Black Mountain reinstates development fees for ‘non-recovery’ projects

Town officials change course on initial suspension citing loss of revenue

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
February 14, 2025

A decision to suspend development fees within the Town of Black Mountain through the end of the fiscal year was changed, Feb. 10, as the town council held its regular monthly meeting.

Elected leaders voted unanimously to reinstate permitting charges for projects unrelated to damage sustained as a result of Tropical Storm Helene, after town administrators cited a significant loss of revenue.

The town council initially suspended all development fees through June 30, 2025, during a meeting held a week after the storm. The move was “in response to the economic impact” of the natural disaster. The State of N.C. later issued a suspension of development fees through the end of 2024, while the town’s initial order remained in effect.

Town Manager Josh Harrold presented the council, with Mayor Michael Sobol absent, a recommendation to consider reinstating at least some of the development fees.

“As it currently stands, we’ve lost about $118,000 in revenue due to the suspension of development fees,” he said. “Of that, about $38,000 are permits related to disaster recovery. The other $80,000 is for new builds or permits not related to disaster recovery.”

Harrold presented four suggested motions, ranging from continuation of the suspension to reinstating all fees, while recommending the board reinstates “some development fees, not related to recovery.”

“We recognize there are issues with that, and we want to be as flexible as we can,” he said. “But, as you see here tonight, we are losing a substantial amount of money with those fees.”

Harrold presented a “simple” policy of waving fees for construction related to storm recovery and reinstating previous permitting charges for new buildings.

“We initially made the choice to extend this through the fiscal year. So, reinstating any of the fees would be going back on that, which I don’t like to do,” council member Alice Berry said. “But, at this point I’m in favor of reinstating fees for development not related to storm damage or recovery.”

Berry expressed concern about the town’s planning and development department’s ability to determine the eligibility of specific projects. The documentation will rely on “somewhat of an honor system,” Harrold responded.

“We don’t have the time or staff to go confirm whether a particular project is a recovery rebuild,” he said. “Our building inspector did 396 inspections in the month of January, and that’s one person.“

The planning and development department is adding a part-time position to assist with inspections, Harrold added.

“That’s the level of work we have going on in town,” he said. “Of course, that’s not all recovery, as you saw.”

Permitting applications will include an option indicating the proposed project is related to storm recovery.

The initial decision to suspend all fees into the summer was made in a “moment of panic,” Councilmember Doug Hay said.

“We were hoping to reduce any burden on people who were cleaning up and getting back on their feet,” he said. “I think now we’ve been able to breathe and people have been able to rebuild in a non-recovery manor, so it makes sense to reinstate (fees) for non-recovery efforts.”

As rebuilding efforts continue for many town residents, Hay added, waving the associated permitting costs should remain a priority for the town.

“I know several people who are just getting insurance payments and fixing roofs or repairing basements,” he said. “So while it may look like a small percentage, I think a lot of people are just now getting the work done and I want to make sure we continue to support them during this time of recovery.”