Memorandum
City of Lawrence
Planning & Development Services
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TO: |
Thomas M. Markus, City Manager |
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FROM: |
Barry Walthall, Building Codes Manager |
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CC: |
Scott McCullough, Planning & Development Services Director Kurt Schroeder, Asst. Director, Development Services |
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Date: |
March 1, 2017 |
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RE: |
January 2017 Monthly Permit Reports
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The Building Safety Division issued 172 building permits in January, with total construction for the month valued at $10,623,665. Total permit fees assessed for the month were $60,212. Permits were issued for thirteen (13) new residential projects, including eight (8) single-family dwellings and five (5) duplexes.
Collection of a new “plan review” fee was implemented beginning January 1, 2017. This plan review fee, which is twenty percent of the permit fee, is intended to offset costs of a new position within the Planning and Development Services Department for a building permit project specialist. A primary duty of this new position will be working with commercial and multi-family projects to navigate the City’s development process from time of application through building occupancy. Tasks may include coordinating with multiple City departments and outside agencies, leading pre-construction meetings, assisting with plan review and inspection, monitoring key project components and coordinating building occupancy processes. Plan review fees are assessed for commercial and multi-family projects only, and only for projects for which application was made on or after January 1, 2017. Applications for most commercial projects for which permits were issued in January were received prior to January 1, 2017, therefore plan review fees were not assessed for those projects. Total plan review fees collected for the month were $359.
Comparison to previous years will be tracked throughout 2016 in the following table:
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One- & Two-Family Permits |
Multi-Family Permits (New Units) |
Total Number of Permits |
Total Valuation |
Plan Review & Permit Fees |
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Year |
Month |
YTD |
Month |
YTD |
Month |
YTD |
Month |
YTD |
Review Fees (Month) |
Permit Fees (Month) |
Total Fees (YTD) |
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2017 |
13 |
13 |
0(0) |
0(0) |
172 |
172 |
$10,623,665 |
$10,623,665 |
$359 |
$60,212 |
$60,581 |
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2016 |
6 |
6 |
0(0) |
0(0) |
160 |
160 |
$9,482,461 |
$9,482,461 |
N/A |
$58,108 |
$58,108 |
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2015 |
6 |
6 |
0(0) |
0(0) |
126 |
126 |
$3,451,952 |
$3,451,952 |
N/A |
$28,754 |
$28,754 |
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2014 |
9 |
9 |
0(0) |
0(0) |
93 |
93 |
$4,228,009 |
$4,228,009 |
N/A |
$33,962 |
$33,962 |
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2013 |
8 |
8 |
11(264) |
11(264) |
145 |
145 |
$16,769,849 |
$16,769,849 |
N/A |
$106,110 |
$106,110 |
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2012 |
7 |
7 |
0(0) |
0(0) |
176 |
176 |
$2,769,066 |
$2,769,066 |
N/A |
$30,039 |
$30,039 |
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2011 |
0 |
0 |
0(0) |
0(0) |
152 |
152 |
$3,281,725 |
$3,281,725 |
N/A |
$25,457 |
$25,457 |
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2010 |
6 |
6 |
0(0) |
0(0) |
94 |
94 |
$3,444,463 |
$3,444,463 |
N/A |
$27,500 |
$27,500 |
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2009 |
6 |
6 |
0(0) |
0(0) |
117 |
117 |
$2,553,334 |
$2,553,334 |
N/A |
$30,064 |
$30,064 |
Permits were issued for twelve (12) City projects in January, including alterations to construct two new operating rooms and an upgraded procedure room at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, 325 Maine Street, valued at $650,000; tenant finish work on the third floor of the 4th Street Health Plaza building to expand the Total Family Care offices, 1130 W 4th Street, valued at $650,000; and ten (10) inflow and infiltration program projects by the Utilities Department at various locations with valuation totaling $27,415.
The largest project for the month is a new Wellness Building at Alvamar Country Club, 1840 Birdie Way, valued at $2,233,645.
These statistics are of interest in tracking construction activity in the community, but only partially tell the story for staff workload and performance. Staff has established performance goals of completing “initial” reviews for residential permits within 5 business days and for commercial permits within 15 business days of the application date. An initial review is a comprehensive first review of an application and plans for a building project, and may include review work performed by staff from Planning and Development Services, Fire and Medical, Utilities and Public Works Departments, as well as other relevant review agencies (depending on the nature and scope of the project). Initial and subsequent reviews and comments are tracked in the Innoprise permit tracking system from which reports may be extracted. Development Services staff is responsible for coordinating review work and disseminating review comments to applicants.
During the 2016 calendar year, staff achieved these goals for 96.5% of all residential permits with an average review time of 2.3 days; and 92.2% of all commercial permits with an average review time of 7.2 days. For comparison, the following table provides data from 2014 (the first full calendar year for which data is available) as well as 2017 year-to-date performance.
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Year |
Residential % |
Residential Average (# of Days) |
Commercial % |
Commercial Average (# of Days) |
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2017 (YTD) |
99.2% |
2.5 |
97.4% |
6.6 |
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2016 |
96.5% |
2.3 |
91.6% |
7.3 |
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2015 |
94.7% |
2.6 |
88.8% |
7.9 |
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2014 |
95.5% |
2.5 |
96.0% |
6.2 |
In January, staff completed 134 of 135 residential reviews within 5 business days (99.2%), and 114 of 117 commercial reviews within 15 business days (97.4%). The following table tracks performance in meeting these objectives.
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Residential Permits |
Commercial Permits |
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Total Number of Reviews |
Number of Reviews Completed within 5 Business Days |
Average Review Time (Days) |
Percent of Reviews Completed within 5 Business Days |
Total Number of Reviews |
Number of Reviews Completed within 15 Business Days |
Average Review Time (Days) |
Percent of Reviews Completed within 15 Business Days |
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Jan |
135 |
134 |
2.5 |
97.4% |
117 |
114 |
6.6 |
97.4% |
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Feb |
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Mar |
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Apr |
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May |
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June |
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July |
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Aug |
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Sept |
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Oct |
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Nov |
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Dec |
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YTD |
135 |
134 |
2.5 |
97.4% |
117 |
114 |
6.6 |
97.4% |
Permit reports for January are attached.
Top Projects for 2017:
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Rank |
Construction Valuation |
Project Description |
|
1 |
$2,233,645 |
Alvamar Wellness Building, 1840 Birdie Way |