Frederick County Executive Praises Success Of Digital Permitting Process During COVID-19 Pandemic

Jan Gardner said it allowed the county to continue construction projects.

Frederick, Md. (NS) – High praise was given by Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner during a public information briefing on Thursday to an online portal that helped the county’s economy grow during the pandemic.

The portal, which was first used in December 2019, streamlined and digitized many aspects of the building permit and inspection processes in the county.

Gardner said the system handles payments, application submissions, document uploads and annotations, and processing work by the county.

“The final piece of the puzzle is the mobile field inspector segment. This is how photos can be added from the field, inspection results can be recorded in real time, and text messages can be sent to applicants from the system,” explained Gardner.

She said the system was praised by companies like Kite Pharma who completed tasks during the pandemic.

“Our permitting staff also earned high praise from other new employers including Kroger and Ellume. One Kroger official said the county has been really supportive to the team throughout the entire permit process,” Gardner added.

In 2020, the web portal won an International Customer Service Excellence Award and earned high marks in a survey from the Division of Planning and Permitting.