by Tim Carl, Development & Transportation Director
comments open from March 18 until April 6

At Jefferson County Planning & Zoning, we have been looking to find ways to further improve our front-counter service for building permit review and zoning permit issuance. To that end, we have installed new digital signature pads that, along with our permit and development application software, can now assist customers more efficiently.

The days of handwritten applications will soon be coming to a close at Jefferson County. Instead of filling out that handwritten application, a customer checks in with a receptionist at our front counter and explains what they want to obtain. We ask for essential information specific to the permit (i.e. property address, type of request, zoning, snow and wind load, etc.) and fill in specific fields on the electronic application. Once completed, the county employee can generate a finalized application and the applicant can sign the document – inserting his or her signature onto the electronic application. The document can then be stored electronically and printed out for the applicant, along with a permit number and receipt associated with any applicable fees.

The current way of doing business requires a citizen to fill out a one- to two-page form with multiple boxes and questions and then wait to be assisted by a planner or permit technician. As a result, these applications can have fields that have incorrect responses and result in potential delays during the permit review process.

How about an efficiency savings? Customer’s wait times have been cut in half and applicants can be assured that their application will be filled out correctly and processed accordingly. With the old process, customers would have to spend several minutes completing an application and then may have to wait an additional five to seven minutes before being helped.

Our new paperless application system makes us the first county in the Denver Metro area to offer such a service and we look forward to improving customers’ experiences at Jefferson County. For more information, please contact Planning & Zoning at 303-271-8700 or through our Web site.