Neighbors on Treasure Island packed city hall to discuss a months-long permit backlog. City leaders recently voted to change the process and get families back into their homes faster. Treasure Island Mayor John Doctor said this is option 2 for FEMA permits. “We're going to get contractors; they're going to come up and they're going to bring packets in and get the affidavits signed for putting their homes back together. Then you take a look at the price tag for that, then you take a look at what the appraisal value is for the structure,” Doctor said. If it's over 50%, it's considered substantially damaged. If not, then homeowners can move forward with repairs without waiting for an assessment. “We should've gone with option 2 in the first place. If we had done that we all would've been back in our homes and we wouldn't be having this meeting,” Tony Johnson, a local resident, said. During Thanksgiving week, Johnson showed us his home. He said things still look the same because he's waiting on a substantial determination letter. “I don't want to go in tomorrow, and they say, 'Well we're going under option 2 now, but we really need this determination done by the FEMA estimator which is an option 1 thing,' and nobody tonight has told me that that's not the case,” Johnson said. The city said it's still working through this new change. MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/pinellascounty/treasure-island-permit-application-process/67-87e814c4-1051-4fc3-8174-35455963cf13