Builders would like county zoning permit fees lowered

 

[September 13, 2018] 

LINCOLN 

At the September 5th Logan County Board Planning and Zoning Committee, there was discussion about the amount for zoning permit fees.

Keith and Vicki Hasprey, who started a subdivision in 2003, would like to see the $400 zoning permit fees lowered since houses now have to have inspections that cost an additional few hundred dollars. The fees used to just be $75, but Vicki Hasprey said when she was on the County Board in 2006, they were increased to two dollars per every thousand [of construction costs].

Hasprey said for the past twelve years they have been paying $300 to $400 in zoning permit fees in anticipation of Logan County someday getting an inspector. She recently found out homeowners must hire and pay for their own inspections for new construction.

Vicki Hasprey said she would like to see the amount for zoning permits decreased to compensate for builders to have to go out and hire an inspector.

Keith Hasprey said he has hired some independent home inspectors over the years since some loans require a Certificate of Occupancy. Hasprey said he worked it out where he would pay for a home inspector to come in and do a home inspection and give approval, then the county would give him a Certificate of Occupancy, so he could sell the home.

Committee member Emily Davenport asked about some of the costs.

Logan County Zoning Officer Will D’Andrea said the costs for inspections is based on the value of the house. It is two dollars per every thousand of construction costs, so some may cost less than $400.

Vicky Hasprey asked if the committee had talked to home inspectors to see if they would be willing to put their name on each step of a project.

Committee Chairman Scott Schaffenacker said they had talked to people from the American Society of Home Inspectors, who did a presentation at a Planning and Zoning Committee meeting last year.

Keith Hasprey said he thought that what they are asking a home inspector to do is to certify footings in a house on a foundation before they are poured and certify the wall structure before it is poured, which requires structural engineering.

Committee member Dave Blankenship said the inspectors would be looking for “egregious safety violations” and best practices, so if there is anything that is going to be a major safety issue, that is going to be reported. Blankenship said the ASHI standards are lot more palatable than following codes.

Committee member Kevin Bateman said having inspections would limit the liability of a lawsuit for people just building anything “willy-nilly.” They researched standards extensively for over a year. The inspectors would sign-off on pre-drywall, drainage, and final construction for safety purposes.

Keith Hasprey said he is already paying the $400 for a zoning permit and would now be paying $700 to $800 for a home inspector. He feels like the county is “double tapping” him for the same process.

Keith Hasprey said home inspectors are only qualified to do certain inspections and there are inspections on the home they cannot even look at. He said the way the county is going about it seems “a little backwards.”

Blankenship asked Hasprey if he would rather have code enforcement officers come out and look at BOCA (Building Official’s Code Administrators) building codes. Blankenship said he has been a contractor for thirty years and has been an inspector. He has dealt with inspections in Bloomington and all around, and going with an inspection that goes by codes would cost a lot more money and be more of a headache.

Keith Hasprey said he would like to see code enforcement. Hasprey said he has been building homes for 40 years and is the only developer in the county with a subdivision.

Vicki Hasprey said all they are asking is that the committee would think about lowering the zoning permit.

Board Chairman Chuck Ruben said the permit fees would be much higher if the county hired an inspector. The committee looked at the high salary of possibly $30,000 to $50,000 to hire a county inspector. Ruben said that is when the idea of building standards and occupancy permit fees came up. The hope is that it will keep someone’s house from burning down.

Keith Hasprey said that if he had known about it before, he would have suggested the possibility of working out a “co-op” between the city and the county, and using the person hired in that position, then putting permit fees towards that.

Committee members said that idea was brought up, but they decided not to go that way.

No action was taken on the issue at this time, though discussion may continue at the next committee meeting in October.

[Angela Reiners]