LOS ANGELES : Riordan Vows to Improve Building Permit Process
Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan on Thursday praised a report detailing problems with the city’s building permit process and promised to “move swiftly to change this system.”
The report, released Thursday by Progress LA, a reform group founded by business leaders and financed in part by the mayor himself, found that the city’s Byzantine permit system is frustrating homeowners and driving away businesses.
Los Angeles takes up to 16 times as long as other cities in the region to process permits and charges up to 22 times more in fees, the report found.
“This system leaves scars on nearly every Angeleno who touches it,” Riordan said, adding that those “who can least afford to be hurt by the system are hurt the most: homeowners, small businesses, affordable housing groups and nonprofit organizations.”
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