How much will it cost?

How long will it take?

These are the top two questions on the minds of people seeking building permits, plans for review and inspections from the City. 

In the past year, our Development Services team has upped their ability to provide those answers, smoothing the path of progress and success for growing our city. 

Bryan Berry has the numbers to prove it. 

The City’s Deputy Director of Plans Review & Inspections measures and creates quarterly reports on the department’s benchmarks. 

Here’s a look at the latest stats, for the second quarter of 2025 (April, May and June):

• Building permits issued: 397, up from 387 in first quarter
• Total dollar value: $52,364,426
• Residential permits comprised 62 percent of all permits. 
• Dwelling units: 104, including 27 single family and 52 multi-family (apartment) units
• Alteration permits: 245
• Addition permits: 25 
• Next day inspections: 10,159 – up 22 percent from first quarter

What do these numbers communicate? Berry says builders and developers can use this real-time data to anticipate when a permit submitted to the City will be returned and use these timeframes to estimate their project timelines. 

“We turn around things pretty quick,” he says.

The City has long had a policy of providing next-day inspections – a high mark for any municipality to meet. That commitment led to some staffing crunches, as our community experienced increased building and demand for inspections. Berry credits changes proposed and implemented by Chief Operating Officer Grant Rosenberg for empowering Development Services to keep up with the flow: City Council approved funding to increase the number of inspections staff, allowing more of those employees to review plans. 
Providing property owners and contractors with feasible timelines for plans review and permitting helps set expectations and keep the back and forth process moving ahead. Berry compares it to a basketball game. The time "the ball" is in the City's court can seem to last forever.

Another service allows residents with construction projects to ask questions of City staff before submitting their plans for approval. 

These meetings -- held Mondays and Thursdays in four 45-minute blocks -- are generally full. 

"People take advantage of them," Berry says, adding that they help answer questions that lead to more concise plan submissions and less back-and-forthing in the long run. 

The Development Services team is meeting and exceeding their benchmarks, keeping projects moving forward.