CITY PERMITS ARE TRACKED BY COMPUTER

For several years there has been persistent coffee-shop grumbling that Cape Girardeau's building-permit process was a deterrent to development.

Similarly, over the years the Southeast Missourian has repeatedly tried to document those complaints -- but with little success. Efforts to follow up on complaints about the permit process usually fizzled when the complaining contractors couldn't -- or wouldn't -- provide specific information.

City officials have heard the same complaints, even though procedures were in place to expedite processing of permit requests. Earlier this year, the city went a step further by computerizing all permits, thus providing an easy-to-understand format for checking on the progress of any permit application at any point from the time the city receives an application until the permit is picked up.

During September, the city's Division of Inspection Services dealt with 24 permits -- 11 permit requests for new buildings and 13 permit requests for expansion or remodeling.

The computer printouts indicate the city is doing a pretty good job of processing permits in a timely way. The goal, city officials say, is to issue permits within three to four weeks after a request is made. In some instances, permits are ready in just a matter of days.

Instances where permits have been languishing at City Hall are usually attributable to two main factors: The permit applicant has decided for one reason or another to delay a project, or the city's request for required information hasn't been acknowledged by the permit applicant.

Anyone seeking information about the status of a permit request can go to the Division of Inspection Services and quickly get up-to-date information from the division's computerized tracking system.

As a public service, the Southeast Missourian will be publishing monthly permit activity, which will give the public a month-to-month update on permits that have been requested, held up or issued.

If problems in the permit process exist, they should be readily apparent in these monthly reviews. And the coffee-drinking crowd that has criticized the permit process for so long now will have facts instead of rumors.