Present for the July 6 Village Council meeting were, from left, Stephanie Pearce, Senay Semere, Angie Hsu, Gavin DeVore Leonard and Village Manager Johnnie Burns. Absent was Carmen Brown. (Video still)
Village Council approves building permit fee hikes
- Published: July 13, 2026
At Village Council’s most recent regular meeting, Monday, July 6, the group approved two pieces of legislation to update the Village’s building permit fee schedule.
What Council gave the green light to was an across-the-board increase on fees owed to the Village Building Department associated with new construction — a hike Village staffers told Council that keeps pace with inflation and costs the Village incurs from contracted inspection work.
The Village requires a permit before the start of any construction or changes to a building — commercial or residential — including such projects as enlarging, repairing, demolishing or changing a building’s use, as well as any work — installing, altering or fixing — on utility systems.
The itemized list of specific permit cost increases totals around 100. Notable increases include:
• New, added-onto, altered and remodeled homes previously required a $100 application fee, plus $0.25 per square foot. Now, charges are $250 for homes up to 500 square feet, $325 for 501-1,000 square feet, $400 for 1,001-1,500 square feet and $500 for 1,500 square feet, plus $200 for each additional 500 square feet;
• New commercial construction fees previously required a $275 application fee, plus $0.105 per square foot. Now, charges are $350, $425, $500 and $600 at the same footage increments as above;
• $115 for a swimming pool greater than two feet deep — a $15 increase;
• $100 solar arrays application fee, plus $5.50 per panel — an increase of $10 and $0.50, respectively.
The updated fee schedule includes new fee categories such as missed inspections ($100), residential electric vehicle charging stations ($100), residential battery back-up system ($115) and new footer/foundation for commercial spaces ($270 plus $0.2875 per square foot).
As Planning and Zoning Administrator Nia Holt wrote to Council in a memo ahead of Monday’s meeting, the fee increases are the first since the Village created its own building department and fee schedule in 2021 and since then, has not undergone any review.
She also noted that the increases are commensurate with the fees that neighboring building departments charge, including the City of Fairborn and Greene County.
How to get a permit
Per the Village Building Department’s website, the building permitting process involves these steps:
1. An applicant submits building plans, permit application and pays a deposit fee to the Village.
2. Application materials are sent from the Village to the National Inspection Company, or NIC, which will contact the applicant if additional information is needed.
3. NIC informs the Village once plans and application are approved.
4. The Village contacts the applicant to collect the remaining balance due.
5. Once final payment is received, the Village provides the applicant with a copy of approved plans.
6. During construction, various inspections are performed by NIC.
Additional information, including building permit application, zoning permits and contact information can be found at http://www.yellowsprings.gov or by emailing permits@yellowsprings.gov
“Based on this assessment,” Holt wrote, “Staff recommends a comprehensive update to the fee schedule to ensure fees more accurately reflect the costs associated with plan review, permitting, inspections and related services.”
The memo also notes that, of all the permitting fees the Village collects, 90% of those dollars go to the National Inspection Corporation, or NIC, to physically conduct building plan reviews and inspections.
“The goal,” Holt said at Monday’s meeting, “is not to make a profit as a municipal government, but to make sure our costs are being covered — a lot of which weren’t covering the part-time work.”
“So we’re basically charging fees to give them to other people?” Council member Stephanie Pearce asked, regarding NIC.
“That’s what was agreed in the 2021 contract,” Holt replied. “That’s instead of us hiring an employee to do it — someone who would have to be a specialist in inspections, plan review, HVAC, plumbing, electrical. So, instead of hiring a specialized person, we contract with a company that has all these people.”
Council President Gavin DeVore Leonard described it as a problem of scale.
“We’re not big enough and we don’t have enough development for it to make sense to have all this in-house,” he said. “We’re buying a share of this company’s time.”
An anticipated and considerable uptick in residential development, however, is what motivated the fee schedule review and the legislation before Council this week.
As Holt acknowledged, ground has been broken on the latest addition to Spring Meadows in the northwest corner of Yellow Springs. Already at 90 single-family homes, the subdivision is set to grow by another 190 dwelling units. Per the last plans shared with the News in November, Miamisburg-based developer DDC Management intends to build 12 multifamily structures with 10 units in each — 120 units between them — and the remaining 70 units will be detatched single-family homes.
“It seemed like the right time, with this project coming down the pipeline,” Holt said of the Village’s recommendation to Council to raise permitting fees.
By a unanimous vote, Council approved the fee hike.
Additionally, the group voted affirmatively to change a related process. With the passage of an ordinance, Council will, moving forward, approve all building fee adjustments by way of resolution instead of ordinance.
In short, that means future changes will take less time.
Whereas ordinances must require two separate public readings by Village Council, a public hearing and the elapse of 30 days before the approved ordinance can become law, a resolution can be adopted and put into motion immediately.
DeVore Leonard said this move was an act of simplification; more than likely, Council will begin making more frequent increases to fee costs.
“Costs go up every year,” DeVore Leonard said. “If we don’t change our fees for several years, then we’re losing money.”
The next Village Council meeting is Monday, July 20, beginning at 5 p.m. with a work session in which the public cannot participate. The regular session will commence at 6 p.m.
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