There were 30 more building permits issued in Rome in 2009 as compared to the year before. Residential construction fell slightly from nine to seven, though commercial construction doubled from two to four.
There were 617 permits issued in 2008, and it grew to 639 last year, according to the Code Enforcement Office’s year-end report.
Here’s the breakdown of permits issued in 2009, compared to 2008:
• One- and two-family dwellings — 7, down from 9.
• Multiple occupancy dwellings — 7, up from 1.
• Commercial buildings — 4, up from 2.
• Additions, alterations and repairs — 209 residential and 40 commercial, up from a combined 228.
• Plumbing permits — 162, down from 169.
• Sign permits — 26, down from 28.
• Demolitions — 38, down from 43.
• Other permits (pools, sheds, decks, etc.) — 153, up from 137.
Building permits generated $48,822 in revenue in 2009, with plumbing permits generating another $18,730. That’s a total of $67,552. That was a slight increase over 2008, when the city generated $63,160 in permit fees ($43,023 from building permits and $20,137 from plumbing permits).
The total estimated cost of improvements in the city, based on permits, was $24.6 million. That was up significantly from $19.8 million in 2008.
The new homes built in Rome in 2009 — all single-family dwellings — are: Pinebrook Lane, 4842 Humaston Road, Lot 13 Forrest Ridge Drive, 6101 Humble Lane, 7802 Gifford Road, 7212 Townline Road and a two-family dwelling at 418 S. James St. that is part of the Canal Village housing project. Their assessments are, respectively, $200,000, $176,000, $160,000, $150,000, $80,000, $46,000 and $398,000.
Jim Kelly, whose company Kelly Custom Homes is building a 10-lot subdivision on Humble Lane off Gifford Road, said his experience has shown that it’s the perfect time to build new homes. "I believe that from past experiences, from mentors, that a down economy is the time to start," he said. Interest rates are low, he noted, making it attractive to buyers.
Kelly’s plan is to build 10 homes on the south side of the new access road running south off Gifford Road and ending in a circle. The property covers 5.6 acres, and the homes will be about 1,500 square feet each. So far, he has one home completed, and it has been sold. The homes are planned as three-bedroom ranches with basements, starting at $159,000. He said he will also custom-build to suit a buyer.
Kelly said he plans to start building the next home in March. Right now, construction is being done on the access road. Water and sewer are already in, he noted. He said he wants to finish one home and move on to the next, and could even build more than one at a time.
The company has more information at www.kellycustomhomes.net.
After almost two years, there’s home building again at Beaver Creek Estates off Gore Road in west Rome. The fifth home in the 49-lot subdivision will be completed in about 40 days, said Beaver Creek’s president, Michael Angelicchio. It will be a four-bedroom, 2,400 square foot house.
The first four homes were sold, built and occupied between the end of 2006 and the end of 2007. Soon after, Beaver Creek and its exclusive builder went through a disagreement that ended with the termination of the contract, Angelicchio said. Tough economic times helped compound things, and no new construction happened there in all of 2008 and virtually all of 2009.
"It’s nice to see new activity at Beaver Creek," Angelicchio said. "Hopefully this is the start of some change." There’s plenty of promise there. Half of the 22 half-acre lots in the first phase are sold. There’s already city sewer and water.
Why is now a promising time for renewal at Beaver Creek? Angelicchio said that when things were slow, "even people who had the money to build were being conservative." The federal stimulus package helped prevent panic, he said, and stopped backsliding economy. "It could have gone from a recession to a depression very quickly." Now, he said, "the building market is getting back on track."
The development has been a success so far, said Angelicchio. The first four homes are occupied by three new arrivals to Rome — two doctors and a buyer who relocated from New Hartford. The other buyer sold a house in Rome to new arrivals and moved into the new house.
For commercial construction in 2009, American Alloy Steel built its $5.9 million complex on East Dominick Street, Rome Pre-Owned Car Sales built a $40,000 office at 949 Floyd Ave., Metro Mattress built a new store in the Plaza at Black River for $250,000 and Griffiss Utility Services Corp. is building its new $500,000 headquarters at 655 Ellsworth Road.
In addition to the two-family dwelling, there were eight new apartment buildings put up in the Canal Village complex totaling $3,941,100. They are all three- and four-unit buildings.
The city issued fewer certificates of occupancy in 2009 — 53 compared to 82 the previous year.
There were fewer properties cited as unfit or unsafe in 2009. The city cited 17 unfit buildings and four unsafe buildings in 2009, down from 24 and six, respectively. Inspectors were busier investigating code violations — 1,049 compared to 939 — but violations reported by complaint were down significantly — from 762 in 2008 to 447 last year. The total number of violations investigated was 1,496 last year, down from 1,701 in 2008. In the end, the city issued 246 notices of violation in 2009, down from 345 the year before.
The city held 38 property maintenance hearings in 2009, unchanged from the year before. There were 41 hearings for unfit and unsafe conditions, down from 46 in 2008.
