'Majority' of building being done without a permit, says Charlottetown councillor

A Charlottetown councillor has an issue with people in city doing things such as adding an addition to their home without first getting a permit.

At a council meeting on Monday, Coun. Mike Duffy said, "the majority of work is done in the city of Charlottetown without a permit."

Duffy said permits are usually issued for new builds — but when people modify or add to their homes, they are not getting permits.

"Improvements to homes like patios or a front porch or an interior renovation, anything that adds value to the home requires a building permit," he said. "You run into people all the time — you either see it yourself or they tell you that they are putting new addition on and they are doing this and doing that — and when you ask about a building permit, 'oh they don't bother with that.'"

Duffy said the city tries to keep a close eye on all infrastructure, including homes.

"When you are going to make an addition or an improvement to your home, it is going to increase your value and we should be keeping up with the improvements being made by issuing a building permit," he said.

Duffy said without issuing permits, the city has no idea what the value of a modified home might be — and thus, what property tax should be levied.

"If they're undervalued or book value is lower than it should be, we are losing out on revenues," he said.

"The city depends on that money to build roads, to buy fire trucks, to replace swimming pools."

Duffy said building permits are supposed to be displayed, and if the permit is not visible, the city can ask the person to display it. If they don't have a permit, a fine can be issued.

"The appropriate charges should be laid. It's not fair. Why would someone, why would one person buy a permit from the city of Charlottetown and the other person just decide not to do that and get away with it?" he said.

Coun. Greg Rivard chairs the planning committee. He said he doesn't think it is as big of an issue — but he agrees some work in the city is being done without a permit and he wants to strengthen controls.

"That is a concern. We need to have an even playing field for all developers."

Rivard said this could cause an issue if people do not get permits for new builds. Council could end up voting on something that is already built and decide it needs to be demolished.

Rivard said he has been chatting with provincial representatives and they are looking to create legislation so that fines can be enforced more easily.

"We are hoping that by doing so, it will deter people from going ahead to doing work without getting proper approval," he said.

Right now the city has the option to fine unauthorized builders up to double the value of what the permit would have been, which fluctuates based on the work done. Rivard said if a builder doesn't pay a levied fine, the city has to go to court to attempt to collect the money.

More P.E.I. news