Building permit map lets people know where work is being done

On Sept. 7, the city of Topeka authorized the Hi-Crest Station postal facility at 2921 S.E. Adams to carry out erosion and sediment control work.

On Oct. 1, it issued a permit authorizing Briggs Subaru Car Wash at 3115 S. Kansas Ave. to construct a commercial building addition.

And on Oct. 15, it authorized a complete rebuild of the fire-damaged private home at 3136 S.W. Arrowhead.

Topeka’s city government is making all that information — and more — available on a building permit map its planning department recently began offering on its website letting the public know who has building permits issued by the city, and where.

“That’s a fantastic tool,” Councilman and Deputy Mayor Brendan Jensen said at the Topeka City Council’s Nov. 13 meeting. “I love that, because I get questions all the time about what’s going in here or there.”

City planning director Bill Fiander told council members during a slide presentation at that meeting that people often call his department to ask about construction activity at specific sites.

The planning department consequently teamed up with the city’s public works department to create an online tool showing each location for which the city has issued a building permit, Fiander said.