Cort attributes the delay in urban planning licenses to administrative errors

PalmDelays in processing building permits at Palma City Hall are not related to planning or urban development control issues, but rather to recurring administrative errors. This was detailed on Tuesday by Palma's Councilor for Urban Planning, Óscar Fidalgo, based on an internal technical analysis to identify the main administrative bottlenecks and try to reduce problems and streamline procedures, he reported. The City Council's internal analysis points to documentary errors such as duplicate reports and the existence of procedures that added no value and slowed down the process. According to the analysis, files were found to be blocked due to issues with fee payments, applications with incomplete documentation, and errors stemming from regulatory complexity. It also points to an excess of sector-specific reports issued systematically, even when not necessary, which contributed to extending deadlines. Fidalgo has assured that the City Council is already working to correct these dysfunctions with the aim of improving service efficiency and ensuring a more agile and effective process for citizens and professionals. In response to this assessment, the Urban Planning Department has implemented a series of organizational and procedural measures to boost administrative efficiency. Regarding issues with fees, action has been taken to prevent non-payment from blocking the start of processing, thus eliminating delays. Document review has also been reorganized to anticipate errors and clarify internal workflows, with particular attention to incomplete applications. This improvement in early detection has led to an 18 percent reduction in incidents analyzed due to incomplete documentation, according to sources at the City Council.

The local government has also worked to correct regulatory errors, establishing clear interpretive criteria to reduce unnecessary reports and improve technical coordination. In the area of Mobility, reports will only be required in justified cases, maintaining them in sensitive situations such as pedestrian areas or complex access points. This has resulted in an 87% reduction in the number of reports issued.

Strategic Environmental Assessment

Furthermore, the Urban Planning Department has given initial approval to a specific amendment to the 2023 General Plan to adapt one of its regulations to the new Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). This update will allow the processing of urban development plans, including both derivative planning and urbanization projects, before the expansion of Wastewater Treatment Plant II (phase 1) becomes operational. However, the connection and occupancy of buildings remains contingent upon the operation of the treatment plant and the sufficient availability of potable water. Previous regulations prevented the approval of these instruments until the WWTP expansion was operational, and therefore, this amendment introduces greater flexibility in urban planning without generating new developments or economic, social, or environmental changes, the City Council noted.