Portland Permitting & Development launches

News Article

To better coordinate services, the City of Portland combines development review teams from five bureaus to form a unified building permit department.

Effective today, July 1, the permitting teams from the Environmental Services, Transportation and Water bureaus and the Urban Forestry Division of Portland Parks & Recreation, along with all Bureau of Development Services divisions, are now unified in a single bureau known as Portland Permitting & Development.

These structural changes enable the newly formed bureau to resolve conflicts and concerns more quickly, establish uniform customer service protocols across review teams, and continue improving the timeliness of reviews and inspections.

This achievement fulfills a significant milestone in the City's ongoing efforts to streamline the delivery of building permits.

The new organization is led by one director who is accountable for leading the City's development review processes. The interim director of Portland Permitting & Development is David Kuhnhausen, who served as interim director of Development Services since last December and in other permitting-focused leadership roles since 2008.

Portland Permitting & Development features about 350 professionals who collaborate to review development proposals for compliance with zoning and building codes and ensure their seamless integration with the City's public infrastructure systems, including sewer and water lines, streets and sidewalks, and tree canopy.

Portland Permitting & Development is part of the City's new Community and Economic Development Service Area which includes the Portland Housing Bureau, the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, Prosper Portland, and Spectator Venues.

More information about the new permitting bureau can be found online at portland.gov/ppd.

You can follow Portland Permitting & Development on Facebook, Instagram, Xand YouTube(@PortlandPermits) as well as on LinkedInand Nextdoor.