(a) A building permit shall expire if the work covered by the permit is not commenced within six months after issuance of the permit or if the work is not completed and a certificate of occupancy has not been issued within 15 months after issuance of the permit. No permit fees shall be refunded because of the expiration of any permit, except as specifically provided in this section.
(b) If an applicant fails to complete the work for which a building permit has been issued within the time provided in subsection (a) of this section, the applicant may request a six-month extension of the original permit. The applicant shall be required to submit an application for a permit extension, stating that the plans, specifications, and conditions included in the original permit application required by § 9-12 have not changed. Upon receipt of a complete application and payment of a permit extension, the code official shall grant the applicant a six-month permit extension. After the expiration of the permit extension, the applicant may apply for additional extensions as may be necessary to complete the project. The fee for the first six-month extension shall be 50% of the original building permit fee; the fee for a second six-month permit extension shall be 75% of the original building permit fee; and the fee for any subsequent six-month extensions shall be 100% of the original building permit fee, as set forth in the village's Comprehensive Fee and Fine Schedule. The applicant will be required to pay the full fee for the permit extension prior to the issuance of the six-month permit extension, regardless of the scope of work remaining to be completed. However, if the work authorized by the permit extension is completed prior to six months after the issuance of the permit extension, the village will refund a portion of the permit extension fee to the applicant in an amount prorated by the number of full months remaining in the permit extension (e.g., if the work in completed in four and one-half months, one sixth of the fee will be returned to the applicant). If the applicant fails to timely apply for an additional extension, the original permit shall be deemed to have expired, and any subsequent requests to extend the permit time shall be treated as applications for a new building permit, which permit shall be granted upon payment of new building permit fees in the amount prescribed in § 9-15 of this code for an original permit; provided, however, that if any code requirements have changed since the issuance of the original permit affecting portions of the work that has not yet been constructed and inspected, then the plans and construction documents for the work shall be modified to comply with such changed code requirements.
(c) In the event that the erection, construction, alteration, repair, removal or the excavation of any building or structure allowed by a building permit or permit extension issued by the code official pursuant to this section is temporarily halted, delayed or substantially impaired as a result of circumstances that were (1) outside of the applicant’s control, and (2) not reasonably foreseeable with the exercise of due diligence and professional judgment meeting the standards of the building trades industry (referred to hereafter as “uncontrollable circumstances”), the applicant may petition the code official for a permit tolling extension. Uncontrollable circumstances warranting the issuance of a permit tolling extension include, but are not limited to, strikes or labor disputes (other than those caused by the unlawful acts of the applicant, its partners, or affiliated entities), the default, dissolution, or bankruptcy of the general contractor, extraordinary weather conditions, or other similar acts of God.
(d) The applicant shall be required to deliver evidence that the applicant has prosecuted construction of the permitted work with diligence, and shall provide evidence of causes of uncontrollable circumstances that have prevented the work from being completed within the original permit or permit extension period. If the code official determines that the applicant has prosecuted work with diligence, or that the applicant’s inability to complete the work within the original permit or permit extension period was due to uncontrollable circumstances, the code official may, at his sole and absolute discretion, authorize a permit tolling extension to extend the term of the original permit or permit extension for a period of time equal to the duration the uncontrollable circumstance persisted, or such lesser period that the code official determines to be appropriate. Permit tolling extensions may be granted retroactively on the condition that the applicant must apply for the permit tolling extension as soon as is reasonably possible after the uncontrollable circumstances have abated or subsided.
(Ord. No. 2015-16-3388, § 2; Ord. No. 2016-04-3394; Ord. No. 2022-05-3525, § 2)