San Francisco's mayor proposed merging three separate permitting agencies into one to fix a notoriously slow and expensive system. The consolidation requires a charter amendment and a voter ballot later this year. Klar says it will make permitting faster and cheaper, encouraging more renovations.
San Francisco's overhauling its absurdly complex permitting process, and it is long overdue. Mayor Lurie recently announced a plan to merge 3 different organizations, the Planning Department, the Department of Building Inspection, and the Permit Center into a single organization. We all know how convoluted and time-consuming San Francisco's permit process can be, and the hope is that this merger streamlines things, makes it more predictable, and makes it less expensive. The transition will take many months to complete, and it really won't kick off in a meaningful way unless and until voters approve an initiative to do that. The different departments that are being merged are actually set forth in the city's charter, so you have to have voter approval to amend that. So expect a ballot initiative later this year on this issue. I think it's absolutely worth doing, especially if it encourages permitting your renovations and if it makes permitting faster and less expensive. Let me know what you think in the comments and follow me for more San Francisco real estate.
