Local laws would increase Buildings’ filing fees and BSA’s application fees. On May 11, 2011, City Council Member Domenic M. Recchia Jr., by request of the Mayor, introduced two local laws to amend the City’s administrative code and increase the Department of Buildings’ filing fees and the Board of Standards & Appeals’ application fees.

Intro 570 would affect certain filing fees charged by Buildings for alteration permits, service equipment and storage tank permits, foundation and earthwork permits, scaffolding, and permits for temporary structures. The law would, among other things, establish different minimum filing fees for Alteration Type 1, 2, and 3 permits for all buildings, including one- to three-family dwellings. For example, the minimum filing fee for an Alteration Type 1 permit for a one-family dwelling would increase from $100 to $170. The fee for a foundation permit would remain ten dollars for each two thousand feet of area, but the minimum fee would increase from $100 to $130. The law would increase the cost of temporary fencing or a sidewalk shed permit from $130 to $160.

Intro 571 would increase certain application fees charged by BSA for zoning variances, special permits, extensions of previously granted variances and special permits, and vested rights claims. Among the fee increases, a variance application for an individually owned one- or two-family dwelling would double in cost from $550 to $1,100. A variance with respect to a three-family dwelling would increase from $850 to $1,700. The application fee for a special permit with respect to a one- or two-family dwelling would increase from $410 to $1,000, and from $640 to $1,570 with respect to a three-family dwelling.

The Council’s Finance Committee has not yet scheduled public hearings on Intros 570 and 571.

Council: Intro 0570-2011; Intro 0571- 2011 (May 11, 2011).