City staff proposes 10% pre-application plan-review fee for larger permits; council sets public hearing for July 23

At its July 16 meeting the Saint Paul City Council heard a staff report and held the first reading of an ordinance that would require a 10% pre-application payment of the estimated plan review fee for plan reviews with an estimated building permit fee above $1,000.

David Hoban, deputy director of the Department of Safety and Inspections, described the proposed procedural change as an efficiency measure intended to reduce the number of incomplete submissions and plan reviews that are completed by staff but never paid for. "We have a lot of applications come in that are really incomplete and and the drawings are unsatisfactory," Hoban said. "We're only proposing 10 per cent. Do I think it'll cure all the things that we are seeing? Probably not, but it's a step in the direction that we need to kind of gauge that." He added that some municipalities require a full upfront fee and that the city wanted a smaller step given sensitivity to costs.

Hoban explained the proposal would require the 10% pre-application payment for plan review fees on permits where the estimated building permit fee exceeds $1,000, with the 10% payment capped at $5,000. He said the change is not a total fee increase; applicants would still owe the same total fees but would pay a portion up front. Councilmembers asked whether the 10% would sufficiently discourage incomplete filings and whether a higher upfront percentage would be more effective. "If you have to put some money down, then there's a certain level of professional, acumen that comes with that," Hoban said.

The item was laid over for a public hearing and second reading on July 23; no vote on final adoption was taken at the July 16 meeting.