Would-be developers and builders in Salt Lake City should now find it a lot easier to get their projects approved.

The city on Wednesday kicked off its so-called "one-stop shop," an all-in-one location for the building permit and approvals process. In the past, developers have had to go to seven different departments in buildings throughout the city to have their plans reviewed and permits granted.

"Despite the efforts of city employees — and we have tremendous employees who have struggled through this in the past — this process has sometimes caused poor customer service," Mayor Rocky Anderson said at a news conference Wednesday.

The City Council approved the $1.45 million software contract with Accela Inc. during its 2006 budget process.

"While the price tag on this was a big gulp when presented to us, we knew that this was a long-term investment and valued the administration's recommendation that this product was a good one for Salt Lake City," Councilman Carlton Christensen said.

The Accela software combines the various permitting and plan-review needs in a suite that automates licensing and renewal programs, allows for city staff to perform job functions in the field, integrates data and does other things that Anderson said will make the entire review process "remarkably streamlined."

The city's Community Development department issues more than 8,500 permits, renews more than 12,000 licenses and processes more than 2,500 new licenses each year.

"If we create a predictable development review environment with timely, efficient processing and high-quality standards, we will get more and better development projects throughout the city," Community Development director Louis Zunguze said in a written statement.

The time-consuming bureaucracy that made up the building approval process in the past has long been a sore spot for developers in Salt Lake and a subject of discussion among city officials, planners and others. Christensen said it has been an issue since he first took his seat on the council 10 years ago.

"This is a revolution in better city services," Anderson said.

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