Baltimore will name a “permit czar” and an accompanying advisory board in an effort to centralize its permitting process as it undertakes a $3 billion vacant home remediation effort.

The czar, who has yet to be named and who won’t be appointed until after the city’s fiscal year 2026 budget is approved in June, will have the ability to oversee the numerous offices that issue city permits, said Justin Williams, deputy mayor for community and economic development. Those may include, depending on the project, the Department of Planning, the Department of Public Works, the Department of Transportation, the Baltimore City Liquor Board and the Fire Department.

Under the new initiative dubbed “Bmore FAST,” Mayor Brandon Scott’s office will also create an advisory group including stakeholders to make recommendations for further permit reforms, Williams said. That group is slated to include developers, contractors, architects, lenders, community development experts and representatives of small businesses, although the final composition is still being discussed.

Several weeks ago, Baltimore introduced a new e-permitting platform that officials hope will be the first step toward reforming the city’s much maligned permitting process. Williams, who worked as a land use attorney before he was tapped for the deputy mayor role, said the city will now be able to offer more transparency to permit applicants about how long a process is expected to take and the status of any impediments.

In the past, Baltimore’s permitting process has been notoriously difficult, prompting those with means to hire permit expediters to shepherd them through the fraught process.

In the long term, Williams said city leaders plan to discuss fully centralizing the permitting process under one office.

“Hopefully the czar will resolve the bottlenecks,” he said. “But having straight-line authority from the executive branch to the people doing the work is really the way to effectuate change.”

The latest efforts to reform the city’s permitting process come as Baltimore is beginning to implement a $3 billion, 15-year plan to remediate the 35,000 vacant properties across the city. The proposal calls for $150 million to be generated in tax increment financing bonds while another $150 million would be borrowed through a recently revived industrial development authority. The administration anticipates another $900 million coming from the state and millions more from private investors.

Baltimore leaders approved the creation of the special tax zone late last year and the first tranche of borrowing expected to assist with the rehab of about 8,000 city-owned properties targeted for revitalization, most in East and West Baltimore.

“This $3 billion will be a game changer, but we have to make sure our permit processes are not a bottleneck,” Williams said.