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There are lots of new faces these days at Portland’s Bureau of Development Services. Steady population growth has led to heavy demand for housing projects and a double-digit increase in permit activity. Revenues have allowed the agency responsible for processing development applications and issuing building permits to add more than a hundred new positions.

There are so many new employees at BDS the city is renting several stories at the CH2M Hill Center to accommodate them.

This has been difficult for everyone to handle, according to industry professionals.

鈥淭here’s definitely a changing game for everybody to react to,鈥� said Jennifer Marsicek, an architect with Scott | Edwards Architecture and a member of the city’s Development Review Advisory Committee (DRAC). 鈥淲e’ve been talking office-wide about what we can do to improve our process and make it smoother, based on the kind of review comments we’ve been getting back and how we can address them next time around.鈥�

Today, one in four BDS employees is in a position created in the past 12 months. Twenty-four positions focusing on land use, permitting and inspection were approved last month in supplemental budgeting to help address the current workload.

BDS now has 407 permanent full-time positions, but it has struggled to fill them; currently, only 338 are filled. Plus, the bureau needs about nine months to fully train a new employee because of the complexity of development regulations and the city’s computer system, according to BDS spokesman Ross Caron.

鈥淚n times when construction activity is so busy, we’re competing with the private sector to find qualified candidates,鈥� he said, 鈥渟o it’s challenging to find employees to fill positions such as plans examiners and inspectors.鈥�

Also, Chloe Eudaly, a reform-minded city commissioner elected in November 2016, last month abruptly dismissed longtime BDS director Paul Scarlett. A nationwide search is under way to find a replacement for Scarlett, but for now, senior planner Rebecca Esau is serving as interim director.

In a manner of weeks Esau has restored some faith in the bureau, according to a phone poll of industry professionals. She’s already begun convening weekly meetings with the directors of the bureaus that participate in the review process 鈥� i.e., the Bureau of Transportation, the Water Bureau, the Bureau of Environmental Services, Portland Fire & Rescue and Portland Parks & Recreation’s urban forestry division.

Inter-bureau coordination has long been an issue for the city of Portland. Because each permit application requires multiple bureaus’ stamp of approval, such coordination will be critical in reform of the permitting process. Oftentimes what happens now is different aspects of a permit application proceed slower or faster than others.

鈥淏DS is only part of the development review process,鈥� Caron said. 鈥淪ervice delivery is only as fast as the slowest review group.鈥�

The computer system the city uses for permit tracking is out-of-date. BDS is performing an upgrade to a newer version of the TRACS program; completion is expected by the end of the year. A larger, trickier effort is the one to transition to fully electronic plan review. That project, now called the Portland Online Permitting System (POPS), floundered under Scarlett, running millions of dollars over budget and years past scheduled delivery. Following a recent 鈥渞eset鈥� by the City Council, officials are evaluating the results of a pilot project, Caron said.

Despite plans for future success, at present, city performance measures are missed consistently. For example, the city’s TRACS website, which displays expected turnaround times for given projects, frequently displays times double or even triple recommended averages. And zero 鈥渢urnaround time鈥� targets for plan review were hit in the previous fiscal year. Turnaround time goals were met for only 56 percent of commercial projects, and only 70 percent of residential projects, across all bureaus in the fiscal year.

Caron notes that more than half of all permits awarded by the city in the past year were issued the same day, over the counter.

However, project owners prefer as much certainty as they can get, and designers often fret over how to help them plan without knowing when they’ll get their permits.

Portland’s population grew 1.9 percent from May 2015 to May 2016. Correspondingly, BDS’ workload related to permitting, land use and inspections has increased steadily over the last few years.

From April 2014 to April 2017, the number of permit applications received by BDS increased by 26 percent and the number of permits issued by BDS increased nearly 25 percent. Also during that span, inspections for residential projects increased 16 percent, and inspections for commercial projects increased 11.4 percent.

Additionally, during this time the value of work increased by 34 percent, from $1.75 billion to $2.37 billion. This jump shows that work passing through the bureau is becoming more complex, according to Caron.

In permitting, government staffing levels tend to follow development, because staff costs often come directly from permit fees. This means that when development activity in Portland drops, BDS staff reductions are inevitable. But some DRAC members want the city to rethink how it funds these positions, to help ensure institutional memory is preserved and employee retention is improved.

Some DRAC members support cross-training employees, so that when development slows, they can be relocated where needed, rather than laid off. This is more complicated under Portland’s unique weak-mayor form of government because elected commissioners often are protective of the staff members under their supervision.

Delays in the process add up, said Paul Grove, a spokesman for the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland. And in development, of course, time is money. Members of the home builders association regularly note unnecessary delays.

Timeliness was a major issue during Scarlett’s tenure, Grove said.

鈥淲e recognize that they face challenges, and certainly on the staffing front,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut we’ve been encouraged by what we’ve seen (lately).鈥�

Scarlett’s tenure was marked by regular reports of low morale among employees as well as several scandals, including failure to catch a highly-noticeable design change to the Yard project at the Burnside bridgehead.

鈥淚 think everybody’s now on board to make some changes,鈥� DRAC member Maryhelen Kincaid said. 鈥淏ecause right now the permitting process is complicated. Maybe making it less so would expedite permits.鈥�

Suburban cities like Hillsboro and Beaverton, which are also experiencing substantial and steady growth, are competing with Portland for skilled land-use professionals. These cities often pay more and offer generous benefit packages.

The Gresham City Council has supported adding permitting professionals, and prioritizing an effort to streamline its permit process. By making the permitting process as stress-free as possible, leaders in Gresham hope to lure more developers, said Rick Gruen, director of economic development.

鈥淎nything we can do to make the process more pleasant for developers, we’re trying to do,鈥� he said.

Meanwhile, Kincaid offered hints as to who she’d like to see in Portland’s BDS director position.

鈥淚 think there’s talent in the city to fill the position; I don’t think you need to start completely over,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut it would be a horrible job. I would never want it.鈥�