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Elevate director tells Columbiana City Council building permits rose in 2025; department averages six-day plan review
Summary
Julie Needs of Elevate presented the Columbiana building-department 2025 report: 60 commercial and 185 residential permits (245 total), commercial project value rose to about $15.0 million, residential to about $13.3 million, and the department averaged a six-day plan-review turnaround (state allows 30 days).
Julie Needs, executive director of Elevate and the Saad Center, told the Columbiana City Council on May 5 that the city’s building department issued 60 commercial and 185 residential permits in 2025, for a total of 245 permits.
“We issued the Columbiana building department issued 60 commercial building permits and a 185 residential permits in 2025 for a total of 245 permits issued out of the building department,” Needs said, summarizing the year’s permit activity. She told council that although fewer commercial permits were issued than in 2024, the total commercial project value rose, and several larger projects accounted for the increase in dollar value.
Needs gave the department’s end-of-year figures and said commercial permit project value increased to approximately $15,000,161 in 2025, while residential investment for 2025 equated to about $13,300,000, up from close to $10,000,000 in 2024. She also said the department completed about 403 residential inspections in 2025 and is tracking seasonal permit trends.
On administrative performance, Needs told council the building department has averaged a six-day plan-review turnaround from complete plan submission to return of comments; she noted the state allows up to 30 days. “We have maintained an average turnaround time of 6 days,” she said, adding the office has kept that pace for roughly two-and-a-half years.
Needs said the Elevate team has prepared a pamphlet to help residents navigate the building-code and permitting process and will provide a PDF for the city website. She also noted Elevate’s Columbiana landing page has been updated online so residents can access local permitting resources.
Councilmembers thanked Needs and emphasized the convenience of local permitting versus traveling to the county seat for plan review. Needs said the department will continue tracking inspections, square footage and turnaround times for reporting to the state.
