City of DeLand

Optimized its permitting process with the ePermitHub Digital Plan Room and Gray Quarter partnership, improving efficiency and expediting townhome development to support affordable housing expansion.

The City of DeLand transformed its permitting process with the ePermitHub and Gray Quarter partnership, streamlining approvals, reducing staff workload, and accelerating townhome development.

Overview

The City of DeLand, located in East Central Florida, is the county seat of Volusia County and home to Stetson University. Founded in 1876, DeLand has grown steadily, particularly in affordable housing, reaching a population of over 44,000 by 2024. Known for its vibrant community and historic charm, DeLand balances tradition and innovation.

DeLand began its digital transformation with the Accela Civic Platform in August 2019, and enhanced its permit management system with the ePermitHub Digital Plan Room in December 2020. By adopting modules like Building, Fire, Licenses, Planning, and Public Service, DeLand efficiently manages a variety of services. The integration of the ePermitHub Digital Plan Room streamlined plan review processes, ensuring smooth submissions and approvals.

The Challenge

With the increasing number of townhome projects essential for expanding affordable housing, DeLand recognized the potential strain on staff and the existing permit processing times. The surge in applications threatened to overwhelm city resources, leading to extended review periods, heavier workloads for city employees, and possible delays for developers. Rather than waiting for demand to exceed capacity, DeLand took a proactive approach to streamline operations. The city aimed to simplify and accelerate the submission and approval process, ensuring that builders could navigate the permitting system more efficiently while reducing staff workload and processing times.

Managing the influx of townhome construction permits posed significant challenges. The existing system required builders to apply for permits separately—for each foundation, unit, and accompanying documents—resulting in redundant submissions and operational inefficiencies. Builders frequently had to resubmit identical documentation, often relying on external resources just to track and manage multiple permits. Additionally, DeLand had a mandatory master file requirement but lacked an electronic system to support it, making process optimization difficult. Without a digital solution, managing and coordinating the necessary documentation became increasingly time-consuming and complex. Ensuring that Geographic Information System (GIS) data was accurately linked to individual units was also critical for effectively tracking and managing townhome projects.

The Solution

To address these challenges, DeLand partnered with ePermitHub and Gray Quarter, Inc. to develop a comprehensive solution utilizing the Accela Civic Platform and ePermitHub’s Digital Plan Room. This solution introduced automation for key components, including a master plan record, a townhome master record, and individual townhome permits. With the master plan record, developers could submit plans for repeat construction and obtain approvals for multiple projects simultaneously. This streamlined the submission process for townhome developments, allowing developers to reuse approved plans from the master record for their townhome master applications.

Gray Quarter, Inc. leveraged scripting to automate the process, ensuring that parcel information entered into the townhome master record was automatically generated and linked to the corresponding townhome permit records. The scripts also validated address and parcel information for accuracy.

Additionally, the related records portlet within the Accela Civic Platform enabled the city to easily view all associated construction permits. ePermitHub’s integration further simplified the application process by seamlessly connecting all records, facilitating an efficient plan review process, and enhancing overall operational efficiency.

The Benefits

The ePermitHub Master Plan solution and Gray Quarter, Inc.’s configuration and scripting of the Accela Civic Platform provided DeLand with multiple benefits. It streamlined the repeat construction process and simplified the application process, allowing builders to submit applications and plans seamlessly, thereby expediting the permitting and plan review process.

The solution established a clear audit trail, significantly improving the city’s ability to track and review the permitting process. It also enabled the city to generate key metrics, offering valuable insights into its operations. Additionally, it facilitated the creation of aggregate approved print sets, improving the inspection process and providing customers with a simplified way to access project print sets.

Results

The new process allows builders to submit a single application for each building, including all required information for the individual units within the building, significantly reducing the complexity of managing large townhome subdivisions. The process was simplified and streamlined, with improved record accessibility and efficient implementation

The strong collaboration between ePermitHub and Gray Quarter, Inc. led to one of the fastest implementations the city had ever experienced. Their seamless partnership delivered a solution precisely tailored to the city’s needs. This integration eliminated the need to coordinate with multiple vendors, further streamlining operations and enhancing efficiency.

“We presented our concerns to ePermitHub about the volume of plans we would receive with so much new development. Not only did they already know how they would assist us, but their implementation was effortless and matched our needs exactly.”

Builders responded positively to the new system, noting that it made the permitting process much easier and more efficient. The City of DeLand successfully enhanced its ability to manage the construction of affordable housing while providing builders with a streamlined and user-friendly permitting process.

“Our seamless partnership with ePermitHub and familiarity with their successful DPR platform allowed for a productive and consultative relationship with the City of DeLand.”

About ePermitHub, GQ & Accela

ePermitHub is a leading provider of digital permitting solutions, specializing in the Digital Plan Room (DPR), which integrates seamlessly with the Accela Civic Platform. By automating and streamlining plan review and approval processes, ePermitHub helps cities and agencies improve efficiency, enhance compliance, and reduce processing times. With a strong focus on innovation and customer success, ePermitHub empowers municipalities to modernize their permitting systems while delivering exceptional service to developers and builders.

Gray Quarter, Inc. is a premier Accela partner, offering advanced configuration, scripting, and implementation services for government agencies and municipalities. With deep expertise in civic technology solutions, Gray Quarter helps cities enhance their permitting, licensing, and regulatory processes. Their team of experts ensures seamless integration and automation, allowing local governments to operate more efficiently and effectively serve their communities.

Accela® is one of the leading providers of cloud-based software solutions, empowering local and state governments to drive efficiency and modernization. Accela offers both a configurable platform and out-of-the-box civic applications for core processes including, but not limited to, permitting, licensing, and code enforcement. Accela assists agencies in streamlining workflows, reducing manual tasks, and improving service delivery. With a commitment to end-to-end support, Accela is a trusted partner to over 600 agencies and jurisdictions worldwide.

ePermitHub is the first technology vendor to partner with Accela and Autodesk to offer the Digital Plan Room, a mutually beneficial solution for both government and the construction industry.