County Will Hold Citizens' Academy on Permitting Process

Are you in the dark when it comes to obtaining permission for something you’re building? Wondering where to start when it comes to handling the bureaucratic maze?

If so, you may want to make time for Citizens’ Academy, a new series of lunchtime meetings on planning and the permitting process organized by the Sonoma County Permit and Resource Management Department.

The goal is to inform residents about how to navigate the permitting process and take the most efficient path to successful applications. 

“These sessions are designed to be “two-way” opportunities to learn,” says Pete Parkinson, director of the Permit and Management Department.

“First, the department wants to provide crucial information to ease an applicant’s process and secondly, we want to hear from attendees on ways to better improve customer service. Better understanding will lead to better projects and the sustainable economic development our community needs.”

The department is offering a session called “Navigating the Permitting Process.”  This will be offered every month from 11 a.m. to noon in the PRMD Hearing Room, just prior to the monthly noontime sessions. Those sessions will include such topics as green building, septic tanks, grading, wells, and NPDES and drainage. The noon sessions will be held in PRMD’s Hearing Room at 2550 Ventura Avenue in Santa Rosa. 

For more info on Citizens’ Academy, contact 707-565-1900.