Albuquerque officials recently outlined progress in improving the city’s Planning Department operations during a presentation to the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Mayor Tim Keller and Alan Varela, director of planning, described steps taken to make the permitting process more efficient and business-friendly.
Keller said he has often received feedback from community members about difficulties with the Planning Department. He stated, “We’ve worked to streamline it all so that there’s not a big bottleneck for any economic development project. We have lots of challenges, and it’s getting better.”
The Chamber has advocated for reforms over several mayoral administrations to reduce barriers and support economic growth by making approval processes more efficient.
Varela reviewed recent changes with the board. He explained that streamlining procedures—such as those for business licenses—has brought significant improvements. The implementation of ABQ-PLAN has led to clearer processes for customers and allowed customization based on each license’s needs.
Since these updates, trouble calls per day have dropped from 50 to three, and processing time for business licenses decreased from 15 days to two. Inspection times have also been reduced.
Varela noted that average permit times fell as well: in fiscal year 2025, commercial permits now average 37 business days and residential permits average 15 business days. This is a substantial decrease from fiscal year 2023, when commercial permits averaged 121 days and residential permits averaged 112 days.
“The restructuring has made it more efficient for the entire department,” Varela said. “With these procedures, it helps the economic development process move along with not too many roadblocks.”
