Cities and builders are collaborating to streamline complex processes, reduce delays, and meet the challenges of modern development head-on.
In this episode, JC Hudgison, Chief Building Official for the City of Tampa, and Chris Smith, VP of Forward Planning at Lennar Homes, join Noam and Dustin to share how their groundbreaking partnership has reduced permit review times by 30% and created a scalable model for urban development.
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The Power of Public-Private Partnership
The city of Tampa and Lennar Homes demonstrated that successful collaboration requires both parties to see the full picture—understanding what cities must protect and what builders must deliver. Their partnership focused on reducing guesswork rather than simply speeding up processes, creating consistency that benefits everyone involved.
Pilot Program Success
By using Lennar as a pilot partner, Tampa was able to test new processes, gather feedback, and refine systems before full rollout. This approach ensured that all stakeholders understood the new system and could provide input during development rather than after implementation.
Innovation in Urban Development
The Urban Townhome Solution
With only 4% buildable land remaining, Tampa faced unique challenges with urban infill projects. Urban townhomes require commercial site requirements but residential building standards. Instead of managing multiple separate permits, Tampa created an integrated solution combining stormwater, solid waste, and utility permits into one streamlined process.
Custom Record Type Development
Tampa’s urban townhome record type combined the best elements of residential, commercial, and site review workflows. Internal teams from zoning, historic preservation, planning, and right-of-way all contributed to creating a comprehensive, repeatable solution for high-volume builders.
Measurable Results and Improvements
30% Reduction in Review Times
Tampa achieved significant efficiency gains by implementing a sufficiency check for applications, improving plan review times from an average of 80 days to 59 days. This improvement came from reducing review cycles and leveraging digital tools for more precise feedback.
Enhanced Transparency and Communication
The partnership eliminated previous friction points where builders had little visibility into permit status or inspection results. The new system provides full transparency, direct communication with plan examiners, and the ability to forecast project starts more accurately.
Technology as an Enabler
Digital Plan Rooms
Tampa leveraged digital plan rooms to make comments more precise and easier to address, significantly speeding up corrections and approvals. This technology eliminated the need for couriers and manual status checking.
Platform Integration
Accela’s platform provided the technological foundation that enabled the collaboration, offering the flexibility to create custom workflows while maintaining system integrity and user experience across different stakeholder groups.
Best Practices for Implementation
Design for All Users
Successful permitting systems must work for residents, production builders, custom builders, and homeowners alike. Tampa and Lennar recommend separating complex infill reviews from simpler, pre-approved plans to maximize efficiency across different project types.
Maintain Open Communication
Regular meetings with builders, architects, engineers, and homeowners help identify pain points and opportunities for improvement. Tailoring processes to different audiences while avoiding jargon makes systems more approachable for all users.
Focus on Adaptability
Permitting systems should be adaptable and intentional, able to evolve with technology and changing needs. The partnership demonstrated that collaboration strengthens relationships with the public sector and enables real-time problem resolution.
Ready to dive deeper into this transformative partnership? Read the full transcript below to discover the specific strategies, challenges, and solutions that made this collaboration a success.
00:00:09 – Noam Reininger (CEO, Accela)
Welcome to the Civic Innovators podcast, where we ask one big question and deliver a clear and compelling answer.
00:00:17 – Noam Reininger
I’m Noam Reininger, CEO of Accela.
00:00:21 – Dustin Haisler (President, e.Republic)
And I’m Dustin Haisler, President of e.Republic, the parent company of Government Technology and Governing magazine. Today, we’re diving into a powerful example of a public–private partnership that’s reshaping how cities grow—starting with Tampa, Florida.
00:00:36 – Noam Reininger
I’m excited to welcome JC Hutchinson, Chief Building Official at the City of Tampa, and Chris Smith, Vice President of Forward Planning at Lennar Homes. Together, they’ve reshaped the permitting process, reduced timelines, increased efficiency, and improved outcomes for everyone in the building lifecycle.
00:01:03 – Dustin Haisler
From co-developing a custom townhome record type to implementing a phased, scalable permitting model, Tampa and Lennar have shown how thoughtful innovation can reduce delays, boost efficiency, and support smart urban growth.
00:01:24 – Noam Reininger
Today, we’ll explore how their collaboration tackled the challenges of urban infill, leveraged user groups and feedback loops, and delivered efficiency gains. We’ll also look at what other jurisdictions can learn about the benefits of working together.
Reshaping the Permitting Process
00:01:47 – Noam Reininger
JC, Chris—tell us how you’ve reshaped the permitting process, improved timelines, boosted staff engagement, and achieved efficiencies across the board. JC, let’s start with you.
00:02:14 – JC Hutchinson
Collaboration between public and private agencies is essential. It helps both sides see the full picture—what cities must protect and what builders must deliver. It’s not always about going faster; it’s about reducing guesswork. Builders want consistency. If they submit the same project twice, they shouldn’t get different sets of comments.
By setting expectations early—outlining everything needed up front—we avoid surprises mid-review. Working with Lennar as a pilot partner let us test new processes, gather feedback, and refine before full rollout, ensuring everyone understood the system.
00:03:53 – Noam Reininger
Chris, how has this worked from your side?
00:04:00 – Chris Smith
Being a pilot with Tampa has been great because we do high volume and can share best practices from other municipalities. Everyone dreads permitting, but by collaborating, we’ve simplified the process—whether for residents, production builders, custom builders, or homeowners. Accela has been a great platform to support that.
How the Partnership Began
00:05:19 – Dustin Haisler
Chris, what led to this collaboration, and why was Accela the right platform?
00:05:39 – Chris Smith
It actually started from our side. I was interested in Accela—Tampa was the first in our market to fully adopt it. Through connections like Melissa Choing, we built relationships and got decision-makers like JC involved. That direct communication made things happen.
00:06:33 – Dustin Haisler
JC, from your perspective, why focus on this partnership?
00:06:54 – JC Hutchinson
Tampa has only about 4% buildable land left, so much development is infill or redevelopment. Urban townhomes fall into a unique space—commercial requirements for the site, but residential buildings. Instead of forcing builders to manage multiple separate permits, we looked at integrating everything—stormwater, solid waste, utilities—into one streamlined permit.
Innovation: The Urban Townhome Record Type
00:08:27 – Noam Reininger
Tell us about the urban townhome permit innovation and lessons for other jurisdictions.
00:08:51 – JC Hutchinson
We didn’t want to reinvent the wheel. We combined the best of our residential, commercial, and site review workflows into one process. Internal teams from zoning, historic preservation, planning, and right-of-way all contributed.
Once we had a working version, we brought in Lennar to test with a dummy project. This way, when we fully launch, it will be consistent, repeatable, and sustainable for high-volume builders.
00:10:47 – Noam Reininger
Chris, how will this change impact your team?
00:11:01 – Chris Smith
The transparency and open communication have been invaluable. We could give feedback during design instead of finding issues after rollout. JC’s team avoided the “behind closed doors” problem that often causes new processes to fail.
Reducing Friction and Increasing Transparency
00:11:57 – Dustin Haisler
Chris, what friction points have been eliminated?
00:12:15 – Chris Smith
Before Accela, there was little transparency—no clear way to see permit status or inspection results without sending couriers. Now, we have full visibility, can communicate directly with plan examiners, and can forecast starts more accurately by knowing review times and due dates.
Measurable Improvements
00:13:47 – Noam Reininger
JC, what measurable improvements have you seen?
00:14:07 – JC Hutchinson
By adding a sufficiency check for applications, we improved plan review times by 30%—from an average of 80 days to 59. We reduced review cycles and leveraged tools like digital plan rooms to make comments precise and easy to address, speeding up corrections and approvals.
Advice for Other Cities and Builders
00:16:50 – Dustin Haisler
What advice would you give others starting from scratch? Chris, let’s start with you.
00:17:04 – Chris Smith
Design processes that work for both residents and builders. Separate complex infill reviews from simpler, preapproved plans to maximize efficiency.
00:18:01 – Dustin Haisler
JC, your advice?
00:18:06 – JC Hutchinson
Open communication. We meet regularly with builders, architects, engineers, and homeowners to understand their needs and pain points. Tailor processes to different audiences, avoid jargon, and make the system approachable for all users.
Lessons from the Partnership
00:20:14 – Noam Reininger
JC, what’s this taught you about public–private collaboration?
00:20:27 – JC Hutchinson
It’s a true partnership with shared outcomes—safe buildings, strong neighborhoods, and fewer delays. Permitting should be adaptable and intentional, able to evolve with technology and needs.
00:21:52 – Noam Reininger
Chris, how about you?
00:21:57 – Chris Smith
It’s strengthened our relationship with the public sector. Open communication allows us to fix recurring issues quickly, improve plans before submission, and resolve problems in real time.
00:23:16 – Noam Reininger
Your collaboration is inspiring, with valuable lessons for others.
00:23:37 – Dustin Haisler
It’s encouraging to see how you’ve made permitting less daunting and more collaborative. This shows the art of the possible.
00:24:00 – Noam Reininger
To our listeners—if you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe and share.
00:24:10 – Dustin Haisler
And visit accela.com/podcast for more stories, resources, and insights.
00:24:17 – Noam Reininger
Take care, and talk soon.
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