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The Portland Bureau of Development Services starting this week will close its Permit Center at noon on Thursdays so that staffers can devote more time to reviews of permit applications as well as training for new employees.

The center at 1900 S.W. Fourth Ave. will maintain regular hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Closing at noon instead of 2 p.m. on Thursdays will help staffers issue building permits quicker, BDS spokesman Ross Caron said.

鈥淚t’ll free up one afternoon a week where staff can perform their back-of-desk duties,鈥� he said.

The BDS has hired more employees to help keep pace with increasing numbers of permit requests associated with a development boom in the city, but many of these workers still require extensive training, Caron said. Extra time on Thursday afternoons for training will help bring these new employees up to speed quicker, he said.

Early closure of the Permit Center on Thursdays is scheduled to last until March 2015 while the recent hires are trained over the next five months. At that point, BDS officials will evaluate whether the new employees are ready for the center to return to regular hours, Caron said.

The Portland City Council in March approved adding 18 BDS employees. The bureau will seek the council’s approval to hire more, he said.