Building permits up in Newcastle

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
Construction costs and building permit fee collections are both up significantly for the first half of 2020 over 2019, despite the economic downturn and mass closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Newcastle’s building inspector, Adam McFarlin. 
On June 15, city engineer Mike Moore reported to the City Council that there were 37 active building permits in the city. A breakdown of those numbers shows four ongoing commercial projects with the other 33 being residential projects. 
“I am surprised to see the residential numbers. It is kind of shocking,” McFarlin told the News Letter Journal. “There really is not a lot of commercial work being done now.” 
According to McFarlin, total construction costs associated with building permits in the city is $249,587.11 for 2020. Of that, he said only $34,000 is in commercial projects. As far as permit fees go, the city has collected $8,069.73 to date, he said. 
Permitting fees vary by project, according to Moore, and a breakdown provided by the city shows that the current residential projects include two garages, two window/roof projects, six remodels, one siding project, three retaining walls, two plumbing projects, one sign, five decks and 11 fences. 
Commercial projects include work at RT Communications (being done by Rusty Childress), work being done by Western Water Services and work being done at the old  Seventh Avenue Thrift location. 
McFarlin reported that beginning in March he began to see an increase in request for permits and that he was filling about seven a week. That number had decreased slightly over April and May, he said, but last week they began to increase again with nine being filled. 
During the same six
months in 2019, McFarlin
said, construction projects totaled $147,645.60 and $44,929.15 was collected in permitting fees. 
While McFarlin can’t pinpoint an exact reason for the uptick in residential projects, he said that he attributes some of the increase to the availability of contractors, as well as the fact that more people had time at home due to COVID-19 closures. 
“I think people are taking the time to catch up on projects. Last year, there were a lot of issues getting contractors, especially roofing,” McFarlin said. 
Commercial numbers are expected to increase during construction season. Moore agreed that the increase in residential projects was due, at least in part, to contractor availability. Storm damage in the beginning of 2019 kept contractors busy throughout the remainder of that year.