The City and County of Honolulu's Department of Planning and Permitting hopes to reduce its building permit backlog by removing applications that have been idle for a year or longer.
The department said, effectively immediately, it will expire applications that have had no activity for more than 365 days. This includes permits that have been approved or issued but not picked up.
DPP said those idle applications appear as "in progress" in its current software system, POSSE. The plans also take up physical space at its office. The department hopes to free up the space when it upgrades its software this summer.
The department said 3,663 residential permit applications are marked as "in progress," with 1,900 in the system for more than 365 days with no activity. Some of those applications may be waiting for a discretionary permit to be approved — and will not be expired.
There are 3,267 commercial permit applications marked as "in progress" with 1,890 that have been idle for 365 days. DPP said 1,023 of those have been reviewed and approved to be issued, but have not been paid for or picked up.
However, the department noted that not all applications over a year old will be affected.
Applicants who are actively reviewing, addressing comments and providing feedback to DPP will not have their applications expire.
Applicants who do not want their idle permits canceled can email dppcancelpermits@honolulu.gov with the following information:
- Applicant’s name
- Contact phone number
- TMK of the project
- Permit application number
- Reason the application should not be expired
DPP said it is currently implementing and testing the new Clariti Land Management system to replace the outdated POSSE system. Clariti can provide transparency on application status, permit issuance and online payment, and will be integrated with the DPP ePlans system.
The new system is expected to be fully operational this summer.
