Portland, Maine - Today, the City of Portland’s Planning and Urban Development Department announced a new service for the public, Predevelopment Office Hours. The office hours present an opportunity for developers at any stage of the process to sit down with relevant staff from Planning, Fire Prevention, Public Services, Inspections and Historic Preservation to discuss their project and get feedback on potential issues, areas of concern or gather additional information to help ensure that the planning and permitting process is efficient and beneficial. The office hours will be held on Wednesdays and are available by appointment only (call Desiree Kelly (207) 874-8720 for scheduling). The office hours present developers, local businesses and residents with the unique opportunity of meeting with key staff to discuss a project and get key feedback before significant financial investments have been made in plan development. The offering of Predevelopment Office Hours is one of several recent improvements made within the department to improve access and service delivery for the public.
“Tomorrow’s office hours are just one of many improvements underway to help both streamline and improve the delivery of key services that directly impact the city’s economic growth and quality of life,” stated City of Portland Mayor Brennan. “Whether a simple addition or a multi-million dollar project, it is important to us that the public knows we are committed to moving you through the planning and permitting process in a way that gets you to the finish line in a reasonable amount of time with a high quality end product.”
Chris Hall, Acting CEO of the Portland Regional Chamber, hailed the move. “Developers want certainty. Project costs are very substantial, and unexpected changes are burdensome. The City’s new predevelopment office hours gives business people an important new tool in the permitting process that identifies opportunities and challenges at the beginning of a project and promises a smoother, more efficient path to new jobs and investment in the City.”
Last year, Mayor Michael Brennan and City Manager Mark Rees identified the need for an exhaustive management review of the operations of the city’s Inspections Division to help identify opportunities for improvement and ways to streamline the permitting process. To that end, last spring Rees contracted with Jared Clark of Government Consulting Group who along with Director of Planning and Urban Development
