“Elections have consequences,” Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago has been heard saying following his victory in the April city elections. At the Gables City Commission on May 20, that may mean that an expedited permit review pilot program the City Commission passed earlier this year may be eliminated before it was ever implemented.

The mayor is proposing a resolution to rescind the prior commission vote taken in February which would have created an expedited permit review services program for interior commercial and interior residential work. Commissioner Melissa Castro, who has experience in expediting in the city as owner a permitting company, originally proposed the program.

This program is designed to streamline the permitting process for interior residential and commercial remodels with a five-day turnaround per round of reviews. It’s optional, with a 15 percent fee on top of the permit cost for those who choose the expedited route.

“The city is notorious for being one of the worst at permitting,” Castro said. “One of my campaign promises was to improve permitting so we developed this model where there is 5-day for review in each round. When you submit plans, sometimes it takes a month, two months, even three months. Now it would be 5-days in between rounds.”

The permitting process in Coral Gables has long been a source of frustration for residents and business owners, with some applications taking months to complete. Commissioners across multiple administrations have pledged to streamline the system, but proposed solutions have often met political resistance.

The mayor did not respond to questions the Gazette posed asking about his proposed resolution. “Upon further consideration, the City Commission has determined that it does not wish to move forward with the implementation of the Expedited Permit Review Services Program at this time,” the mayor’s resolution proposing the elimination of the program reads.

Lago and Castro have repeatedly been at odds since she was elected over two years ago, and the situation only seems to be getting worse, with Castro accusing the mayor of accosting her at a city event recently. At the special commission meeting held on May 6 – which Castro could not attend due to a surgery – the commission voted to undo several past actions of the commission that Castro supported.

The commissioner believes that growing animosity is behind the proposed resolution.

“It took a long time to get this program going. Everything was ready to go, and because this idea didn’t come from the mayor he wants to rescind it. It’s not in the best interest of the city and its constituents,” she said. “That’s not what a mayor is supposed to do – you don’t go against something that is in the best interest of your city.”

As part of the original resolution, the city commission asked the city manager to seek proposals from the city’s pool of consultants for plans review and building inspection services and to negotiate an agreement for such services. One of those consultants chosen, CAP Government, was disappointed with the news that the pilot program could be nixed before it even got started.

Carlos Penin, president of CAP Government, believed the expedited review program had a chance to provide “an excellent service product for applicants.”

“It’s a shame. It looks like the city is about to kill a product that has not yet been given a chance to show what it can do to the applicants. It would give them a chance to get it permits reviewed more efficiently and faster while paying a bit more money.”

Penin said the program would also benefit applicants who did not opt in to the expedited program, as the city would be freed up to do permitting for them with consultants taking on some reviews. He also questioned why the city would cancel a pilot program that did not present any risks or long-term investment and potentially could offer much to improve the embattled permitting process in the City Beautiful.

“Is there a resolution proposed that would find a better way. How can you be against something you haven’t tried,” he asked.

Both Castro and Penin expressed hope that the commission might not adopt the resolution rescinding the program and looked to newly elected Commissioner Richard Lara to give the pilot program proper consideration before agreeing to eliminate it.

“Look at the vacancies on Miracle Mile. If just one business can be opened faster by the expedited process, isn’t it worth it,” said Penin.