A Small Town's Big Community Development Modernization

Like many municipalities of its size, the Town of Altavista, Virginia, wanted to update its community development processes without breaking the bank.

Director of Planning & Community Development Jamie Gillespie knew the town needed a modern solution for its 3,400 residents. It also needed to be practical, affordable, and easy to manage.

They were using software internally already, but current systems were outdated, and many applications, approvals, and decisions were still entirely paper-based.

The main driving factors were just the cost of it and then the ease of using it,” she said.

Cloudpermit met these goals, modernizing how community development is handled by staff while offering new levels of accessibility to the public. It also gave the town an online platform for local governments it could grow into as needs changed.

We thought it was very fairly priced,” Gillespie said. “As a small town, we have to be pretty conscious of budgeting and what we have funding for. We were actually pleasantly surprised about the price after the first demo, just with the ease of use of it and the ability to collaborate.”

Starting With One Workflow and Growing From There

Rather than attempting a large-scale transformation all at once, Altavista started by implementing new land use permitting software.

Earlier this year, the town added two new staff members, and the time was right to modernize business licensing.

That transition is still happening in Altavista, but staff has started to digitize licensing records by entering them into Cloudpermit. The annual renewal process will happen online in 2027, streamlining the experience for applicants and staff while moving away from the paper-based steps of the past.

Our business owners are super excited that this is now going to be online,” she said. “They can just go in and fill it out online, get their license, download it, and eliminate that need to come into Town Hall like we’ve always had to do.”

Since making the switch, Altavista has changed its special event permits to a type of license for easier oversight. Cloudpermit’s online licensing software has also helped staff successfully handle its urban archery program, which grants permission to 12 to 15 people each year to hunt deer in town.

That’s worked out really well,” Gillespie said. “We made a package with a parking permit and instructions on how to let other people know that you’re currently in the area. We were able to create a PDF download so they obtain the license and then all the instructions when they apply on Cloudpermit.”

These changes ultimately help the people that community development staff serve by offering things more convenient and easier to access.

Town Hall is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and a lot of these people are at their stores or businesses then,” she said. “They’re not able to come over to the office, or they’ve got to lock their doors and potentially lose a customer to come over. This provides a lot more flexibility for our businesses and our citizens.”

Better Organization Through Code Enforcement

Cloudpermit has helped Altavista digitize its land use and business licensing processes, and Gillespie said it’s also transformed how the town manages code enforcement online.

That one probably is the biggest help,” she said. “We did not have any kind of digital platform, and we were not doing code enforcement in our work, only zoning permits. From a record-keeping standpoint, that’s probably been the best part of Cloudpermit for us because everything is so much more organized.”

Photos, letters, and all other documents about zoning matters are now all in one place, and Gillespie said she can quickly download entire content packages if records are needed for public nuisance cases or board of zoning appeals.

We’ll be able to keep those records,” she said. “If that was something that ever escalated to circuit court, I feel like we’re just much better organized with Cloudpermit for code enforcement.”

Gillespie said it’s helped with tracking, enabling automated reminders that keep violations from slipping through the cracks.

Making Work Easier for Staff

Altavista has a small staff to oversee its community development services, and working closely together is especially important to keep up.

When a new part-time code enforcement employee started, Gillespie said everyone knew they needed to be able to access information even if someone was off or out of the office.

If he’s not here, we need to be able to go in there and find the information,” she said.

With everyone working in Cloudpermit, she can get property photos and other records whenever she needs them.

She said the software is easy to use, and moving business licensing to Cloudpermit was intuitive enough that a new staff member figured it out after going through just a couple of applications.

Gillespie said reporting is also better now. When she prepares mid-year and annual reports for the planning commission, the whole process is faster.

It’s very easy to just download the report and say, ‘We’ve had 47 zoning permits, 10 sign permits, 14 active notices of violation, and we’ve closed this many cases,’” she said. “The reporting side has been extremely helpful for us.”

Modernization That Fits Small Municipalities

Altavista didn’t modernize everything overnight.

They started with one top priority, expanded as they gained experience and confidence, and now use Cloudpermit for their community development workflows.

I’ve been happy with how well the community has embraced it,” she said. “Sometimes, change is hard, and we knew that, but for the most part, the community seems to really have handled the change well.”

Making the right upgrades over time and getting stakeholders on board has helped Altavista change its processes for the better, giving staff and citizens a more modern way of working.

It all started with researching options to find a local government software platform that could streamline multiple departments and fit the unique needs of a small municipality.