Building a house in Charleston would cost more in permit fees next year under a proposal City Council is scheduled to take up Nov. 10.
Residential building permit rates would rise about 50%, WCSC Live 5 News reported Nov. 6, though the dollar change would depend on each project. The new fees would take effect Jan. 1, 2027, if approved.
The council’s Nov. 10 agenda lists a public hearing on an ordinance adopting fees for permits and services from the city’s Department of Development Services. A second ordinance would set fees for the Department of Planning and Preservation.
Under the proposed schedule in the packet for the council’s Oct. 26 Public Works and Utilities Committee meeting, the city would value new homes and additions at $175.92 a square foot for finished space and $71.07 for unfinished space, porches and decks. A home valued between $100,001 and $500,000 would pay $690 plus $4.50 for each additional $1,000 of value.
The city’s own example, a house with 1,200 square feet of finished space, 250 unfinished square feet and a 300-square-foot heated accessory structure, comes to a total permit fee of $2,343.50. That includes an $80 application fee and a plan review fee equal to half the permit fee, but not separate trade permits.
The proposal also raises certain engineering permit fees from $25 to $100, adds a $200 review fee for some floodplain map revision requests involving fill, and creates a $350 fee for commercial certificates of occupancy, Live 5 reported. The $200 and $350 fees also appear in the proposed schedule.
Ron Bucci of the city’s Development Services Department told Live 5 some fees have not been updated in more than five years. He said the city’s calculations supported up to $600 for the commercial certificate of occupancy fee.
“But because it is a new fee, we thought we would come in a little lower so we could make it a little more amendable to the development community,” Bucci said.
The city compared its proposed rates with those of Charleston County and Mount Pleasant, he told the station.
