Annapolis candidates discuss permitting woes, potential county mergers
With days to go before the Annapolis city elections, candidates for mayor and alderman in Wards 1, 2 and 3 participated in a forum Tuesday where some appeared open to considering merging city and county service and others promoted their ideas for how to quicken the permitting process.
The Nov. 4 election will determine the direction of the city as two-term Mayor Gavin Buckley ends his eighth year in office and half of the current council is not running for reelection. The mayor and alderman candidates are running for four-year terms.
The forum, hosted by the Germantown-Homewood Community Association, asked the candidates for mayor and Ward 1 alderman how they would speed up the city’s permitting process.
Democratic mayoral candidate Jared Littmann pushed for his proposal to post examples of approved permits on the city website and to offer preapproved projects to encourage development. He emphasized that the length of the permit process can drive up costs significantly.
Part of Littmann’s 100 Day Plan released this week includes identifying a city staff member to lead city permitting, as well as others to work on other top issues, such as short-term rentals and parking.
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Ward 1 Alderman Harry Huntley, a Democrat, said that there should be a tracking system for permit applications once they’re submitted, similar to tracking a pizza delivery.
Tom Krieck, who is running as an independent in Ward 1, said the city should use artificial intelligence to review permit applications more quickly. He emphasized that this would not be to design buildings, but instead as a method of “taking something off the shelf.”
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