San Diego County Planning & Development Services - San Diego, California

Ruta P.

It is busy office so expect to wait. Come as early as possible and will be out in an hour or so, depending what needed to be done. There was a wait time but it was acceptable.

The engineer was polite and professional, explained what needed to be done in great detail. So did the technician. She was very helpful and answered all my questions. She even offered me to send me back to engineer again as it was not very clear what corrections were needed and the engineer patiently explained it again.

Front desk staff were very helpful too. Wait time was just few minutes and issued me a ticket.

Faraj J.

Unprofessional zoning staff. Read other reviews saying the same things about this office creating unnecessary hoops just to get across planning dept. In addition to the thousands of dollars you pay them upfront, you have to pay EVERYTIME they call you or email you about your application. Their glass office building is very luxurious. Not surprising given how profitable their office is from levying nonsense fees on property owners and builders.

C. J.

I work with Planning & Development departments all over California and this office is one of the most difficult ones to reach, they never pick up the phone. Secondly, their online services are lacking immensely when compared to other jurisdictions. Why can you obtain a permit online but not submit a revision to that permit. If you lack the commitment/desire to improve the citizen portal, then set up an email where revisions can be sent, like other agencies, find a solution. In my experience, it starts at the top, the board, council, city management, and dept directors.

Travis J.

I don't think the people working here realize how much more difficult this jurisdiction is compared to every other jurisdiction. You have to deal with about a dozen different departments just to get something permitted.

On top of that they still deal with paper records; something most planning departments got rid of during Covid in favor of digital. It's such a mess that I had a zoning technician input the wrong parcel number for a permit because he couldn't figure out which paper belonged to which job. Zoning in general needs a hard reset.

Not sure how anything ever gets built in San Diego. 2 stars instead of 1 simply because some of the people working there try to help you rather than reject the plans outright. Aside from that it's awful.

Thomas L.

It’s been 10 years since the Stage Stop market on route 76 between Rincon and Pauma have been waiting for San Diego building inspectors to come out and inspect the drains that these hard working people played. Floor still torn apart. They want to add a pizza stop to their market for the locals to have:

A.) an option for some different food as there are limited options on the reservation

B.) Employment opportunities as this area is so isolated from the rest of “civilization”

C,) increased tax revenue for the still growing population of San Diego county. Including its homeless population.

God forbid some common sense be used by the planning and permit office.

If I were them I would send the county planner down here and apologize to everyone,

Cratus C.

This is probably one of the most dysfunctional divisions in the entire County. You get a ticket number, wait hours and hours, and, in the end, may receive the information you will not be served until the next day.
Their process is very confusing, servants are rarely friendly and you feel lucky when someone is able to help you. I have noticed that sometimes servants do not call your number not because they are engaging with other customers, but because they are “busy” answering personal emails, talking on the phone, playing online games, or simply chatting with their colleagues.
Our community deserves better service.

Mitchell H.

Fast service, get there early, if you have all put together you could walk out that day with your permit.

Hy L.

Came in at 2:52 waited until closing and was not able to get my permit. It would be 1 star but the people working there did tell me that I might not get seen. So thank you. Saw a sign that says if you don’t get there by 12:30 you are not guaranteed to be seen. So heads up. Must be nice working for the city. Wonder how quickly this place would fail if it is a business and we are customers.