Streamline Development Approvals
What if it didn’t take months or years for new housing to get approved, but weeks or days?
Long entitlement timelines, high fees, and arbitrary requirements for development review have led to slow, inefficient, and confusing municipal processes for homebuilders.
Many cities have realized they are making it too hard for builders to provide new homes for current and future residents.
How to Start
Step 01: Develop clear checklists of the required information, studies, and engineering needed to streamline development applications.
Application checklists help developers know exactly what to submit, where to submit it, and who to contact in each city department if questions arise.
Why is this solution vital?
50-70%
of development applications in the City of Seattle are incomplete.*
This means that multiple rounds of completeness checks have to happen before technical review can even begin. The problem is twofold: unclear application requirements on the city side, and no easy way for developers to check if their applications are complete.
*Seattle.gov. Modernizing Seattle’s Permitting Process
SOLUTION IN ACTION
Cutting the cost of time for permitting in Austin, TX
“We heard again and again from stakeholders—on both the public and private side—that the process simply wasn’t working. We’ve had to rethink the entire development experience, from top to bottom.”
–Paige Ellis, District 8 Councilmember, Austin, TX
Austin, TX’s City Council established a team to transform site plan review, developing a comprehensive strategy to improve the process. They also passed Site Plan Lite, a key reform that exempts 1- to 16-unit projects—the “missing middle”—from the site plan requirement entirely, streamlining approvals for small-scale infill and starter homes.
Read more to learn about Austin’s approach, success, and perspective from lead Councilmember Paige Ellis.
Lessons Learned from Other Cities
What strategies can you use in your community to recreate Austin’s success?
Reform Can Start Small but Deliver Big
Targeting reforms toward smaller-scale infill can unlock meaningful new supply without triggering community-wide resistance.
Match Housing Typology with Process
Austin’s breakthrough came when it aligned process with product. Treating 4- to 16-unit housing as fundamentally similar to single-family housing, rather than to commercial-scale development, cleared the path for new models to flourish.
Streamlining ≠ Deregulating
Reform doesn’t mean cutting corners. Austin’s 45-point plan includes stronger staff training, clearer checklists, improved technology, and accountability metrics. It’s about smart governance, not just speed.
Humanize the Policy Case
Ellis grounded reform in lived experience; neighbors, walkability, “third places.” Reforms succeed when they connect emotionally, not just procedurally. Cities should build narratives that frame permitting reform as a community benefit.
Cross-Silo Teams Create Durable Change
Austin’s “Transformation Management Team” included voices from planning, transportation, IT, public works, and elected offices. Sustained reform requires alignment across all permitting touchpoints.
INNOVATOR IN ACTION
Partnering with Infilla can help streamline the adoption of this Solution.
Infilla is an AI-native platform modernizing permitting and entitlements for local and state government. Their software tools eliminate administrative bottlenecks, improve transparency, and get projects to approval faster.
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Searchable Planning Knowledge Base that centralizes zoning and policy guidance
Digital Fee Calculator that computes jurisdictional-specific permit and entitlement fees automatically
Guided Intake to ensure applicants upload all required materials upfront
Plan Checklist to standardize review and reduce revision cycles
Permitting System that routes reviews, tracks status, and keeps applicants updated
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30-40 hours saved per week in staff time
45% increase in completed initial applications
Smoother onboarding and streamlined work-flows for planning staff = happy planners!
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Infilla has partnered with the State of Delaware, San Francisco Planning, Sonoma County, CA, El Segundo, CA, Tulare County, CA, Richmond, CA, Mountain View, CA, and the NYC Department of Building via the Buildings Tech Lab.
