Town of Bennington 1998 Annual Report

Type	1997 Permits	$ Volume	1998 Permits	$ Volume
Single Family Dwelling	12	1,155,500	21	2,188,155
Mobile Homes	37	1,054,897	33	1,069,500
Apartments	0	0	1	90,000
Condominiums	0	0	0	0
Residential Renovations	50	753,735	61	780,005
Apartment Renovations	7	4,583,000	10	1,889,609
Commercial Construction	23	4,103,575	16	3,081,056
Commercial Renovations	32	1,096,955	42	730,485
Industrial Construction	2	3,270,000	2	998,500
Industrial Renovations	2	15,000	1	234,642
Garages	15	158,534	11	81,164
Sheds	21	20,961	31	39,533
Decks	21	40,550	16	30,485
Pools	6	21,500	10	25,205
Institutions	5	379,500	5	1,016,000
Signs	60	44,720	51	90,173
Design Review	4	0	0	0
Use & Zoning	12	4,000	40	2,600
Septic Systems	9	37,000	12	29,600
Home Occupation	12	300	6	0
Propane/Storage Tank	4	49,940	3	41,000

Large construction/renovation projects completed or started this year included Abacus, Applegate Apartments, Nastech renovations, Business Air, Bennington Co-op, and BROC Office/Apartments. A total of 547 construction inspections occurred and 184 Certificates of Occupancy/Completion were issued.

Multiple Family Dwellings
A total of 173 apartment units were inspected in 47 Buildings owned by 26 Landlords throughout Bennington. Every one of these buildings contained apartments or dormitories having code violations which ranged from inoperable or missing smoke detectors to a lack of safety devices on heating systems to inadequate sized egress windows in bedrooms. The numbers above do not include the apartments that were reinspected to determine compliance from previous inspections. In addition to inspections, significant time is spent investigating housing code complaints, issuing notices of unsafe structures, closing down unfit dwellings and ordering vacant buildings to be boarded up.

Fire and Building Code Agreement
It's been one year since the Town and the State of Vermont signed a Fire and Building Code Agreement through the Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor and Industry. The agreement assigned to Bennington the responsibility for plan review, inspections and enforcement of the Vermont Fire Prevention and Building Code for certain public building occupancies. One and two family dwellings, apartment buildings, dormitories, lodging, and rooming houses, mercantile, business and storage occupancies became the Towns' jurisdiction. The Building Inspector now has the same authority as the Assistant State Fire Marshall's and can utilize technical assistance from the State along with the assessment of administrative citations and penalties. The real benefit of this agreement was that projects for these occupancies would only need to file permits locally and pay the local permit fee. Applicants saved $24,972 in fees they didn't have to submit to the State during 1998. We are considering expanding the agreement to include additional occupancies in 1999.

I would like to remind all residents that almost all types of renovations and construction requires building permits. If you replace any existing structure such as a deck, porch, shed, garage, etc., you need a permit. If you perform any renovation work inside your home such as adding a room in the basement, any plumbing or electrical work or removing/adding walls or rooms, a permit is required. Please contact the Building & Zoning Office before you start any work to determine if a permit will be needed.

Respectfully submitted,
Larry McLeod, Building Inspector & Rehabilitation Specialist