All Forum Posts by: Ayanna Donovan

@Ayanna Donovan I can certainly understand your frustrations. It’s unfortunate so much time was lost determining a use permit was not appropriate and a variance was required but everything that’s transpired since your May 2024 zoning hearing adds up and shouldn’t be viewed as a concern. Just so you’re aware, it can take up to 3-4 weeks to obtain your notice of decision after the ZBA hearing and the 30 day appeal period doesn’t begin until the notice of decision is issued so you can easily wait 60 days from the date of your hearing to receive a copy of your zoning permit. 

Expect multiple rounds of comments from L&I and don’t expect the first list of comments recieved to be the final list either. That’s why it’s best to pay the additional fee for accelerated review. It can greatly cut down on the review periods. It’s also up to the architect to address the comments and resubmit the plans efficiently. 

Next time consider implementing better contingencies into your agreement. It’s particularly important in Philadelphia where there’s a ton of ambiguity in permitting, particularly use permits. 

Hey Ayanna,

I hear you loud and clear... dealing with city permits can feel like running a marathon with hurdles you didn't see coming. I had a client in Philly who went through a similar ordeal. Every time we thought we had all the boxes checked, the city threw another curveball our way.

One thing that eventually helped was getting in touch with someone directly in the zoning office. Sometimes a face-to-face conversation can cut through the red tape faster than any paperwork shuffle.

It might feel like the city's operating without accountability, but there are folks within the system who genuinely want to help - you just have to find them. Don't loose hope; once you get past this bump, it'll be worth the hassle.

If you ever want to chat more about strategies or just vent over a coffe, I'm here. Hang in there!

Jasper & Dom

Maximizing Austin & San Antonio Investors' ROI - Investing in Two of America's Fastest-Growing Markets

@Ayanna Donovan The way you describe the process is off and that's probably the reason why you are having so much difficulty. If you received a variance, once the notice of decision was posted and appeal period ran its course you should have first obtained your zoning permit. You can't jump ahead to the building permit until the ZP is issued. You say the contractor is resubmitting the revisions but where is the architect and what role is he/she playing? It sounds like this is a building permit application that requires plans which means you will need an AIA to seal the drawings. 

If this is happening and was merely left out of your post are you certain this architect is knowledgeable about the local code and permitting process?  The architect should also be the one making the submissions through the eclipse system. The contractor doesn't have to be named and associated with the permit until the billing statement is ready for issue. Also are their overlays that require pre-reviews by other city agencies? This can delay the process because they must approve the plans through the eclipse system before the plans examiner can review and each time the plans are resubmitted the plans first must go through any pre-requisite review agency which can add lots of time. Just dealt with this for a project that required pre-review by both historical commission and city planning commission...took 3 months of submissions before the plans even got to the L&I plans examiner for the first time. 

 Also, always best to accelerate drawings in Philly. When accelerated your reviews are completed in  business 10 days which adds up especially since you rarely obtain a billing statement without at least one round of comments and normally multiple are required. Unfortunately the additional fee disproportionately impacts smaller projects (I recently paid the same acceleration fee for  $600,000 SF renovation as I just did for a $2.5M school building conversion). 

 Are you using qualified consultants or did you go with the cheapest? Getting permits after a variance depending on jurisdiction for multifamily for projects I have done has typically been 6-18 months. (those were 200+ units). What types of comments are they providing that require revisions? Has your team sat down with them in advance or recently to go through everything as well ? Lots of ways to quicken this process but the best way is to have a team that knows what they are doing.