City hopes to cut down on red tape with ‘e-permitting’
WOONSOCKET — Hailing it as a powerful blow against red tape, the city recently went live with a new program known as EPermitting, allowing do-it-your selfers, construction contractors and tradesmen to apply for just about any kind of permit online.
In a joint venture with the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, the city becomes the eighth community in the state to embrace E-Permitting, which enables building, demolition, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits to be processed remotely through https://woonsockthewebsiteetri.viewpointcloud.com/. “It is crucial for local government to meet the needs of its residents and business owners,” said Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt. “E-Permitting modernizes the city’s building permit application system by making it available online and removing the hassle of paper forms and in-person filing at City Hall.”
“Woonsocket is removing barriers and streamlining the process that residents and businesses have to go through when they invest in our
community,” the mayor said.
Applicants will still be able to apply in person at City Hall at either of two computer stations, one of which is the first ADA-compliant E-Permitting station at a city or town hall in the state.
“We are committed to making the state more and more business friendly. Therefore, helping municipalities implement e-permitting is a top priority,” said state Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor. “This new system will reduce the burden on companies by helping government move faster and making it easier for businesses to get up and running.” The launch of local E-Permitting comes after six months of preparation and coordination between City Hall and RICC, the mayor said.
The program seems to be catching on fast.
After activating the program about a week ago, the city has processed about 70 permits online, according to Building Official Brad Ward.
“It’s really working well up to this point,” said Ward. “A lot of people have come in and been using the system. If they come in and we tell them they can do it on line, they walk out and tell us they’ll do it from home.”
Some permits are still more complicated to file than others because they require supplementary documents such as an engineering plan or a site plan to be complete.
As long as applicants have access to office equipment to scan those documents and upload them to a computer, they can still complete the process online from home. If not, they can come to City Hall and the documents will be scanned in for them.
Customers who file remotely through EPermitting can pay with a credit card, but they’ll be charged a modest processing fee for doing so. To avoid the fee, customers can still come to City Hall to pay in person with cash or check.
With an uptick in construction and related activities, the city picked a good time to get E-Permitting up and running, said Ward.
“We do seem to have had an increase in permits,” he said. “We’ve got a lot going on. The office is busy.”