Franklin Co to Temporarily Suspend Current Building Permitting and Inspections

Franklin County is expected next month to impose a temporary suspension for issuing building permits and inspections.

At their meeting Monday evening, Commission Chair Jeff Jacques called for a motion to issue the suspension effective March 7.

The move comes after previous meetings in which Jacques noted the cost of permits and inspections in Franklin County were much higher than in surrounding counties, noting that one developer told him that he was charged $11,000 in permitting and inspection fees by the County’s third-party contractor Bureau Veritas.

Jacques said those high prices are putting a burden on developers, private citizens, and businesses and he said the County needs to rethink how those permits are issued and what is being charged.

“Based on a significant amount of review and a significant amount of public comment and having an understanding across this county of the impact that this ordinance that was adopted back in 2020 has had on individuals, it’s more far-reaching than the original Board had ever intended,” Jacques said. “It is more cumbersome and more costly for the citizens than again was ever intended.”

Initially, Jacques called for a motion to put a moratorium in place but County attorney Bubba Samuels recommended a suspension after the March 6 meeting where there would be a formal vote.

The suspension Jacques said would allow the County time to work on revising the permitting and inspection system with a view toward bringing it in-house.

Jacques said in the interim, the current building permitting and inspections process would still be in place until the formal vote on March 6.

“This does not preclude anybody from going and getting their own inspections. It does not take away from businesses, individuals or otherwise their obligation to adhere to building codes, state rules or regulations,” Jacques pointed out. “It’s basically to get us to a point where something that we feel is overly bureaucratic, costly, and inefficient and goes well beyond the parameters of what was ever intended by the Board and the citizens, and to transition to something that we can live with in Franklin County.”

Jacques then made a motion to suspend the permitting and inspections process effective March 7.

That motion was seconded by Commissioner Robert Franklin and it passed unanimously.