Episode 7: What City Reviewers Want—And Why Developers Struggle

Cody Douglas

Alright folks, welcome back to Dirt-2-Doors Radio. I'm Cody Douglas, here with our resident spark plug Jax and—by popular demand—Tom is back in the hot seat. Today we're getting real about something every developer has griped about: city review delays. If you’ve ever wondered why your permit isn’t moving, or why comments keep piling up, we’re pullin’ back the curtain for you.

Jax Harper

Yeah, honestly, this is the one I’ve been dying to talk about, Cody. I remember in my first project, I just thought city staff must really hate developers or something. But now after a couple years... I don’t know, it's gotta be more complicated than that, right?

Tom

Oh, it’s more than complicated, Jax. Picture being in a room with like, twelve people, each trying to do four jobs at once. Cities are running on fumes. You got one planner reviewing engineering, then the drainage guy steps out for emergency calls, then the policy changes before lunch. It’s like that kids’ game where you twist yourself into knots—Twister, right?

Cody Douglas

Exactly, Tom. Everybody loves to say cities move slow on purpose, but honestly, it comes down to real-world stuff. These teams? They're understaffed. Policies shift all the time. And there’s this maze of overlapping departments—planning, zoning, drainage, fire marshal, building code, utilities, landscaping—you name it. I had a project in Dallas, mid-rise, where literally one missing drainage doc held up the entire package. Every other department had said yes. But that document? I mean, it sat for two months because there wasn’t enough staff to re-review. No malice involved—just bandwidth issues.

Jax Harper

So it's not, like, people dragging their heels on purpose? It's just... too much, and not enough people to handle it?

Cody Douglas

Pretty much, Jax. And, man, you’d be surprised how often projects are slowed down because somebody forgot to attach page 47—or misunderstood which department needed a drainage calculation. It's not laziness. The system’s just stacked up, and coordination between all those moving parts? Forget about it.

Tom

And by the time a package makes the full circle, policies might've changed again, or some emergency eats up the city's only engineer for a week. So, yeah, it’s rarely about someone not caring. It’s more like triage, every single day.

Jax Harper

Okay, so, this is where I get stuck—the stuff that pisses off reviewers. I always hear, “Oh, that reviewer just doesn’t like us,” but what actually makes them tick? What do we do that gets us on their bad side?

Tom

Oh, buddy, I got a story for you. We were on a municipal job—million-dollar timeline, pressure’s on. We send in a resubmittal thinking we’d knocked out every comment. Turns out, our architect missed the updated fire notes completely and the site plan wasn’t revised. Reviewer flagged it, and suddenly, what should’ve been a stamp became another three-week delay. I mean, rookie stuff—to skip the markups and expect smooth sailing. If you wanna set a reviewer off, send them a half-baked package, or worse, ignore their comments. They'll remember it. Forever.

Cody Douglas

Absolutely. The big triggers? Incomplete drawings. Missing documents. When developers cherry-pick which comments to fix, or just resubmit without real revisions—it tells the city, “I’m not listening.” And treating reviewers like they’re just there to be obstacles? That’s the fastest way to guarantee you’ll be at the bottom of the pile. This stuff snowballs fast. You skip one detail, they gotta send it back, and then their pile just gets bigger. It's human nature: make their job harder, your project's gonna wait.

Jax Harper

So, I mean, is the worst sin not finishing what you say you’re gonna do? Or is it the attitude—like acting like they’re out to get you?

Tom

Honestly, it’s both. They’re tired of hearing, “the city’s holding us up.” Most times, what’s actually holding things up is a missed note, or the developer just dropping the ball. Reviewers are people. You treat 'em like roadblocks instead of teammates, and you’ll feel it.

Cody Douglas

And don’t forget, Jax, those folks are dealing with pressures you barely see—shifting policies, phone ringing off the hook, everyone screaming about their own deadline. A little empathy goes a long way.

Jax Harper

Alright, so if you want to actually get reviewed—and maybe not age a decade waiting for it—what’s the secret, then? Is there like a cheat code for this?

Cody Douglas

Wish there was a magic wand, but it’s really about being smart and respectful. First, build real relationships. I tell people: get your submittals complete—every doc, every calc, every page right the first time. Respond fast, communicate clearly, and don’t cherry-pick the easy fixes. You want to be the team that reviewers trust, not the ones they dread. Bid-Build? That’s playing the slow game. Real winners use Design-Build: you control the process, you’re agile, and—let’s face it—cities want successful projects because it means more jobs, tax base, resources, all that stuff. They’re not doing this to block you; they just don’t want a train wreck on their hands.

Jax Harper

So in the end, cities aren’t the villain in the story. They want this thing to work, right?

Tom

Absolutely. And if you make their lives easier, they’ll move mountains for you. I've seen it.

Cody Douglas

And that’s what we built into Tex-Star and Dirt-2-Doors—preparing every piece in advance, double-checking before the city ever sees it, and actually respecting their time. Last month, we had a project, tight timelines, but because everything was clean and we kept open communication, review knocked out in three weeks. Not because we begged, and not because we cut corners—but because we played by the real rules.

Jax Harper

Man, I wish more folks would believe that. Seems so simple but... nobody does it.

Tom

Hard habits to build, Jax. But once you do, you’re the one with the smoothest project on the block.

Cody Douglas

Listen, for everyone tuning in—showing respect for the process always pays off. The smoother the ride for city staff, the faster your job’s gonna move. We’ll get into even more battle-tested advice next episode—for those curious about private money, you won’t wanna miss it.

Jax Harper

Ooh, Private Money 101 is gonna be a wild one. Can’t wait!

Tom

Yeah, don’t forget your notebooks, folks. See y’all there.

Cody Douglas

Alright, thanks for hanging with us. Until next time, keep building smarter, not just harder. See ya in the next one.