St. John’s waives permit fees

St. John’s residents and businesses won’t have to pay permit fees this year if they want to build a patio or deck, fence, or an accessory building such as a shed or greenhouse, or do general repairs such as maintenance and small renovations.

Anyone doing such work will still need to apply for the permit, but will not need to pay the fee, which was a minimum of $50 with an additional $9 per $1,000 construction value.

Major renovations and new construction will still incur a fee.

The decision was made at the committee of the whole meeting of St. John’s city council on Wednesday and takes effect immediately. Coun. Dave Lane made the motion for the change.

Anyone who applied for a permit prior to May 27 will still have to pay the fee.

Coun. Debbie Hanlon, council’s representative on the Downtown St. John’s board, said it is welcome news for downtown businesses.

Coun. Ian Froude agreed, and said he has heard from several restaurants that are planning to expand their premises in order to accom

modate physical distancing, so waiving the fee will be helpful to them.

Deputy city manager Jason Sinyard said waiving the permit fees could potentially result in a loss of $50,000 to $60,000 in revenue for the city, but Lane and Mayor Danny Breen both said it will support residents and businesses, as well as potentially spur some work in the renovations sector.

While decisions made at committee of the whole meetings typically need approval at a regular council meeting before they are final, council decided to forgo that process and make the decision effective immediately.

“I think these are unusual times, and unusual decisions, and timing of decisions,” explained Breen.

To apply for permits, visit stjohns.ca for an application. To ask questions about the process, call 311.

“I think these are unusual times, and unusual decisions, and timing of decisions.”

Mayor Danny Breen