MIN CHC 1999-09-29 - Laserfiche WebLink

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• $130,000.00 appropriated. Communications. Statements from the Public: Testimony on items on the agenda: Mr. Don Nitsche on permitting. Can you come forward and just introduce yourself and speak into the microphone, please. NITSCHE: My name is Don Nitsche. I am a businessman and have a couple of small businesses in Oceanview, and I'm very concerned about permitting, as most of our neighbors in Oceanview are, and all I can speak about is the need for change in our permitting system. It's not being followed very closely, from our experience, and I think some changes should be made. Maybe this isn't the place to say about the changes. This is more changing the method of what department handles it? Maybe you can correct me. What should I be addressing? RAY: Yes, the proposal we're discussing is to create a Division of Permitting to consolidate all permitting functions under the Public Works Department and to remove some of those functions from the Planning Department, so more of a one-stop shopping which, hopefully, will be more efficient and better organized. NITSCHE: Well, I think I personally would be, and I think I can speak for most people in Oceanview, that we would like to have it more efficient, and tighten up the laws. We have a lot of structures going in in Oceanview that don't even have permits. And there's another big area that is a real problem. It was, at one time, before you could get a temporary power pole put in by the electric company, you had to have a permit, and now you do not. You can get a temporary power put in and live in a tent, off of temporary power, without a building permit, and I think this is atrocious. We have a lot of very sub, substandard dwellings going in in our area and just recently, a group of people in Oceanview got together and got some stopped, and they did 'red tag' some very substandard buildings going in, and so I would think that this would be a good move to consolidate and make it more efficient, any way we can, and possibly this group that would be taking it over could look at modifying some of the laws to correct some of the deficiencies that we have. I'm not well versed, I'm sorry to say, I'm very busy running my businesses, and I can't really speak on a lot of facts, but I know we need a lot of change in this area. RAY: Okay, thank you. Any questions? All right, thank you, sir. NITSCHE: Thank you. RAY: Janet Fujioka, representing the Board of Appeals, speaking on holdover terms on Boards and Commissions. This is an area we discussed and