SnoCo goes digital

A “soft launch” for the anticipated electronic plan (ePlan) submittal process for Snohomish County’s Planning and Development Services (PDS), i.e., building permits, is scheduled for Wednesday.

Acting PDS Director, Barbara Mock addressed councilmen on the pilot program during the planning and community development committee meeting last Tuesday.

After 50 years of working with paper submittals, said Mock, the shift to “move forward, boldly, with new ways of providing services to our customers” falls directly in line with the county’s goals of finding creative ways to operate under tight budgets.

Because ePlan is targeted for builders and developers, PDS will continue to accept hand-drawn paper submittals for smaller projects by citizens.

The process will do more than clear paperwork from PDS reviewers’ desks.

As part of the eCityGov Alliance, Snohomish County has leveraged technology and funding through the collaborative effort of cities and organizations sharing Web-based services for their constituents.

In 2005, the county began accepting simple trade permits through the Alliance service portal, mybuildingpermit.com.

Now, the process is expanding.

Imagine all development review functions through one Web site, said Mock.

“The vision is huge,” she added. Rather than printing, traveling to the county offices and standing in line to submit copies of projects, customers can simply upload their documents online.

“The customer already has digital plans,” said Kathy Baxter, ePlan project manager. “We’re the ones that make them print it out and bring it in.”

That has caused some frustration.

By streamlining the process, Mock foresees a more efficient PDS department.

This will save customers time and money, she said.

Once a plan is submitted through mybuildingpermit. com, it is saved on the PDS network and slotted on a queue for review. A plans examiner can view the documents, provide comments, determine an approval status and resubmit the documents back on a server for the customer to download.

The exchange of digital information will reduce processing time, secure data online and potentially stimulate more economic development in the region, said Mock.

Off the bat, only basic plans will be accepted online and PDS is working in conjunction with the department of information services (DIS) to initiate accepting fees through the same portal.

Mock said the Alliance has already figured out how to accept money and the county is looking to avoid implementing a temporary service for the time being.

Once the Alliance initiates the update, PDS plans to utilize the service.

Despite being in the proof of concept stage of the ePlan process, Mock said the department is excited about the project.

The concept appears simple, she said, but figuring out the business process and implementing the technology is complicated.

Staff Reporter Adam Stewart: 629-8066 ext. 115 or astewart@scnews.com.