The portal increases access to the city's building and planning management activities by allowing citizens and businesses to apply and pay for permits, schedule inspections, check the status of a permit or inspection, or print an approved permit directly from the Internet. Users can apply for plumbing, electrical, mechanical and simple re-roofing permits.
By allowing citizens to complete the entire process online, the city is able to streamline the process for obtaining simple permits and free up valuable Community Development Department staff time to process more complex applications.
Since launching the online portal, the city has processed over 550 permits online. This figure accounts for 12 percent of the total building permits that the city would issue in an average year.
"We are very pleased with the results we are seeing with the online portal, and we are confident that the number of permits processed through VelocityHall will continue to grow in the coming months," said Daniel Dawson, administrative services officer at Santa Rosa. "Our citizens, and in particular the development community, have embraced this new system because it provides them with an easy and convenient way to access government services."
