It's now possible for people in their pyjamas to request building permits from the Town of Halton Hills.
Starting on Monday (April 8), the Town of Halton Hills’ application process for the permits went digital. Staff believe the e-permitting system will relieve many headaches for people.
“We've had people apply from Mexico on vacation,” Director of Building Services Greg MacNaughtan told HaltonHillsToday. “People were getting used to applying online in other municipalities. People were asking, could they do the same in our municipality? Unfortunately, we couldn't. So we knew that we needed to provide that level of service.”
The service is available to anyone hoping to, as one example, build a major addition to their home. It's also useful to developers asking for the Town’s green light to put shovels in the ground for an approved project.
The e-permit system was trialled in a limited capacity beginning last October. Prior to this, applicants needed to bring hard copies of their applications to Town Hall during daytime business hours. While this was doable for some, Town staff said people applying from out of town found it particularly difficult. This can compound a process that's already lengthy, especially when the Town requests revisions on an application lacking certain important information.
“We're seeing that the resubmission time (for applications) is drastically reduced, and then basically the whole building permit process time frame is being reduced, and we're going to see that continue,” MacNaughtan said.
The new e-permitting system is, MacNaughtan noted, an “interim solution” until staff can create a full, cross-departmental platform in the near future.
“The cross-departmental portal that the Town is working towards will include that planning process,” he said.
Those who want to take advantage of the new service can go to the Town of Halton Hills website.
