FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Mary Gibbs, Lee County Department of Community Development
                (941) 479-8345

FORT MYERS, Fla. (March 5, 2001) – Lee County Government has received a $49,000 technology grant from the state that will be used to develop applications for residents to access the status of permits using the Internet and eventually do permitting over the web.

The county’s year-old Tidemark Permit System now allows Community Development to internally track where permits are in the process, update information in real time and links together all the county departments and divisions involved in the permitting process.

The first Internet application of the system the county hopes to develop is the ability for residents and the development community to check the status of their permits online. This will decrease call volume into the department and improve customer service.

The grant is from the State Technology Office and also will help the county link into the state’s "one-stop" permitting program that it is developing.

"Our eventual goal is for residents to be able to apply for permits over the Internet," says Community Development Director Mary Gibbs. "Checking permit status on the web is the first step in that process. With the volume of business we’re doing now, Internet applications will really improve communication and service."

The total value of new construction permitted in unincorporated Lee County last year set a record of $1.375 billion (1999 was $1.075 billion and the only other prior billion-dollar year was 1997 with $1.022 billion). Also, for the first time ever in 2000, the county permitted more than 3,000 single-family homes (3,053).