Even a short drive of a few blocks around Gulfport will make it obvious that a great deal of work is going on, and construction is as busy as it has ever been.

The number of permits issued by the City’s building department has not changed significantly over the past five years, but the valuation of those permits has jumped by about $15 million, according to an annual report released by the City.

The cost of the permit is based on “the valuation of the job,” Community Development director Fred Metcalf told The Gabber recently. So while the number of permits may be about the same, there are fewer simple jobs like window replacements and more that include new buildings or substantial remodeling of existing ones.

“The complexity of review for those is higher, so even though the number of permits may be in the same ballpark, our number of contacts has gone up,” said Metcalf. A contact is any time his office communicates with an applicant via phone, email, or in person.

“People are asking more questions, and it is taking more time,” he added. “The reviews are significantly more complicated.”

The reason something as seemingly simple as replacing a window or changing out an air conditioning system requires a City permit is because the State of Florida building code requires it.

Building official Clark Streicher oversees one residential inspector as well as two permit technicians who work the counter at the main office. A contractor handles commercial inspections, which frees up Streicher to concentrate on plan review. Gulfport also has an agreement with Pinellas County to get help when needed, Metcalf said, but County officials are also swamped much of the time with their own applicants.

In addition to the process of handling applications, building department staff also deal with complaints from residents on a regular basis. Some of them are the applicants themselves who run into problems, and others are neighbors who assume a nearby project on their street is being built improperly.

A large percentage of the housing stock in Gulfport was built before 1960, Metcalf pointed out. That history lends itself to the so-called character and charm that often attracts people to the city, and some residents bristle at the idea of a neighbor building something larger or more modern next door, although it may be perfectly legal to do so.

“If you are used to slab-on-grade houses, when you put up a two-story building that is taking full advantage of all the setbacks, it is going to be a larger structure,” said Metcalf. “People are paying a lot of money and want to build that kind of stuff. You can’t really blame them and I certainly can’t stop them.”

A key area in which problems can arise quickly is when a new building project is begun in a flood zone. That carries with it an entirely new set of rules from Washington, D.C.

“We do get homeowners who do not understand the ramifications of living in a flood zone,” said Metcalf. “Not just the fact that it may flood, but the restrictions on how much you can improve your property. Sometimes people get stuck in that and we’re the bad guys because they didn’t pick up the phone and call us and find out what they can do.”

Occasionally someone will snatch up a piece of property in a cash sale without gathering all of the necessary information and just start a demolition. According to federal guidelines, a property owner who alters 50% or more of a structure in a flood zone triggers a requirement of bringing the entire site into compliance with FEMA regulations. This has often caused the City to stop a project in mid-stream.

“Because the City of Gulfport participates in the national flood insurance program, we are required to enforce federal regulations for construction in a flood zone,” said Streicher. “Part of that is a substantial improvement or whatever everybody terms the FEMA 50% rule. A lot of homeowners don’t understand FEMA, and we also have contractors who come in from outside of flood zones and don’t understand flood zone construction.”

Instead of having to go back to the drawing board at a later time, it is best to start with a proper understanding of the permit application process. Often it is held up simply because of an incomplete application, as Streicher pointed out, and that slows everything down. Once that is all in order, a plan review might lead to a request from City staff for additional information.

“We have no control over how long it takes people to reply to us,” Streicher said, noting that in a recent application, he sent a plan review to the applicant in December and received a reply just last month.

The office typically takes 15-20 business days to issue a residential permit if everything is in order. Inspections can often be done the day after a request is received at the office.

Many times a problem can be solved, even before it arises, by contacting the City to make certain a property owner is doing everything as he or she should.

“It would definitely save a lot of heartache on their part, for sure,” said Streicher. “It’s not necessarily a regular occurrence [to stop a project] but it does happen.”

In addition to monitoring existing projects, the building department must accommodate ever-changing State regulations, which seem to come on an annual basis.

“The State is constantly adding something new that we have to do. And it’s on us to make sure it gets done,” said Metcalf. “It’s a complicated process and we do the best we can to get through it. There’s more work, more to do, and it takes a little bit longer to do it.”

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Filed Under: News Tagged With: Gulfport building department, Gulfport construction, Gulfport permits

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