Editorial: DPP must correct lack of efficiency

The city’s Department of Planning and Permitting has a lot of work on its plate.

The provider of services pertaining to building permits, development projects and islandwide planning pursuits is also responsible for enforcement of laws and regulations that apply to land use and an array of construction industry-based codes and infrastructure requirements.

Although DPP issues about 20,000 building permits a year, long delays in processing permits have been a problem for more than a decade, sometimes because of staffing shortages.

The City Council took a step toward correction last week with approval of Bill 64, which requires DPP to process applications for one- and two-family dwellings within 60 days of receiving them. The measure puts in place a foundation for a much-needed timeframe on what has been an open-ended process.

Introduced by Council Chairman Ernie Martin, the bill was prompted by a growing number of complaints about permitting delays. Surely, some delays are unavoidable as DPP sizes up complex proposals for home-building and various other projects. But the department’s operations should be tethered to predictability and adherence to deadlines.

The Building Industry Association of Hawaii has tagged DPP’s backlog — resulting in reported waits of up to 12 months to issue standard residential building permits — as a “crisis” situation. It is indeed, when builders, contractors, engineers and architects are losing out on viable job opportunities due to the absence of a working schedule.

Among industry officials who addressed the matter before the Council, Bruce Kim, Atlas Construction Inc. president, noted that last month his company had to lay off 30 carpenters. He also rightly pointed out that the bill serves as more of a “Band-Aid” than a lasting fix for the problem.

To delve deeper into issues contributing to DPP’s troubles, the Council has convened an ad hoc committee, which Martin has said is tasked with pinpointing what can be “expedited without jeopardizing public health and safety.” That move holds potential to serve as a solid second step as it could check for red-tape snags that can be snipped.

The bottom line: The city needs to take a hard look at how DPP can function significantly more efficiently. If a larger staff or technology-related upgrades are needed to establish and maintain effective and timely operations, then DPP needs to justify those needs.

Under Bill 64, an expedited process is tied to the launch of a one-time review. Applications would need to be prepared and stamped by a licensed professional engineer or architect who has not had a building permit application rejected more than twice within the previous two months.

In exchange for skipping some of what’s now a potentially lengthy front-end checklist, the applicant would agree to abide by DPP decisions made during the construction phase. If an inspection at a work site turns up red flags, a project could be halted or even dismantled. The onus would be on the applicant to hammer out a solid construction plan from the get-go.

That may be easier said than done, however. DPP’s acting director, Kathy Sokugawa, has opposed the bill, contending that a hasty front-end assessment could result in longer back-end delays — ultimately holding up issuance of a certificate of occupancy.

Further, she warned that if the measure misfires by touching off more stops and and starts, it could result in essentially prioritizing service for one- and two-family dwellings. Permit-seekers for other types of projects could then be left cooling their heels for longer stretches at Honolulu Hale.

More important than pro-con speculation, though, is the certainty that action is needed to spur change in DPP’s slow-moving operations. Mayor Kirk Caldwell should sign off on this bill, and move forward on corrective efforts.