Garrett building permits increase; not for housing

Construction boost coming from wind project on Backbone Mountain near Eagle Rock
Megan Miller
Cumberland Times-News

OAKLAND — The number of Garrett County building permits issued in the first quarter of the year increased by more than 16 percent over the same period in 2009, even while the county’s housing starts continued to drop.

Jim Torrington, chief of the permits and inspection division of the Department of Planning, said the increase is attributable to individual permits for 28 commercial wind turbines currently under construction atop Backbone Mountain near Eagle Rock. Those permits account for all but 10 of the 38 commercial permits approved.

Overall, the county issued 121 building permits from January through April, with a builder declared value totaling more than $103 million.

The number of permits granted for single-family homes continued to decline, with 23 issued in the first quarter. By comparison, the county issued 28 such permits in the first quarter of 2009, and 60 for the same period in 2008. That amounts to a 62 percent decline between 2008 and 2010.

And just five of those homes are within the Deep Creek Lake watershed, compared with 10 in 2009 and 26 in 2008.

But Torrington said there are some encouraging signs for the local economy.

“We see a trend of things picking up,” he said. “We have a lot of contractors calling, and just in the last week we've issued several permits for homes, some large homes.”

Much of the work now being done is to repair the damage of the hard winter on things like porches, decks and accessory buildings, he said. The county doesn’t charge a permit fee for most of those projects.

The number of building permits approved annually has been dropping since at least 2005, down 31 percent between 2005 and 2009. The number of permits for single-family homes has also dropped consistently, by 58 percent in that period.

Torrington said that while construction now appears to be on the upswing, the economic downturn could have a lasting impact on the county’s growth.

“We may never be at the rate we were before,” he said.


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Decline in building permits puts Garrett in line with national trend

Decline in building permits puts Garrett in line with national trend
Sarah Moses
Cumberland Times-News
OAKLAND - Building permits in Garrett County are down for the year to date by almost 10 percent when compared to this time last year, a trend that has continued since the peak of building in 2004."I think it's following the national trend," Jim Torrington, chief of the county's permits and inspections division, told the county commissioners at their Tuesday meeting. "Though I've talked to some contractors who think they will be up."Commissioner Fred Holliday commented that each year there has been a decrease, with contractors saying there would be an increase.Torrington said the contractors have been keeping busy despite the downturn.The biggest decline in building permits for the first five months was in residential permits, with a drop of 16.3 percent in single-family homes, 33.3 percent in double-wides and 50 percent in mobile homes.Increases in duplex permits have occurred, with four permits issued as opposed to one by this time last year.Commercial and industrial properties are also on the rise, with 36 permits issued from January to May. This is 14 more than last year, and 17 more than in 2004, when overall building permits were at their highest.Despite the increases in commercial and industrial properties, like other permit areas, the average declared value is considerably less than previous years, with the average at $98,789, where it was $351,522 last year.The largest amount of the total value of the properties to be built remains at Deep Creek Lake, with 67 percent of the total $29,854,301 to be constructed. About half of the homes to be constructed in the county and a like amount of the total square footage will be at the lake. This puts both the percentage of value and permits higher at the lake than it has been in five years."Things have gone down considerably from where we were," John Nelson, director of planning and land development, said. "Hopefully, things will turn around."

Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@times-news.com.