(A) No person shall erect, enlarge, construct, relocate, substantially improve, repair, place, alter, move or demolish any building, structure, mobile, modular or manufactured home, or any type of industrial or commercial parking lot, or similarly used facility, or initiate any other construction without first obtaining a separate building permit for each building or structure from the Building Inspector and the office of the City Clerk.
(1) The inspection and permitting fee for any type of industrial or commercial parking lot, or similarly used facility, shall be calculated at the rate of $0.02 per sq/ft provided the minimum fee shall be $35.00.
(B) No human-made change to improved or unimproved real estate located within a designated “flood hazard area”, including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations, shall be initiated until a separate building permit has been obtained for each operation from the Building Inspector and the office of the City Clerk.
(C) No mobile, manufactured or modular home shall be placed on improved or unimproved real estate without first obtaining a separate building permit for each home from the Building Inspector and the office of the City Clerk.
(D) Minor repairs of buildings or structures, the cost of which shall not exceed $500, may be made without obtaining a building permit. However, all plumbing, electrical or mechanical work shall not be included in this provision.
(E) All applications for building permits shall be signed and in writing, upon an official blank form supplied by the office of the City Clerk or the Building Inspector, and shall be submitted to either of the officials, along with the required fee.
(F) In addition to the building permit fee, a linkage fee of $200 shall be charged for building permit applications on new residential, commercial and industrial construction which shall be appropriated to parks and recreation; provided, however, Senior Citizens, Inc., a state non-profit corporation, shall be exempt from the payment of such fees.
(G) A $5 fee charged by the Oklahoma Construction Industries Board at the time the permit issued.
(H) The office of the City Clerk shall be responsible for the overall coordination of the building permit process within the community. Building permit application forms may be obtained from, and submitted to, the Building Inspector.
(I) Applications for building permits shall contain all applicable information required on the building permit form, and shall be accompanied by drawings of the proposed work (drawn to scale), showing floor plans, structural details, computations and additional information as may be required of the applicant by the office of the City Clerk, the Building Inspector, the City Manager, this code of ordinances or the City Council.
(J) Upon receipt of a complete building permit application and the required fee, the City Clerk shall immediately turn the application over to the Building Inspector, who shall review the application to ensure that:
(1) The involved land is properly zoned for the proposed use;
(2) Applicable zoning district provisions, including floodway and floodway fringe district provisions, have been met;
(3) Roadway access is available;
(4) Adequate and sanitary provisions have been made for utilities, and fire protection is also adequate; (No person shall be granted a permit to build a residential structure, without first having complied with the provisions of the state’s Department of Health Bulletin Number 600, as amended, concerning minimum standards for residential, sewage treatment systems. These standards shall not supplant existing, more stringent, municipal standards.)
(5) All easements provided in the recorded plat, if any, are not encroached upon;
(6) All other floodplain regulations, if applicable, have been met and the required information provided; and
(7) All other required municipal permits have been obtained.
(K) Building permit applications for development, location demolition or alteration within delineated flood hazard areas, as shown in a scientific and engineering report entitled, The Flood Insurance Study, dated 11-22-1999, with accompanying flood insurance rate maps and flood boundary floodway maps (FIRM and FBFM) and any revisions thereto, which are hereby adopted by reference and declared to be a part of this subchapter as if fully set out herein, shall be reviewed by the Building Inspector to ensure that all of the following requirements are met.
(1) All building sites shall be reasonably safe from flooding. If a proposed building site is in a flood-prone area, all new construction and substantial improvement, including the placement of prefabricated buildings and mobile homes, shall:
(a) Be designed, modified and/or adequately anchored to prevent flotation, collapse or lateral movement of the structure; (All manufactured housing to be placed within Zone A on a community’s flood hazard boundary map shall be anchored by providing over-the-top and frame ties to ground anchors. Over-the-top ties shall be provided at each of the four corners of the mobile home, with two additional ties per side at intermediate points, and manufactured homes less than 50 feet long requiring one additional tie per side. Frame ties shall be provided at each corner of the home, with five additional ties per side at intermediate points, and manufactured homes less than 50 feet long requiring four additional ties per side. All components of the anchoring system shall be capable of carrying a force of 4,800 pounds. Additions to the manufactured home shall be similarly anchored.)
(b) Be constructed with materials and utility equipment resistant to flood damage; and
(c) Be constructed by methods and practices that minimize flood damages.
(2) All new and replacement water supply systems within flood prone areas shall be designed to minimize or eliminate infiltration of flood waters into the systems.
(3) All new and replacement sanitary sewage systems shall be designed to minimize or eliminate infiltration of flood waters into the systems and discharges from the systems into flood waters.
(4) On-site waste disposal systems within flood-prone areas shall be located to avoid impairment to them, or contamination from them, during flooding.
(5) The Building Inspector shall utilize all available 100-year flood elevation data to review building permit applications, and shall require that all applications for development within a flood-prone area be accompanied by the elevation of the lowest habitable floor, including basement, of all new or substantially improved structures; and a certificate signed by a registered professional engineer or architect, stating that the flood- proofing methods to be utilized are adequate to withstand the flood depths, pressures, velocities, impact and uplift forces, and other factors associated with the 100-year flood, and indicating the specific elevation to which the structure will be flood-proofed.
(6) All new construction or substantial improvement of residential structures within Zones A1-30 on the flood insurance rate map shall have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated one foot above the level of the 100-year flood.
(7) Within Zones A1-30 on the flood insurance rate map, all manufactured housing not in a park or subdivision, all new manufactured housing parks and subdivisions, all expansions to existing manufactured housing parks and subdivisions, and all repairs, reconstruction or improvement of streets, utilities and/or pads in existing manufactured housing parks or subdivisions, shall be located, developed, expanded or improved according to the following criteria.
(a) All manufactured housing shall be placed, or be capable of being placed, on compacted fill or on pilings so that the lowest floor of the home will be one foot above the level of the 100-year flood.
(b) All lots shall have adequate provisions for surface drainage and access.
(c) All manufactured housing to be elevated on pilings shall be placed on lots large enough to permit steps, provide for piling foundations to be placed in stable or stabilized soils, no more than ten feet apart, and provide for reinforcement of piers more than six feet above ground level.
(8) All new construction or substantial improvement of residential structures located within any AO Zone shall have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated above the crown of the nearest street, one foot above the depth number specified for the area on the flood insurance rate map.
(9) All new construction or substantial improvement of non-residential structures within Zones A1-30 shall:
(a) Have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated one foot above the level of the 100-year flood; or
(b) Be designed, together with attendant utility and sanitary facilities, so that, below the level of the 100-year flood, the structure is water-tight, with walls substantially impermeable to the passage of water, and contains structural components capable of resisting hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads and the effects of buoyancy.
(10) All new construction or substantial improvement of non-residential structures within any AO Zone shall:
(a) Have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated above the crown of the nearest street, one foot above the depth number specified on the flood insurance rate map; or
(b) Be completely flood-proofed, along with attendant utility and sanitary facilities, to one foot above the depth number specified on the flood insurance rate map, so that any space below that level is water-tight, with walls substantially impermeable to the passage of water, and contains structural components capable of resisting hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads and the effects of buoyancy.
(11) The requirements of this chapter shall also be in effect for building permit applications located within any A99 Zones.
(12) Floodways, as designated on the official flood hazard boundary map, are hazardous areas due to the velocity of flood waters which carry debris and potentially damaging projectiles, and the creation of severe erosion problems. The following provisions apply within designated floodway areas.
(a) Encroachments are prohibited, including fill, new construction, substantial improvements and other developments, unless certification by a professional registered engineer or architect is provided, demonstrating that encroachments shall not result in any increase in flood levels during occurrence of the base flood discharge.
(b) If the provisions of division (K)(12)(a) above are satisfied, all new construction and substantial improvements shall comply with all applicable flood hazard reduction provisions of this code of ordinances.
(L) The Building Inspector shall have the following additional responsibilities in the review of building permit applications for development, location, demolition or alteration within a delineated flood hazard area.
(1) Building permit applications shall be reviewed to ensure that all necessary governmental agency permits required by state or federal law have been obtained.
(2) In the case of building permit applications for alteration or relocation of a watercourse, the Building Inspector shall:
(a) Notify adjacent communities and the state’s Flood Insurance Coordinating Office prior to the work and submit copies of the notification to the Federal Flood Insurance Administrator; and
(b) Obtain written assurances from the building permit applicant that the flood-carrying capacity within the altered or relocated portion of the watercourse will be maintained.
(3) For the purpose of determining flood insurance risk premium rates, the Building Inspector shall maintain records of:
(a) The elevation of the lowest habitable floor of all new or substantially-improved structures; and
(b) Flood-proofing certificates, including the specific elevation to which the structures are flood-proofed.
(M) Issuance of a building permit for development within an identified flood hazard area shall not create liability on the part of any municipal official for any flood damages resulting from reliance upon the provisions of this section, or any administrative decision lawfully made thereunder.
(N) If the Building Inspector is satisfied that the proposed work described in the application and attached materials conform to the requirements of the adopted zoning ordinance, Building Code and other regulations and requirements, he or she shall authorize the issuance of the building permit by signing the application and forwarding it to the office of the City Clerk, who shall return a copy to the applicant.
(O) (1) If the application or attached materials do not conform to pertinent municipal regulations, the Building Inspector shall not approve the application, but shall return the application to the City Clerk, along with written reason(s) for disapproval. The City Clerk shall return the application, with written reason(s) attached, to the applicant.
(2) The applicant may subsequently amend his or her application, if possible, and re-submit it, or initiate other action to correct the deficiencies.
(P) The Building Inspector and the office of the City Clerk shall complete all required review processes in an efficient and effective manner, without unreasonable or unnecessary delay.
(Q) A building permit, once approved and issued, shall be construed as a license to proceed with the work and shall not be construed as authority to violate, cancel, alter or set aside any municipal regulations, nor shall the issuance prevent the Building Inspector from thereafter requiring a correction of errors in plans or construction of a violation of this code of ordinances.
(R) (1) If the work allowed under an issued building permit has not been initiated within six months from the issuance date of the permit, the permit shall become null and void, unless a request for an extension is submitted to, and approved by, the Building Inspector.
(2) If the permit becomes null and void, a new permit must be obtained and the regular fee incident thereto collected, in order for the work to be initiated or resumed.
(S) (1) Temporary building permits may be issued for a period not to exceed six months, by the Building Inspector.
(2) The permits may be issued only for temporary location related to construction for which a building permit has already been obtained.
(3) A one-time extension may be granted by the Building Inspector, based upon a written request setting forth the reasons for the extension. The length of the extension shall be as determined by the Building Inspector, based on the conditions of the request, but shall not exceed six months.
(T) (1) Because of the nature of the commercial and industrial development process, the Building Inspector may issue a special building permit for phased development, upon receipt of a written request for the special permit. The request shall be for no more than five acres and may include phased provisions for development of streets, parking areas and other site construction elements.
(3) The permits may not be issued or considered for any residential development. Phased development building permits may include time frames for completion of all improvements as the Building Inspector may deem necessary, consistent with the nature of the proposed development and the schedule submitted with the request.
(4) Bonds for the improvements involved in the proposed phasing shall be established by the Building Inspector, using the processes and requirements of Ch. 153 of this code of ordinances, plans for all improvements shall be submitted to, and fully approved by, the Building Inspector, before any building permit for phased development can be issued.
(U) The Building Inspector shall keep a permanent and accurate accounting of all building permits, and shall transmit copies of each permit issued to the Chairperson of the Planning Commission for information purposes. The City Clerk shall keep a permanent and accurate record of all building permit fee payments.
(V) The City Clerk may revoke a building permit in case there has been any false statement or misrepresentation as to a material fact in the application or attached materials on which the building permit approval was based.
(W) Building permits shall be conspicuously displayed on the project or site in a manner visible from the street.
(X) The City Clerk and the Building Inspector shall monitor municipal utility hook-up requests and shall not allow municipal utilities to be turned on to any unit, structure or project for which a building permit has not been issued.
(Y) Appeals from any aggrieved person concerning a decision of the City Clerk relative to the granting of building permits, shall be taken to the City Council, who shall act as the Building Permit Board of Appeals.
(Z) In the event of any conflict between these building permit provisions delineated herein and any provision(s) of the Building Code adopted by the City Council, the provisions of this subchapter shall prevail.
(AA) (1) The term SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT means any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure before “start of construction” of the improvement. This includes structures which have incurred SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE, regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term does not, however, include either:
(a) Any project for improvement of a structure to correct existing violations of state or local health, sanitary or safety code specifications which have been identified by the local code enforcement official and which are the minimum necessary conditions; or
(b) Any alteration of a historic structure; provided that, the alternation will not preclude the structure’s continued designation as a “historic structure”.
(2) The term SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE means damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed 50% of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.
(2002 Code, § 150.20) (Ord. 235, passed 1-12-1987; Ord. 369, passed 10-14-1996; Ord. 438, passed 11-15-1999; Ord. 457, passed 11-13-2000; Ord. 650, passed 10-12-2009; Ord. 935, passed 3-13-2023)