Chapel Hill is widely considered a well-developed and innovative town, but for those in its housing industry, the task of renovating or developing residences should not be an arduous one due to obtaining proper permits.
The town’s department of planning should be commended for the work it has done to fix this issue.
Fortunately, town officials continue improving the housing development system, while locals in the housing market work with them to refurbish the process of obtaining permits.
Last spring, a group of town employees began working on streamlining and changing the development review and permitting process.
The group’s recommendations were piloted and have since been incorporated into the system, eventually to come to fruition in coming months.
The launch of a combined zoning compliance and building permit application will increase overall efficiency within the permitting processes.
Cross disciplinary review teams will meet weekly to review applications and housing department staff are now cross trained, allowing varied questions to be answered on the spot.
Such measures meet Chapel Hill’s needs, revitalize the housing market and will not exhaust the time of developers.
