Municipalities selected for e-permitting initiative

GOV. LINCOLN D. CHAFEE announced that 10 communities have been selected to pilot a new statewide e-permitting initiative. / PBN PHOTO/FRANK MULLIN
GOV. LINCOLN D. CHAFEE announced that 10 communities have been selected to pilot a new statewide e-permitting initiative. / PBN PHOTO/FRANK MULLIN

PROVIDENCE – Ten communities have been selected to pilot a statewide e-permitting initiative, Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee announced Wednesday.
The communities – Cranston, Newport, North Kingstown, North Providence, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Warwick, West Warwick, Westerly and Woonsocket – were selected by the R.I. Department of Administration’s Office of Regulatory Reform and Office of Digital Excellence.
The initiative will modernize state and local permitting systems through an online permitting portal, which will be accessed through municipal websites.
“Municipalities are confronted with overextended staff and increased pressure to improve the customer service,” Chafee said in prepared remarks. “Electronic permitting provides Rhode Island with the tools needed to automate and streamline processes.”
Director of Administration Steven T. Hartford said the goal of the initiative is to make government more efficient and to reduce permitting time.
Thom Guertin, Rhode Island’s chief digital officer, said the state was looking for communities that “expressed a willingness to decrease complexity to expedite transactions for developers and property owners.”
“To highlight the versatility of this new system, we sought to include communities representing a cross-section of complexity, land-use types and permit volumes,” Guertin said.
A total of 26 of Rhode Island’s 39 cities and towns submitted an application for the pilot.

The team evaluated all applicants against specific criteria, including: community preparedness, municipal ability to support the project, system integration, payment processing capabilities, available resources and maturity of Geographic Information System platforms. The selected communities “all demonstrated a strong desire to simplify processes,” according to information from the governor’s office.

The state’s plan is to deploy the new e-permitting software in two phases, the first of which will include the 10 pilot municipalities, as well as the office of the State Fire Marshal and State Building Code Commissioner.
The first phase will conclude with a live launch of the online software, slated for September, and will focus primarily on the trades permits, such as building, fire, electrical, mechanical and plumbing.
The second phase will include additional municipalities and permit types with an opportunity for state-wide implementation.

Chafee’s fiscal 13 through 15 budgets included $900,000 in general revenue to fund an e-permitting technology provider.

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