Cumberland County updates planning and zoning work plan, pauses IGS permitting rollout for fixes

County administrator Derek Stane told Clayton Commission members that staff has made substantial progress on the planning and zoning work plan, including an updated planning and zoning technician job description and further position descriptions to address staffing, code enforcement and economic development support.

Stane said the county is "about 85% complete" on the job-description work and is preparing fiscal-impact information to bring back to the board. He said the county has refreshed its website and plans an electronic kiosk in the lobby to help customers check permit status.

Stane described problems with the new permitting software rollout (IGS). He said the vendor's implementation had improperly combined zoning and building-inspection workflows, causing overlap in approvals and recording problems. "There were major issues," Stane said, and staff removed the offending module to "detangle the system" so building permits and zoning approvals operate separately before re-launch. Stephanie (staff) confirmed the implementation expanded building-inspection functionality to zoning and caused workflow issues that must be fixed prior to re-deployment.

The work plan also includes benchmarking surrounding jurisdictions on checklists and application requirements, implemented plat review and approval authority to the county administrator, and creation of subdivision-approval flowcharts as a customer-service priority. Stane said potential code amendments discussed at a prior workshop include erosion and sediment (E&S) ordinance updates, subdivision ordinance changes and mixed-use code language that could be tied to a small-area plan.

Stane said staff will bring drafted ordinance language to the planning commission for recommendation before referral back to the board. He urged commissioners to review materials and provide feedback ahead of the January budget process.

Next steps: staff will finish job descriptions and permitting fixes, submit applications for eligible school infrastructure funding, and return code amendment drafts to the planning commission for formal consideration.