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Franklin staff: permitting, impact fees and housing remained strong through first half of 2025
Summary
City staff told aldermen at the Aug. 26 work session that permitting, impact fees and construction valuation through June 30, 2025, were largely on track compared with recent years; staff also outlined short-term customer-survey follow-ups and process improvements.
City of Franklin staff presented a quarterly development activity report at the Board of Mayor and Aldermen work session on Aug. 26, 2025, saying permitting and construction activity for the first six months of 2025 remained strong and broadly in line with recent years.
The presentation covered calendar-year permitting through June 30, 2025, and the fiscal year that closed June 30, 2025, and included counts and dollar totals: through June 30 staff reported 577 building permits, 2,725 trade permits and 201 fire permits in calendar‑year 2025 data (a permitting system that began in 2024 separates fire permits). For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, staff reported 1,223 building permits, 5,544 trade permits and about 371 fire permits. Construction valuation for the fiscal year totaled roughly $884,500,000, about a 2.6% increase from FY24.
Impact‑fee receipts for the first six months of calendar 2025 included roughly $3.7 million in road impact fees, $2.5 million in sewer, $865,000 in water, $1.4 million in permit fees, and about $1.1 million in the facilities tax. Staff warned impact‑fee totals vary widely with the mix of project types — particularly multifamily and large commercial projects — and noted a new impact‑fee methodology put into effect in fiscal 2024 contributed to an increase in water and sewer receipts beginning that year.
Housing permit trends through June showed 156 single‑family dwelling permits, only eight townhome permits and 211 multifamily units permitted so far in 2025; staff said some recent townhome developments are finishing buildout, which reduces new townhome permit counts. Staff attributed much of the year’s multifamily permit total to a new active‑adult community in West Haven.
Staff also summarized a follow‑up to a development customer survey. Proposed actions include a short, two‑question customer satisfaction survey (1–5 star rating and an optional comment field) distributed by QR code in the community development building and via automated emails at project milestones; a development process focus group meeting monthly to examine internal procedures for accessibility and efficiency; and an interdepartmental task group to redesign and automate public development maps for more timely project information.
Aldermen asked clarifying questions during the presentation about whether counts represent permits pulled rather than approvals (staff confirmed they were permits pulled), about overlaying new vs. old impact‑fee rates in comparison charts, and about timing and privacy for the proposed satisfaction survey (staff said responses would be anonymous). Staff committed to quarterly updates to the board on progress implementing the survey recommendations and process improvements.
