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Lee County building department unveils online permit portal and proposes Title 9 fee changes
Summary
Building official Joe reported 26 permits in January (valuation $1,114,444), previewed a Title 9 ordinance draft and an updated fee schedule (ICC valuation percentage to 60% and higher solar inspection fees), and demonstrated a new online permit portal for applicants.
The Lee County building department introduced a new online permit portal and previewed proposed Title 9 ordinance language and an updated fee schedule during the committee’s meeting.
Building official Joe reported that in January the department processed 26 permits with a total valuation of $1,114,444 and collected permit fees totaling $6,417.61. He said staff will bring a Title 9 ordinance draft and the fee schedule to the next finance/plan commission cycle and, if approved by the board, hopes to implement changes May 1.
The portal demonstration: Jared and other staff walked committee members through the web portal that replaces paper submissions. Key features include required site-plan upload to enable submission, parcel lookup and zone information, drop-down setback selections tied to zoning and health-department setbacks, e-signatures, and automated notifications. Jared said applicants should expect to be contacted within "1 to 3 business days" after submission.
Fee and code changes previewed: Joe said the department proposes reducing the International Code Council valuation percentage used in the fee table from 75% to 60%, which will alter fee calculations; he also announced increases to some renewable-energy inspection fees, moving from $5 per kilowatt-hour to $10 per kilowatt-hour for certain solar and small wind permits. Joe said these changes are intended to better cover inspection costs.
Why it matters: the portal aims to simplify permit submission and reduce in-person paperwork; the proposed fee and code changes will affect permit costs and the timeline for zoning/plan-commission review before county-board adoption.
Next steps: the Title 9 ordinance draft and fee schedule will go to the plan commission (scheduled in the transcript for March 2) and then to the county board, with the earliest proposed effective date cited as May 1 if adopted on schedule.
Direct quote from Joe at the meeting: “During the month of January, the building department processed 26 permits with a total valuation of $1,114,444, and a total of permit fees of $6,417.61.”
