New Texas law meant to help building permit backlog set up for failure, Dallas councilman says
DALLAS - A new state law has the attention of Dallas City Council.
After years of battling permit backlogs, the city is now preparing for developers to take matters into their own hands.
It is a development that has Dallas city council member Chad West concerned.
"It's just not well-thought-out. Even though I think the intent is a good intent, to try to expedite the process, they're not giving us any tools and and and zero guidance in how to do it," said West.
House Bill 14 is a new state law that gives cities deadlines to approve or deny residential or commercial building permits.
If the city fails to do so in 45 days, builders can hire their own reviewer.
The problem is there no clear path for to whom that reviewer is held accountable.
"There are no qualifications set by the state. So we've got to develop that at the city level, and it's not done yet," said West.
While the law took effect this month, West says the city is not yet prepared to set standards that uphold public safety.
"We're not, because there's no program established to vet out these third party reviewers," he said.
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Dallas homeowners frustrated with building permit backlog from city
Some Dallas homeowners are waiting as long as three months to get a permit that used to be issued in a matter of days.
At a special meeting last week, Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins asked city staff how much power the third party reviewers would have.
"The third party comes in, have to give the permit then and there, is that correct?" asked Atkins.
[STAFF MEMBER: "Yes sir."]
The law will allow people to hire third party inspectors if the city misses an inspection deadline.
West says the accountability would lie with the third party.
"If you have an inspector that goes in and says, 'these wires are connected adequately, the building's not going to catch fire and burn down.' That later happens. That person will be held liable for passing a faulty inspection. And so we'd want someone who's insured, bonded, and trained to be able to conduct these inspections or approve these permits," he said.
There is also concern HB 14 could have an unintended consequence.
"I think the way it was written it. It leaves an out for cities to sort of avoid the process by just denying more permits," said West. "It almost sets it up for failure the way it's written."
The city attorney said the new law applies to permit applications filed on or after Sept. 1 and therefore does not apply to an application that may already be past the 45-day mark.