The City of Austin says it has cleared a major backlog of residential permit reviews.
The Planning and Development Review Department’s director Greg Guernsey says they processed more than 650 applications in the last month. The backlog had resulted in people waiting weeks to get city approval for renovations or new home construction.
The department says it assembled a "13-member special review team" to help other reviews to clear the backlog over the last three weeks. But that doesn't mean all delays are eliminated permanently.
"Admittedly, there is more work to be done," Austin City Manager Mark Ott said in a statement. “This accomplishment will propel us forward toward improving productivity and customer service.”
In January, Guernsey told the Austin American-Statesman that the backlog was caused by six of the eight city employees who review residential permits quitting in 2012.
