Oxford News

As one of Ohio's fastest-growing counties, Butler County needed a faster, more efficient way to manage its growth — and it's finally here.

The county Department of Development has completed the launch of a new Web-based system to track all planning, zoning, permitting, inspections and code enforcement data. The county streamlined six different ways to track the data down to one, said Mike Juengling, director of the department.

Accela Automation from the San Ramon, Calif.-based Accela Inc., was purchased for more than $500,000 to create a central database that can be accessed anywhere by county employees with a Web browser. Fourteen other Ohio counties and cities use the Accela system, including Cincinnati, Hamilton County and Dayton, according to the company.

"It puts all the various departments in the county that issue permits for building purposes all in the same system," Juengling said. "It's the first step toward one-stop permitting."

Today, the permitting process is fragmented and lengthy. Plans to install a hot water heater, plumbing and a driveway must all be permitted and inspected by different departments, but eventually a developer will use one Web site for all building plans and inspections scheduling, start to finish, Juengling said.

The time to process permits is typically sliced in half or more with the Accela system, said Maury Blackman, senior vice president for sales and marketing for Accela.

"The common complaint from builders is the amount of time it takes government to get to and inspect their property to finalize their projects," Blackman said. "The community can expect to see a more friendly, faster-moving government process."

More than 92 county employees — in the auditor's office, Department of Development, engineer's office, Board of Health, Environmental Services and the Soil and Water Conservation District — will use and share information through the system. Therefore, developers are able to check the status of all building permits with one call.

With enhancements, the future capabilities of the system can be expanded to support a one-stop permit application on the Web, mobile access for inspectors in the field and GIS mapping that would provide up-to-date geographical maps of zoning and planning data, Juengling said.

Auditor Kay Rogers, whose office headed up the project, said, "Accela Automation has delivered the features we have been striving for, allowing us to make technological leaps."

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or cbrooks@coxohio.com.