Permit Application Delays During Pandemic Create Serious Backlog in Long Beach CA
Long Beach's excessive permit wait times have contractors, as well as homeowners, stymied. City officials are finally admitting to the severity of the problem.
“During this period, permit turnaround times, customer communication, and overall development review process have not met the City’s goals nor the needs or expectations of our customers,” Development Services director Oscar Orci wrote in a May 11th memo to a colleague.
The process takes so long that even the simplest projects may be held up for months on end. Due to a conflation of problems due to the pandemic, the excessive delays seem to be uniquely specific to Long Beach.
“I don’t even want to do business there anymore,” said Alex Cornejo, owner of Cornejos Builders in Downey. “I turn down clients in Long Beach.”
He added, “Nothing is as bad as Long Beach."
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