City of Homestead: Apply Online to Solve Your Urban Development Requirements

The city of Homestead Development Services Department and Community Redevelopment Agency are providing service innovation for its customers

When the COVID-19 outbreak started impacting our lives, the City of Homestead took immediate action to protect residents and staff and understood that keeping all essential services working was needed in order to serve the community.

In this sense, the Development Services Department continued operating, and even though it was closed to the public after March 18 following social distance restrictions, the department implemented online services so customers can get applications and assistance for their requirements.

“We decided to continue to process the Development Services efficiently and remotely because, especially in the current circumstances, development means a lot to the economy not only in Homestead but in Miami-Dade County,” said Joseph Corradino, Director of Development Services.

Development Services is the department that reviews and approves the new urban developments in the city of Homestead; these include urban planning, getting building permits and inspections, and economic developments to advance Homestead’s diverse and distinct neighborhoods

“To safeguard the community and staff, we quickly needed to come up with a plan to continue our operations while limiting face-to-face interaction,” he added. “So, we rapidly developed an electronic platform on which the community can submit their plans and applications to the Planning and Licenses Division. Everything that you will need permission from us is now done electronically from the safety of your own home.”

Also, and as part of this electronic effort, the department is also accepting online payments for hearing applications, building permits, and local business tax receipts. It published on its website that “under the current emergency, the convenience fee will be passed on to the applicant/customer.

According to Corradino, with all new implementations, there is always resistance to change; however, people are taking the changes quite well. “They can do them remotely and are adapting easily to a new trend of electronic services, which is the way of the future.”

Likewise, and in line with all the changes as a result of the ongoing situation, the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) continues to deploy its efforts to work with the community of its defined area within the city.

“We are making sure that our citizens keep informed with regards to available resources offered through state and federal agencies. We also implemented a survey within our local small businesses to get insights and crucial information on the challenges they are facing, which gave us a good idea on how to move forward,” said Kametra Driver, CRA Director.

Additionally, the agency in the past has been offering grants to businesses that showed specific improvements and therefore increased the value of their buildings. “We are planning to offer this grant money to assist with the emergency response to small businesses within the CRA. The CRA board needs to review and approve the proposed plan, and hopefully we will get to implement it soon,” she concluded. For more information visit https://www.cityofhomestead.com/531/Online-Services

Haz clic para leer en Español: Ciudad de Homestead: Aplique en línea para sus requerimientos de desarrollo urbano