Photo Karen Graham.
Driving by the new Towerhill subdivision, the evidence is clear – there’s a whole lot of building going on around here! After a slow start, builders Bromont and Pristine Homes have recently kicked up the pace of new home construction in the new residential development off Fallis Line, and the building permit revenues reflect that growth. The construction industry as a whole is also quite robust this year, further contributing to the increase in permit volume.
The 2018 budget for building permits for the first half of the year is $130,000.00, but during this period, the township has collected $539, 258.25 in issued permits. This represents a 400% increase over last year’s permit revenue, and 2017 was considered a busy building year.
The largest change is in the number of permits issued for single family dwellings. In the first half of 2017, the Township issued 21 single family dwelling permits but for 2018 that number is 147, representing a construction value pegged at $39.5 million. Total permits issued for the six months ending July 31st were 98 in 2017 and 237 for this year. Chief Building Inspector Kyle Phillips expects to see continued demand for new construction, with fewer residential applications and more commercial projects during the last six months of 2018.
Keeping track of this volume of construction activity is no easy task. In anticipation of the work required to monitor construction in the new development, a Plans Examiner contract position was created a year ago for a two year period. As the Chief Building Inspector is also responsible for By-law enforcement, Council approved help in that area. In July, they approved a contract with, Kawartha Guard, a private firm providing by-law enforcement for several other local municipalities including Trent Lakes, Selwyn, Douro Dummer and Peterborough County. They operate on call 24 hours a day, providing parking enforcement and security services. Their services are billed at an hourly rate of $22.50.
This bump in permit revenue does not represent a financial windfall for the township. Under the Building Code Act which governs building activity, permit revenues must be held separately from the general revenues and may only be used to enforce the Building Code. Surpluses are held in a separate reserve to fund building code enforcement during periods of reduced permit activity. The account value was $330,342 at the end of 2017. This amount is likely to rise should the Towerhill development continue as planned. KG
