County Manager Calls for Review of Permitting & Inspection Process


Dena Diorio

In response to concerns raised by REBIC, the Greater Charlotte Apartment Association and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio has initiated a comprehensive review of the Code Enforcement Division, in an effort to address issues in the permitting and inspection process that are causing significant delays for the building and development industry. She said she expects the review to be completed within the next 30 – 45 days, at which point she will bring the Board of Commissioners a series of recommendations for action.

Diorio’s announcement last month came on the heels of a series of letters from REBIC, the Greater Charlotte Apartment Association and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce calling attention to the issue and offering specific recommendations for improvement. Some of these recommendations include:

    Reducing inconsistencies between Plan Review and Inspections;Aligning inspection times with project size;Improving the county’s permit hold notification system;Facilitating a cultural shift to improve customer service

You can read REBIC’s letter to the Board of Commissioners HERE.

In addition, the Mecklenburg County Building-Development Commission (BDC) this week voted to create a subcommittee made up of industry representatives and Code Enforcement staff to review REBIC’s recommendations and identify opportunities to improve the plan review, permitting and inspection process. That group is expected to begin meeting sometime in March.

The issue of Code Enforcement delays has also received a fair amount of media coverage in recent weeks. Both WSOC and WBT ran stories on the delays faced by builders and developers and the adverse impact they could have on economic development in Mecklenburg County.

REBIC will continue to work with Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte in the coming weeks to achieve greater efficiencies, improved coordination and reduced delays in the plan review, permitting and inspections process. If you have any input or suggestions you think would help in this effort, please e-mail Joe Padilla, REBIC’s executive director.

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