The City of Pittsburgh is making great strides in updating processes, technology and policies guiding planning, permitting and licensing for real estate projects according to Ray Gastil, Director of City Planning, one of two guest speakers at this month’s meeting. One example of the explosive growth is the $129 million of public and nonprofit investment on the city’s riverfronts which has led to $2.6 billion in development activity in the riverfront areas.

Maura Kennedy, Director, Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections for the City of Pittsburgh, reports that the city has gone from 641 plan reviews in 2011 to around 2,600 this year. The department’s staff of 6 plan reviewers will increase to 11 this year in order to deliver better turnaround time. In 2011, it took on average 27.5 days to give applicants a response and took around 250 days to obtain a residential new construction permit. The disparate levels of service have been standardized. The department now takes 15 days – and wants to improve that.