PROVIDENCE – The time-honored tradition of dropping off development plans for review at various Providence departments could soon be a thing of the past.
Officials announced Wednesday that the city plans to implement within about three months a system that will allow people who want to undertake projects from new office buildings to decks to submit plans online and track city departments’ responses in real time.
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Starting Monday, city departments also will engage in a concurrent permitting review process, meaning all offices will look at applications at once rather than consecutively.
City officials said the new review process and coming electronic submission system will encourage development. The e-filing system is the first of its kind in Rhode Island, they said.
“It’s a very strong signal to the business community that we’re serious about making it easy to do business in Providence,” Mayor David N. Cicilline told Providence Business News. “And time is money in business.”
Director of Operations Alix Odgen said some plans should receive a response in as little as 15 days, while others will receive approval or denial within 30 days.
For the first time, the city also has put together a handbook to guide applicants through the permitting process, which starts at the Inspection and Standards Department and also involves the Fire Department, the city forester, the Public Works Department and the Providence Water Supply Board.
Previously, applicants needed to hand deliver their applications to each department after the prior one in the chain signed off. Odgen said that sometimes led to problems when comments from the various departments conflicted with each other.
Starting Monday, the Inspections and Standards Department will distribute the applications to all departments. In about three months, applicants will also get the option to file the application and plans electronically for an additional fee, though they will not be required to do so.
Odgen said applicants also will be able to use the electronic system to submit revised plans based on city feedback, which reviewers will then be able to overlay on their computers to see what has changed.
“It’s really a change in how we’ve done business,” Odgen said.
The process will use software provided by Providence-based InQuest Technologies Inc., which relocated to the city last year from Southborough, Mass., after receiving a loan from the R.I. Economic Development Corporation.
Odgen said that the city does not expect any direct savings from the contact, but argued that streamlining the application process would lead to great customer satisfaction and more efficient use of staff time. She said she could not provide a cost for the InQuest system.
Additional information is available at providenceri.com.
