Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) has pledged to reinvent itself as an efficient, modernized operation. A recent audit indicates that progress has been made.

A city audit considered DPP steps in meeting 16 operational recommendations, first developed in 2020: Four have been completed, including elimination of repeated, time-consuming and costly review cycles for building permits, and transitioning to “ePlans” for all-electronic permit applications; actions are underway to resolve five; and four have been eliminated, as they no longer require action.

That leaves work to do on three unresolved or unaddressed goals. Director Dawn Takeuchi Apuna says DPP is “well on its way.”