Renovation permit took 11 months. Not 2 weeks like they said.

Started a basement reno last March. City website said small residential permits take 10-15 business days. I submitted everything, paid the fee, figured I'd be framing by April. Nope. Eight weeks go by, nothing. I call and they say my application got 'pushed to review' because of a zoning flag. That flag took another 4 months to clear. Then structural drawings needed an engineer stamp. Then the permit finally came through in February 2024. 11 months total. Has anyone else had a permit drag out way past the quoted timeline?

2 comments

2 Comments

white.alex1mo ago

Why do cities think we have 11 months to sit around waiting for a stamp? I hear you on that drainage thing too. They love digging up some ancient issue nobody can prove exists. Then you're stuck paying some old guy with a clipboard to tell them what they already know. The whole system is built on the idea that if they make it painful enough, you'll give up. That's the real reason for the wait.

the_max1mo ago

Man I feel your pain on this one. We did a deck replacement a couple years back and the city told us 3 weeks max. It took almost 6 months because someone flagged our lot for some drainage issue from 1998 that nobody could even find records for. Had to get some retired engineer to come out and write a letter saying the ground was fine. The whole thing is just a mess of people passing your paperwork around a desk until someone feels like stamping it.