Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett is proposing increased inspections of residential construction projects in an effort to curb unfinished works that become neighborhood eyesores.
The proposal would likely lead to an across-the-board increase of less than 5 percent on residential construction permit fees, according to county staff.
Leggett’s bill would impose an 18-month deadline on all new construction and additions to single-family homes, town houses and other structures, such as sheds, once permits for those projects were approved, though extensions could be granted.
The bill would also require inspections at both six months and 12 months after a permit was issued. And the county would begin “proactively inspecting” building projects instead of coming out to inspect a final project at an applicant’s request, according to county staff.
“We don’t want it to languish; we want people to finish their building projects,” said Reginald Jetter, division chief of the Department of Permitting Services.
New single-home construction permits range from $1,475 to $4,355 in Montgomery County depending home size and on whether the project also requires site plan approval from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Permit fees for home additions are based on square footage.
Raquel Montenegro, associate director of the Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association, said Leggett’s bill was a “sledgehammer” approach to a small problem.
And she questioned how the bill would motivate a homeowner who stopped an addition to his house because he ran out of money — a likely scenario she said in these tough economic times — to finish the project.
“If you’re out of job, it’s hard to move forward,” Montenegro said.
Thomas Street, assistant chief administrative officer for the county, said Leggett was trying to address “numerous” concerns from county residents that unfinished construction projects were hurting the character of their communities.
And he said new bill, if approved, wouldn’t go into effect until July 2010 — an effort to help those struggling financially.
Leggett’s proposed changes would require three extra staff at $208,930, three vehicles at $75,000, and office space and other supplies and costs at $50,920, according to county estimates.
Those costs would be made up through increased fees that would bring in an extra $302,406, staff said.
