Fay-Penn seeks reduction in building permit fees
More than a year after Fayette County adopted fees and requirements for the state-mandated Uniform Construction Code, Fay-Penn Economic Development Council has come forward asking for a reduction in building permit fees for certain developments. The commissioners have final say in setting fees for construction-related inspections outlined in the UCC, which basically now governs all types of new construction in the county.
On Wednesday, a meeting was held between Fay-Penn and county officials to discuss Fay-Penn’s proposal. Michael W. Krajovic, Fay-Penn president, explained after the meeting that it is Fay-Penn’s contention that the building permit fees are “excessive.” He said Fay-Penn is recommending that for manufacturing developments only, the 12 cents-per-square-foot building permit fee should be reduced to 4 cents per square foot, a reduction of two-thirds. Krajovic said he is not looking for a fee change for commercial building projects.
Using the recently announced project in which Hunter Panels LLC of Portland, Maine plans to construct a 200,000-square-foot building at the Fayette Business Park as an example, Krajovic said the building permit fees will be $24,000 for that project. Krajovic said Fay-Penn had estimated fees at $6,000, and will be forced to pay the difference without a county-level change in the fees.
Krajovic said there is intense competition for landing manufacturing businesses and he wants to make sure the cost to operate in Fayette County is as low as it can be. He said if Fayette loses potential manufacturing jobs, unemployment rates will increase. He also said there were no prior building permit fees based on square footage and now that cost can move into the tens of thousands of dollars.
“We’re strongly suggesting the commissioners look very closely into these fees,” Krajovic said.
Tammy Shell, director of the Fayette County Office of Planning, Zoning and Community Development, said following Wednesday’s meeting that the state code, implemented in August 2004, separates developments only by the categories of residential and non-residential. She said there is a flat fee for residential developments.
Shell said the square footage building permit fees that Fay-Penn is seeking to have lowered are only one piece of the entire puzzle. She said that based on comparative analysis conducted before the fees were adopted, she believes Fayette County is one of the lowest in the state regarding such fees. She also said that Fay-Penn officials were present during public meetings that explained the fees last year.
Krajovic said he was unaware of the total impact of the fees until the recent development. “You don’t really deal with it until you deal with it,” he said.
Shell said although it is up to the commissioners to decide how to handle the issue, she thinks that charging different fees for different types of development would be “opening a can of worms.”
Shell guessed that the state only separated the developments into residential and non-residential for a reason. She cited the example of a church, which would be neither a residential development nor a commercial development.
Commissioner Joseph A. Hardy III attended Wednesday’s meeting but could not be reached for comment.
Shell said that during the meeting, Hardy said he would look into the proposal.
“They have the ultimate decision,” Shell said of the commissioners. “We’re going to do whatever they adopt.”
Neither Commissioners Vincent A. Vicites nor Angela M. Zimmerlink attended the meeting.
Zimmerlink previously said that she believed any discussion regarding a change in the UCC fee structure should be held at a public commissioners’ meeting, not at a private gathering.
Vicites said that since he did not attend the meeting, he could not comment about the proposal, but added that he will do an analysis of the information before making a decision.