Richard Normoyle, East Hampton Town’s principal building inspector, spoke about 2025 accomplishments and 2026 goals at Tuesday’s town board meeting in Montauk, but all anyone wanted to hear was how long it will take to get a building permit if they were to apply for one today.
“An application that is submitted now, what are your expectations?” asked Councilman Tom Flight.
His question received no direct reply.
“By the end of the year, we’re hoping we’ll have it reduced to a three-month wait,” said Mr. Normoyle. “We fully understand the need to get this done. My staff is working tirelessly to meet this demand.”
In an email after the meeting, Patrick Derenze, the town’s public information officer, after conferring with Mr. Normoyle, said “Based on current conditions, and assuming we do not see an influx of applications like the one experienced last June, we estimate that a fully completed application will take approximately six months to review.”
“We’ve got to get through the backlog,” Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said at the meeting. “What we’re hearing from the building community now is they want timelines.”
“I think we’re all aware of the challenges we’re facing,” said Mr. Normoyle.
Apart from the three-month goal by Jan. 1, 2027, Mr. Normoyle said he expected wait times would be reduced to two weeks for smaller accessory type permits, and to four to six weeks by May 1, 2027, for larger builds.
“We’re looking at a year timeline to tackle these issues. That includes the training of new staff, the continued expansion of the department, and working our way through the current backlog,” he said.
He told the board his department is now finishing permits submitted in September 2025. “We’re looking to get through October, November, and December by mid-July.”
“I admire everything you’ve done, but I’ll say for many business operators that’s going to be hugely damaging, to not get a C.O. for a year,” Mr. Flight said. “Are there ways to fast-track those timelines with additional resources?”
“That’s not holding somebody’s C.O. for a year,” said Mr. Normoyle. “That’s working through the current backlog.”
Mr. Flight, who also acts as a liaison to the town’s business committee, said it would be helpful for the board to receive monthly data.
“How many applications are in the system?” he asked. “How many applications have been received? How many building permits have been issued, and how many C.O.s have been issued. Without that, it’s going to be hard for us to gauge ‘Are we effectively addressing the problem?’ We need to have that tracking clearly reported to us going forward.”
Mr. Normoyle said his department is now better able to track permit types. As of March 4, the OpenGov software can track five different permit types. Previously it only allowed for tracking one type of building permit.
“Smaller applications got stuck in the backlog,” he said. Having “five different permit types allows us to better sort and process applications as they come in.”
The five types are: residential building permits, alterations or new builds of dwellings; an accessory building permit, meant to accelerate the processing of pools, sheds, patios, and generators; a commercial permit type, and one for solar and one for telecommunications. (Mr. Normoyle explained that solar and telecommunication permits are on a “shot clock” and must be issued within a certain period of time.)
One problem that continues to frustrate his department is incomplete applications. With OpenGov, the Building Department has no way of knowing they’re incomplete until they’re opened. This adds to wait times, but it’s not something the department can control, it’s on those who submit the applications.
With OpenGov, “That gatekeeping process of applications being caught at the front desk while they’re being submitted and turned away with an incomplete application, we’ve lost that,” said Mr. Normoyle. “Applicants now have the ability to submit an application regardless of whether they’re complete or not. And we receive a large volume of applications that are incomplete and it creates a large bottleneck.”
Further, it seems some builders may be submitting shoddy applications in a misguided attempt to quickly get in line. However, the practice ultimately slows the department down.
“One possible deterrent to doing that is an application fee,” said Mr. Flight.
“Or you could move to the back of the line,” Ms. Burke-Gonzalez suggested. “I say to the folks that are waiting for their applications to be reviewed, you may want to go in and make sure you have a complete application. That will speed the process up.”
“I worry that we’ve lost that human element with the personnel at the front desk,” said Mr. Flight. He asked if anyone was checking applications when they are turned in for completion.
“No,” said Mr. Normoyle. “The existing staff have their hands full working with the jobs that we have. I cannot add additional procedures for them at this time until we’re fully staffed.”
Another problem was that within each application, file names were not standardized, and often confusing. He said time was often wasted renaming files.
Ms. Burke-Gonzalez suggested publicizing best practices.
Mr. Normoyle also shared statistics from 2025.
The department issued 1,342 building permits and 722 certificates of occupancy, they processed 739 permit renewals, 1,397 certified copies of permits and certificates, and conducted 3,257 inspections. The staff received over 300 phone calls each day and took care of over 40 walk-ins with counter service.
Later in the meeting, the town board hired a Spanish-speaking building inspector, Kelly Barros.
“That’s six positions created and filled since the first of the year,” Ms. Burke-Gonzalez said. She also reported the Building Department has requested a new title -- senior plans examiner -- from the Civil Service.
“We continue to expand the staff to face the challenges,” said Mr. Normoyle.
