 20 days for commercial and residential permit seekers.
Users would also get real-time notification updates regarding where their permit request is in the approval process.
Deegan said the new system was created utilizing the city's development team, made up of mostly graduates from the University of North Florida, saving millions of taxpayer dollars.
The estimated outside vendor cost for the program was projected at $9 million.
"The city government saved an estimated 40% cost projected by developing a system with existing, talented employees versus hiring an outside technology vendor," said Wanyonyi Kendrick, the chief information officer for the City of Jacksonville.
Along with the announcement of Jax EPICS, the city plans on adding 10 positions to help staff tackle permitting delays.
For more information on the new permitting process visit the Jax EPICS website.