Twenty years ago, when a sign maker needed to apply for a permit in an unfamiliar city, the quickest way to get started was to dial 411 and get the phone number for City Hall. Then, after getting the address and phone numbers for the Planning and Building Departments, a couple more phone calls might result in applications and submittal guidelines being mailed or faxed, if you were lucky. If not, out came the Thomas Guide to plan a trip to City Hall just to pick up some forms and brochures before the real work could begin.

Now, with an ocean of information just a mouse-click away, all of that research and much more can be done without budging from your office chair. Most cities have developed Web sites packed full of promotional and practical information to encourage businesses to bring their tax dollars and pay their fees. Some are definitely better than others, but if you know how to follow the currents, most will provide you with almost everything you need to get started.

THE HOME PAGE FOR CITY HALL
Whatever browser you prefer, the quickest way to find the official city Web site is to search using the city name, state, and the word “permit”, “community development”, or “government”. For example, “Fremont, California, community development” on Google will turn up 1,430,000 results, the first of which is the official government Web site for Fremont (see Figure 1).

This usually opens the home page for City Hall, where you can find links to the various departments, such as Planning and Building (see Figures 2 & 3).

Within those departments, a well-designed site will offer links to the municipal code, printable application forms, submittal guidelines, a map to City Hall, a map of the entire city with zoning and Assessors Parcel Numbers, staff contact numbers and e-mail info, public meeting agendas, and permit status tracking. Some even allow certain types of permits to be applied for online. It will take some time to paddle around and print out everything you need, but compared to the old days, the research phase is like waiting for the perfect wave. If you are patient, it will come.

The entire municipal code may seem as endless as the sea, but sign makers are only interested in one or two sections, and searching with the keyword “sign” will usually hone in on the parts you need (see Figure 4). It’s a good idea to print the entire section to keep in a folder and highlight the parts that relate to your current project. If the Web site doesn’t provide a link, municode.com is a very useful resource as well (see Figure 5).

GOOD FORMS
Some cities have application forms specifically for signs, though most use a generic form for all types of permits. There are usually separate forms for Planning and Building, and when a Business License or Agent Authorization form is required, they can often be found online as well (see Figure 6). They are usually .pdf files, so you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open them. Fortunately, with a bit more surfing, the basic program is free to download.

When the city has taken the time to provide submittal guidelines, it will save considerable time and effort if you print it out and use it as a checklist to ensure that you have enough copies of all of the necessary documents and the required details in your drawings so that when you submit your application, it will be complete and can be reviewed without any unnecessary delay. The guidelines can also give you a good idea of the level of bureaucracy to expect.

Smaller cities often have very casual and efficient permitting procedures, and their Web sites may reflect that approach with minimal information and a brief list of application steps. Larger cities, on the other hand, will load their Web sites with wave after wave of instructions and requirements for different zones within the city. If the guidelines mention an Architectural Review Board or Planning Commission, be prepared to spend a couple of months getting your permit, and appearing at a public hearing for planning approval (see Figures 7 & 8).

Most applications request the property’s Assessor’s Parcel Number, which you can look up when you go to the planning office, but as long as you are floating around in the city Web site, check out their maps to see if you can get not only the APN but zoning and property owner information as well. In Santa Cruz, the borders between city and county are not apparent when driving along the streets, but can be crucial when deciding what type of sign to design, and whether to apply for a permit (see Figure 9). If you can zoom in on a satellite photo of the jobsite, save it as a .jpg to be placed on your site plan page.

Even with all of this information at your fingertips, you will still need to call and discuss the application with a planner at some point, and having a list of planning staff with their direct phone numbers and e-mail addresses can be very handy. Not all Web sites post this information, but when you find it, print it out and keep it in your handy dandy folder for future reference (see Figure 10).

GO WITH THE EBB AND FLOW
If your application ends up going through a public hearing, you can wait for the agenda to be mailed to you, often arriving a day or two before the meeting date, or you can access the schedule online and often find out where your item falls on the agenda a week or two in advance. This can be useful in determining when you need to show up and how long to expect to stay, though of course you never can tell when the issue just before yours turns out to be a huge local controversy requiring hours of public comment and a continuance to the next scheduled meeting (see Figure 11). When that happens, you just have to paddle back out and get ready to catch the next wave.

Finally, if the city has really embraced the 21st century and all of the available technology, they may have a permit status tracking link available, where you can type in the address, APN or permit number and find out not only which planner your application has been assigned to and whether it has been reviewed, but the entire history of permits approved for the property. If a question arises about code interpretation, knowing the history may give you an edge in convincing the planner of your right to have a particular size or type of sign. At the very least, it is a quicker way of checking the progress than calling and leaving messages for the planner to return (see Figure 12).

Though every Web site is different, and few have every one of the features mentioned above, once you learn to go with the ebb and flow, you will gladly pick up your mouse rather than the phone or your car keys. It may not make the permit application process any less time consuming or frustrating, but with the price of gas these days, every gallon saved is worth ten clicks of the mouse, and the less you have to pester the planners, the better. So lock your office door and start surfing!