NewsWinter 2021

Despite the pandemic woes, Warren County growth remains strong. There was a dip in second quarter numbers, mostly in March, but April picked back up and activity continued to increase. Multi-family approvals are down from previous years, but continue to trend slightly upward as a whole. Multi-family numbers are expected to increase next year. Several hundred acres of land has been rezoned to industrial this year and that land has already began to fill up with announcements and new construction. This will keep demand for housing strong in our community as new residents come to live, work and support our local businesses. All of the increased activity, along with learning new ways to accomplish our duties has kept staff very busy this year.

Figure 1 | 2020 Totals

4TH QUARTER

(Oct – Dec, 2020)

2020 TOTAL

(Jan – Dec, 2020)

Total
City
County
Total
City
County
Planning Services
Single Family Lots Approved 623 0 623 894 0 894
Multi-Family Units Approved 53 53 0 427 187 240
Residential Zone Changes Approved 14 3 11 52 8 44
Commercial/Industrial Zone Changes Approved 6 2 4 22 16 6
Plan Review Services
Building Permits Reviewed 528 260 268 2262 986 1276
Development Plans Reviewed 4 4 0 17 14 3
Plats Reviewed 64 16 48 234 65 169
Construction Services
Construction Plans Reviewed 1 1 0 21 14 7
Engineering Inspections 427 148 279 1921 867 1054
Code Enforcement
Zoning Complaints 51 26 25 200 100 100
Site Inspections 101 45 56 469 245 224
Notices of Violation 17 7 10 57 31 26
Citations 6 6 0 20 12 8
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Maps Created 127 56 71 436 211 225
Addresses Assigned 451 210 241 1553 888 665
Parcels Drawn 1,143 686 457 4978 2370 2608

To provide context of how growth has steadily continued despite the events and chaos of 2020, the table below depicts the growth numbers over the past nine years. 2020 was another record breaking year. While we didn’t break the record for new development approvals, the Planning Commission did receive the highest number of total building permits over the nine-year span and the third highest number of single family lots approved. Most of the increase in building permits can be attributed to home renovations, however new building has remained strong in the face of the pandemic.

Figure 2 | Planning Commission Growth

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Total

Single Family Lots Approved
               47             108                57             377             426          1,121             995             591                823         3,722
Multi-Family Units Approved
            457          1,457             524          1,194          1,997          2,212             768          1,413                259      10,022
Total Applications Submitted to PC
            121             126             148             176             195             261             136             156                153         1,319
Building Permit Reviews
         1,116          1,103          1,099          1,394          1,472          2,037          2,164          1,990            2,232      12,375
Development Plans
                 6                10                16                22                15                42                20                49                  26            180