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To speed up Portland’s beleaguered permitting process, the city is offering to help people interested in starting new marijuana-focused businesses save multiple trips through the Permit Center.

The city already offers personal sit-downs with prospective applicants for fees determined by the scope of each proposed project. What’s new is that times will now be set aside for marijuana businesses, said Ross Caron, spokesman for the Bureau of Development Services.

Along with adhering to building code requirements, which are overseen by BDS, marijuana businesses have the added burden of maintaining a marijuana business license, which is administered through the Office of Neighborhood Involvement. Because two offices are involved, Caron said, the city wants to do more to assist marijuana businesses.

The assistance meetings will be staffed by professionals specializing in fire prevention and other life safety issues, plans examination and mechanical engineering. They’ll be on hand to assist applicants with submitting completed project applications and preventing costly slip-ups.

Two tiers of meeting will be offered – one for simpler, retail-only shops, and one for more complicated projects involving production, processing and wholesaling.

Tier 1 meetings will cost $511, with the option of having a structural engineer attend for $152. Participants must complete a preliminary packet prior to the meeting and submit all materials for review five days ahead of time. If a Tier II meeting requires zoning and infrastructure professionals on hand, the fee is $2,074.

Caron said the move is intended to help streamline the city’s overworked permit process, which has struggled to hit performance measures in recent years.

BDS is rapidly staffing up after operating shorthanded for most since the recession hit in 2008. More than 160 employees have been added in the last two years (the average time to train a BDS employee is considered nine months). Over a recent 12-month period, only 56 percent of permits taken for review by BDS were returned on time.