[Amended 1-20-1969 by Ord. No. 213]
No person shall build or erect any house, building or other structure within the City without first having obtained a permit for the erection of such building or structure from the City Manager.
[Adopted 8-26-1968 as Ch. 6 of the 1968 Code]
[Amended 1-20-1969 by Ord. No. 213; 9-23-1970 by Ord. No. 218]
A.
No person, firm or corporation shall erect, construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, improve, remove, convert or demolish any building or structure in the applicable jurisdiction, or cause the same to be done, without first obtaining a separate building permit for such buildings or structures from the City Manager. If the City Manager is satisfied that the work described in an application for a permit and the drawings filed therewith conform to the requirements of this Code and other pertinent laws and ordinances, he or she shall issue a permit therefor to the applicant. If the application for a permit and the drawings filed therewith describe work which does not conform to the requirements of this Code or other pertinent laws or ordinances, the City Manager shall not issue a permit but shall return the drawings to the applicant with his or her refusal to issue such permit. Such refusal shall, when requested, be in writing and shall contain the reasons therefor.
B.
Construction under all permits must begin within one year from the date of the issuance of said permit by the City Manager or thereafter the same shall be void and invalid.
[Amended 6-2-1997 by Ord. No. 349]
C.
When the City Manager issues a permit, he or she shall endorse, in writing, or stamp both sets of plans "Approved." One set of drawings so approved shall be retained by the City Manager and the other set shall be returned to the applicant. The approved drawings shall be kept at the site of work and shall be open to inspection by the City Manager or the City Manager's authorized representative.
D.
Fees.
[Amended 11-5-1979 by Ord. No. 258, approved 11-8-1979; 7-7-1980 by Ord. No. 262, approved 7-7-1980]
(1)
No permit shall be issued until the prescribed fees shall have been paid, nor shall an amendment to a permit be approved until the additional fee, if any, due to an increase in the estimated cost of the building or structure shall have been paid. The prescribed fees shall be determined by the Council by resolution.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The current Fees, Charges and Rates Schedule is on file in the City Clerk's office.
(2)
A fee, in the amount as shall be determined by the Council by resolution, shall be charged for a permit for the moving or demolition of any building or structure.
E.
Exceptions.
(1)
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, no permit shall be required for the following work, provided that the cost thereof does not exceed $1,000:
(a)
Interior painting.
(b)
Exterior painting which does not require the obstruction of pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
(c)
Exterior stairway to above grade level which does not require Fire Department or other safety regulation approvals.
(d)
Construction or placement of utility buildings or equivalent for the storage of garden tools, toys, etc., provided that the distance requirements of Chapter 230, Zoning, are adhered to.
(e)
Construction of outdoor barbecue pits or trash burners which are privately owned and used exclusively by the owner or lessee thereof for noncommercial purposes.
(f)
Replacement of roofing which does not require barricades to divert pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
(g)
Replacement of front or rear porch flooring but not any enclosure of the area affected.
(h)
Replacement of front and rear steps, provided that no greater area than the original construction is involved.
(i)
Replacement of gutter and downspouting, if barricades are not involved.
(j)
Replacement of window, sash and frames and installation of storm windows, if no interference to the general public is involved.
(k)
Replacement of doors, door frames and storm doors, if no inconvenience to the general public is involved.
(l)
Replacement of garage doors, provided that no other alterations are contemplated.
(m)
Replacement of skylights, if no interference to the general public is involved.
(n)
Replacement of original chimneys. Additional chimney construction will be considered on its merits as related to fire, safety and zoning regulations.
(2)
Projects of a like nature as those mentioned above will be considered by the City Manager and may be included in the above categories.
[Amended 1-20-1969 by Ord. No. 213]
It shall be the duty of every contractor or builder, before beginning the building or erection of any house, building or other structure within the City, to discover whether or not the necessary permission of the Council has been obtained for the building of such house, building or structure, and no person shall build, construct or begin to build or construct any house, building or structure, for himself or herself or another, within the City unless a permit therefor has first been obtained as above specified and required.
No person shall make, in his or her written application for a building permit under this article, any false or untrue statements as to the location, size, dimensions, material or proposed use of any house, building or other structure with the intention of wrongfully obtaining a permit therefor.
The words "house, building or structure," as used in this article, shall be construed to include not only new houses, new buildings or new structures but also all extensions or other changes and repairs to old or existing houses, buildings or structures by which the same are increased in height or other dimensions or where there is a change of any kind of any exterior part of any such house, building or structure or where there is a plan to alter any old building in such a way as to make it available for a use or purpose different from that for which it was before used.
[Amended 1-20-1969 by Ord. No. 213]
It shall be the duty of the City Manager to inspect all buildings in the course of erection in the City to see that no buildings are erected of materials that are dangerous to human life by reason of unsoundness of materials or dangerous method of construction or other causes. Upon finding any unsafe materials being used or a dangerous method of construction, the City Manager shall notify the person in charge of construction to discontinue the use of such materials and to remove and replace the same by proper and safe materials or to discontinue such dangerous method of construction and to correct such part of the building as may have been constructed by such faulty or dangerous method. The City Manager shall immediately report all the facts and circumstances with relation thereto to the Council for such legal action as the Council may deem appropriate.
[Amended 1-20-1969 by Ord. No. 213]
In addition to the penalties provided for violation of this article, the Council may proceed against any house, building or other structure erected, repaired or altered in violation of this article as a nuisance, if the same shall be in fact a nuisance, and may abate the same, if that course shall seem to it proper.
[Amended 6-2-1997 by Ord. No. 349]
Violations of the provisions of this article shall be a municipal infraction and shall be punishable by a fine as set forth in the Fees, Charges and Rates Schedule, as adopted by resolution of the City Council from time to time.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The current Fees, Charges and Rates Schedule is on file in the City Clerk's office.