Expedited Permitting

City staff, including a planner and permit control officer (and associated staff), are available at the permit counter to review and approve several smaller proposals immediately. Examples of these over-the-counter approvals include fences, decks, sidewalks, patios, swimming pool construction, driveway resurfacing and, additionally, temporary uses and graphics. Larger projects that require detailed plan review are taken for review by the Plans Examiner and zoning staff, and initial comments are provided within ten business days. The plan review may be extended past the two-week standard when work is proposed at an Elgin landmark or within one of the City’s four historic districts. Complex work must be reviewed by the City’s Design Review Committee, which meets twice each month, but simple projects can be reviewed over the counter by the City’s Historic Preservation Planner. In some cases where zoning relief needs to be provided through a variation, conditional use review, or rezoning, the plan must be reviewed by the City’s Planning and Zoning Commission with final approval granted by the City Council. The process of review and approval before the City’s Planning and Zoning Commission and subsequently the City Council takes an average of 60–90 days starting when the application is found to be complete.

The City is currently in the process of setting up a new review and tracking system using electronic cloud-based software developed by Salesforce. The City hopes that the system will help unify all functions of development, code enforcement activities and review, further streamlining the process.