As part of the ongoing goal of continually working to improve communication with citizens and local businesses, the City of Noblesville has made three significant technology enhancements over the past several months. “As more and more resources become available online, city departments are keeping pace by using technology improvements whenever possible,” said Mayor John Ditslear. In the Noblesville Planning Department, these three most recent upgrades consist of a new permit database; EnCode 360; and the development of additional resources to help better educate businesses and residents about various Planning Department procedures.
A new permit database is now live within several city departments and is the result of an eight month long transfer process conducted by the Planning Department in coordination with several other city departments. The database, which is hosted by EnerGov, a Tyler Technologies software solution,allows city departments involved in the development and permitting process to better communicate throughout the life of the project. It also produces faster review and inspection resultsby updating those results in real time. This new permit database is one more step the city is taking in order to digitize the entire development process. An additional upgrade called the Citizen Access Portal (CAP) will be added to the new permit database this fall. CAP will allow applicants to apply for permits online as well as go online to check the status of pending permits. More information about CAP will be announced this fall once the program goes live.
The Planning Department also recently launched EnCode 360, which is an Internet-based system used to display the city’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) on the city website. The purpose of a community’s UDO is to explain the rules and regulations for development in that city or town. The format used previously to display the UDO on the city’s website was difficult for users to navigate and search. The display format used by EnCode 360 now makes it easier to search Noblesville’s UDO. Also, the new display format incorporates several user-friendly features to make the regulations easier to understand such as providing more definitions for words and phrases and including additional graphics.
Lastly, the Planning Department teamed up with the Noblesville Chamber of Commerce this year to identify as many questions as possible that local businesses and residents have about development procedures in Noblesville. As a result of this project with the Chamber, the Planning Department has started creating a series of videos and digital brochures to more easily explain various procedures such as how to get a fence permit, descriptions and information about building permits, and more. “The Chamber’s Board was pleased to partner with the city to help identify questions our member businesses have about development in Noblesville. The resultant work by the city’s planning staff will prove helpful to businesses and residents alike. This initiative, along with the online permitting and Unified Development Ordinance, enhances clarity and efficiency to the development process. We appreciate the city’s desire to answer those questions and eliminate confusion whenever possible,” said Bob DuBois, President of the Noblesville Chamber of Commerce. To view a video or brochure, residents and businesses can simply go to www.cityofnoblesville.org/planning, click on “Informational Pamphlets and Videos”, and then choose which option to view.
For questions or more information about these latest technology upgrades in Noblesville, contact the Planning Department at (317) 776-6325.
